| It will be quite some time before the industry absorbs all of the furloughed pilots back into the fold. Capacity cuts are still coming left and right, and every day the airlines are finding new and exciting ways to run a company with as few crew members on payroll as possible. Now is certainly not the time to be making any sort of switch.
We've all been told that the industry is cyclical. What many fail to realize is that the cycle has never come back to the level it used to be - it's a downhill slope. As BelArgUSA has so sagely told us, we're a million miles away from what this career used to offer. Every time things turn bad, we end up with fewer pilots flying more hours for less money. This eventually becomes the point at which the bar is set. Only ten years ago, Southwest was regarded the bottom of the barrel in terms of a career airline choice. Now almost every pilot in the country would give anything for a job there. It's not because their contract has improved - they experienced the least decay, and they're now the gold standard for lack of competition. Many of the people getting the furlough axe this time have lost interest in coming back. Since I have my notice in hand for next month, I'm strongly considering joining the ranks of ex-airline pilots while I'm still young enough to build a new career. I still love to fly, but I doubt I'll look back wistfully on my weeks away from home, spending 16 hours a day at work and getting paid for five. |