I made (no lie) 10 times more money speculation with my small inheritance in real estate between late 2003 and 2006 than I did in the rest of my entire flying career.... I have a high net worth and don't really even need to work, I've done so well in business and real estate.. YET... At every single job interview I've done to get back into flying (as I sadly really love it!).. I've had to explain my "commitment" to flying and why I took this time off to some dip$hit who doesn't get it...
I agree, why should someone have to have a "commitment" to a career field. Flying is my job, not my identity. Its something I do, that pays me money, so that I may have a life. But it is not my life, unlike those out there who wrap up their entire existence and self worth in it. And if flying did not work out, I would find something else, and still be the same person I am now.
I have even seen it on here, when someone says something like "enough of this crappy career field, I refuse to be treated like crap and paid horribly, I am outta here". Other pilots on here would ridicule that person for being a quitter. The aviation field needs more people who will not put up with it, instead of putting up with low wages and being treated badly.
Pilots being so willing to put up with it, is a big reason why pay can be so low, or broken planes get flown, or pay gets cut. Its all because they can get away with it, most pilots will just accept it.
I once left aviation for a bit, went into wildland firefighting, then got back into aviation on my own terms, when I wanted to, doing what I wanted to do. Even now and then between breaks in some of the projects or contracts I fly on, I will still go do some wildland firefighting on the ground in the summer.
