The glory days are over - What do you think?

[wrxpilot]

The glory days never existed for anyone but the lucky few. Pre deregulation, working pilots made a lot of cash, but the number of positions was few. Earning the equivilent of a new Caddy every month was great but I'd rather have a job making the equivilent of a new Caddy every four months, than not have a pilot job at all.

Enigma,

Very good point. Apparently a lot of people here don't know their airline history that well. Ever read "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann? The professional pilot's life was a dangerous one filled with financial uncertainty.

My Grandfather flew for TWA back in the OLD days, but bailed to work as a salesman due to QOL issues (but still remained close to GA).

Would've been great to be part of the '60s/'70s airline life, but like Enigma some of us wouldn't have stood a chance because of corrected vision.

 

[FN FAL]

I think what Capt Schiff is trying to do (albeit in a roundabout way) is to discourage what I call glamour pilots from coming into the industry. You know the ones I mean, people who are in it for the uniform and for the leather jacket.

The people who work at the Ray Ban factory have to put beans and biscuits on their tables too.

 

[Flyerjosh]

It's called being the son of an enlisted man in the military . Poor, broke and one half of the homefront is usually living in a tent in a war zone somewhere. And if ANYONE believes that our military is being paid generous wages they need to stop taking whatever halucinogen they're popping.

I made more money on active duty (stateside) as an enlisted soldier than I did as a 3rd year Regional Jet FO when my reserve unit was deployed. That should say something.

Keep in mind too that most military enlistees don't have 40-70K in student loans to pay off, and if they're enlisted the housing benefits are pretty decent. Don't get me wrong, I think they're still paid crap for the job they do, but overall, a lot of the costs you have as a civilian may not be applicable to an active duty enlisted soldier.