Can’t say that path was much different 30 years ago, but stick with it and you have a chance. Give up, and you have none.
It’s never easy, but anything worth doing never is.
All the airlines are hiring, most are constrained by their capacity to train. The vacuum at the top draws everyone up the levels with it.This will be happening for the foreseeable future.
If you really want it, and I suspect you do given the way you’ve gone about it, hang in there.