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Very well said.

FurloughedAgain said:
I believe that PilotYip's signature says the following:

"Fly because you love it, because if you're in it for the money you will be dissapointed."

As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. There was a time when an aviator's skills were valuable and highly sought after. As a result pilots were well compensated.

Those days are gone. Today airline managers are well aware that there is virtually no limit to how little a pilot will be willing to work for.

They have mastered the art of the whipsaw, forcing each pilot group to fight one another. Regionals compete with legacies. Regionals compete with other regionals. Airlines rise and fall. Careers are destroyed and yet flight schools and Kit Darby preach "pilot shortage" and still speak of vast compensation and retirement. Those, unfortunately, are nothing more than recent history.

Today -- and, I believe in the future -- there is no such thing as a flying "career", but only rather a flying "job". Furloughs, bankruptcies, etc. are unlikely to stop as oil prices continue to rise. We will become an association of 10,000+ hour newhires... continuously starting over.

No airline is immune. Even the a powerhouse such as Southwest will face the invisible hand of the economy before long. They are now the highest paid 737 pilots in the western hemisphere. I can't imagine it staying that way indefinately.

So, as much as I hate to admit it, I think Pilotyip is right. Fly because you love it. Pay yourself first each month. Save as much money as you can and, if possible, learn another trade.

Learn from the mistakes of those who came before you and, most importantly, when the cockpit door closes... leave all of this stress on the ramp.
 
The only sure bet for the next five to ten years:
Furloughs
Hiring
Hiring freezes
More furloughs
a few bankruptcies
and a couple of acquisitions
Hiring....................
I hate to sound sarcastic but that's the way it's been and most likely will be. Go to the library and checkout Hard Landings.
 
SirFlyALot said:
What happens five or ten years from now when his airline (AirTran) has a few rocky years and ends up furloughing, cutting pay and benefits, and eventually liquidating? What happens when some other airline comes along and buys his airline out? .

What happens if you get hit by a bus crossing the street? What happens is a pelican takes a dump on your new convertible with the top down . . . .

Face it . . . life is about risk. Manage the risk. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, do what you want to do. If my airline gig ended tomorrow, I have made sure I have other options to fall back on.

If you want to fly for an airline, then fly for an airline. Or, you can be like SirFlysaLot, who apparently spends time on an airline message board, telling peole to avoid airline employment- WTFO?

Pray tell, SFA, what sort of employment do you have at present, and what are your future aspirations?
 
I tell my new FO's this. This job can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. If your anal, whine alot and consistantly compare your airline to the top paying airline, your career is going to suck. Relax, have a Coke and some pretzels. You still have one of the best jobs out there.......regional or not.
 
Read Flying the Line I, and II. Change the airline names to the flavor of the year (i.e, AirTran, Jetblue) wait five to 10 years, repeat as nescessary. This industry is so cyclical you can almost set a watch to it. The idea is it to hit the wave at the low point, then ride it to the high point. Prepare professionally (side career), and financially (live below your means) for the next downturn. Today's not so desirable carriers may become tommorow's next "place to be".
 

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