The general public will never accept that airline pilots work hard. They are fixed on the idea that we get paid fabulous amounts of money for very little effort. Newspaper articles and special exposes on current affairs programs only reinforce that stereotype. Even extended family members don't want to know. Then there is the whole discussion about how computers will make us all redundant and how planes land themselves. In the words of the penguins "Smile and wave boys, smile and wave."