Please don't take offence, Will - maybe this just an illustration of how we really need to be more explicit(?!) when on such forums to avoid misunderstandings.
Perhaps if you'd explained that you'd 'like to pass on some advice to your son' then we wouldn't have assumed you were trying to 'steer' him to do something he wasn't interested in.
I too worship (most) things aviation, and many years ago was probably much the same sort of chap he is now. I wouldn't disregard hec7or's post, but I don't hold the same negative views.
It doesn't seem to be the same glamourous industry it was 30 years ago, but that wasn't why I joined. Apart from being in the military, no other civil career lets you fly aeroplanes, so if your son is keen to do so, no info about the state of the industry is likely to make a difference -unless his flying is to be restricted to general aviation.
That said, the career options for commercial pilots are far more sophisticated than you imply in your first post - I have left what we might call a 'quality' airline to work for a low-cost one which gives me the promotion and lifestyle opportunities I want. Plenty of my friends and colleagues have done the same. Not all of us have ambitions to fly long-haul, or even jet aircraft.
The first thing is to decide whether one wants to fly aerolanes for a career instead of a hobby.
The next is to get enough motivation/cash to get a licence.
Then get the first/best job out of the limited ones available.
By the time your son has enough experience to start picking and choosing airlines, he is sure to have a better idea of his priorites in terms of salary, routes, lifestyle, promotion etc. etc.
Planning for such things now is probably a bit hasty.
scroggs is a font of knowledge, and gives the best links on here for this kind of thing
Last edited by Gary Lager; 17th November 2006 at 12:59.