Recently I spent the $8 for an annual subscription to Flying Magazine. Since the 1980's I have shunned such publications like "Flying" and organizations like "AOPA" since to me they spread false information or have self serving agendas. However since being reduced back to the status of being a hobby pilot I have had to venture into their ranks again.
One of my first issues of "Flying" came in the mail yesterday. The first article I happened to read was from Les Abend in the September 2007 issue. The title was "The 225 Hour Airline Pilot" I suspected that he was going to praise all the glories of factory created wonder kids instead however he went on to profess all the recent negatives to the industry as I have been doing on this forum for years now.
Les mentions all the things we all know about low wages, disappearing benefits and the arrival of the 200 hour regional pilot. He also goes on to quote, almost word for word, all the ridiculous expenses that I have been mentioning about in regards to the cost of college and flight training. His numbers are: $120,000 for four years of out of state tuition and books plus $50,000 in flight training.
He also reaches the same conclusions as I about the current state of the industry, however stops just short of calling new career entrants completely foolish. My positions and attitudes have been labeled as overly negative and eccentric. The truth is that my ideas are accurate and are becoming very mainstream. Many here simply are choosing not to accept the truth about the situation our industry is in.
I am not negative. My message is accurate. I am not crazy either. What is crazy is to spend a fortune on a profession that can't possibly be able to earn back the price of entry. Activities like that are referred to as Hobbies. An airline career today simply doesn't make any sense anymore. Read the article.
You may now return to your previous state of denial.
SkyHigh