273, I assume you are being ironic in making the same generalisations?. .. .What is sad, but true, is that aviation has never been easy to get into.. .. .Yes, everyone would like to collect their brand, shiny new licence from Gatwick and walk straight into a well-paying job on a 737 (or better).. .. .The simple truth is that only a very small minority ever do. The vast majority graft, starting at the bottom and work their way up. I got my PPL in late '87. I proceeded in very short order to get the IMC, Multi and night ratings, then went to the USA to build hours, came back and did a BCPL, with just 200 hours in my logbook. My first commercial job was traffic-spotting in a PA28 for a local radio station. 2 hours morning and evening, and in the middle I instructed.. .. .I was made redundant. I worked backstage for a while in a West End Theatre, then got a job RHS of a Bandit.. .. .Made redundant again. (Gulf War). Went out to the Caribbean, spending (on and off) two and a half years out there, island-hopping in BN2's. Sounds idyllic, but many times doing in excess of 15 sectors in a day. One occasion was 23 sectors. The company record was 26. I worked damn hard.. .. .Made redundant again. Returned to the UK, got a ground job in Operations, and left, buying a 757 type rating.. .. .Aparrt from that 6-month stint in a Bandit, it was nine years before I got back into a gas turbine-powered aircraft again.. .. .Worked my way back up again, doing some Police flying and other bits and pieces, got a job on a Jetstream. Moved to the LHS. Went to ATR's as a direct-entry captain.. .. .Company put into liquidation in the aftermath of Sept. 11th. Redundant again.. .. .Not a blissfully happy tale, is it? I'm not asking for sympathy. Along the way I learned a lot, and had lots of fun.. .. .So perhaps some people think that the only way they can make their applications to airlines seem attractive is to offer their services for free. In doing so, they climb over everyone else in the industry. They may call it initiative. I call it something else.. .. .To anyone who gets a BA sponsorship, or PPRuNe/Astraeus sponsorship or any other similar scheme that has the aim of giving pilots their start in the industry, I say good luck. Such sponsorship schemes are legitimate ways to train pilots.. .. .What is not legitimate is to charge pilots to sit in an aircraft, merely because "market forces" happen to sit that way at present, give them nothing but hours in the logbook, then boot them out.. .. .Nor is it legitimate for pilots to attempt to cut the legs off their colleagues by gazumping their jobs from under them, to attempt to steal jobs from more experienced candidates. Nor is it acceptable for any airline to confuse itself about who pays for an aircraft to fly, and whether or not pilots pay them, or vice versa.. .. .If an airline cannot afford to pay all their pilots the going rate, as part of their operating costs, then they have no business being in the industry.. .. .The industry is at a low at present. It is stating to recover, and pilots will be in demand again. Such unscrupulous employers as I have mentioned above should, possibly be removed from the industry now. Don't encourage them to hang around. Stick to the honest, safe, decent, humane employers and encourage them in what they're doing instead.. .. .And to everyone out there trying to get a foot in the door, good luck. It's not easy - that's something that all pilots, of whatever generation know. But stick at it, don't throw away your standards and the prospects of your colleagues by so damaging the employment market because it's more difficult than normal right now. It will improve.