This is the most sensible post on this thread - could not agree more with waco!
Wake up and smell the coffee guys - the investment you will make in aviation training will simply not pay you back.
Its frustrating when your dream job seems to be always out of reach and its human nature to aspire to what you perceive to be that "dream job".
If you ever get to be in a position to sit in the RHS (and its a big if for years to come) consider the following facts - and if you think I'm being negative take a trawl through the terms of endearment section of prune for confirmation.
- You will be in serious debt (unless your mummy & daddy pay)
- The debt will take years to repay and restrict your future ability to borrow money for other things - cars, mortgages, personal loans etc
- You will be shafted by the airlines every time you try to move up the ladder with type rating bonds - I fly with several F/O's who are still carrying the burden of ab initio training loans and two or three type rating bond loans because they have moved company to try and climb the ladder
- You will probably end up being based where you do not want to live - if you ever get a command upgrade the process starts all over again - you will be married with 2.2 kids and a dog, a mortgage, crippling flying debts and then being told "well if you really want a command you will have to be based at the most unpopular company base which will necessitate either a family move (which will go down like a lead baloon with the Mrs) or you living out of a suitcase for a good few years and coming home after finishing on a late, having two days off and travelling back to work for an early start or standby on your second day off! Lets not also forget the money you will need to shell out for accommodation away from home, petrol, lack of family life etc etc!
- When you are fed up living away from home after the reality kicks in and you still have that "command bond" you will be looking to move again because you now have "command time" and could get back nearer to home - the process starts again - another type rating bond or perhaps you have to shell out for the type rating yourself for the big shiny jet as thats the way the bean counters prefer it these days!
- By this time the "dream job" is no more - the penny has dropped and you wish you had taken more notice of what you read on pprune all those years ago.
Apart from the above the financial storm clouds still appear on the horizon and a double dip recession is a very strong possibility. The future uncertainty of the Euro and the austerity measures that are now starting to bite around the eurozone are reasons to be very carefull as to your career moves.
If you still aspire to becoming a commercial airline pilot the best bit of advice I can give you is to have a second profession up your arm - the nature of the airline industry is that at some time in the future you will be made redundant and its not a pleasant position to be in for you or your family and all those financial commitments if you do not have something else to fall back to and earn some money.
Whatever advice you choose to believe in good luck everyone!