I made a decision sometime ago not to pursue a carreer with the airlines.
I just wasn't prepared to put in the time effort and money and end up as an FO (maybe) on a Dash or Saab pulling $40k's a year. And the captains renumeration wasn't all that exciting either. That's all I've wanted to do my entire life (and still do).
But $40k's? You've got to be kidding me.
I've flown just on 900hrs in the last twelve months in GA (mostly in singles) and in the last 8 months have earnt what a FO on a Dash would take 3 years to pull in. And yes, I am lying straight in bed when I say that.
The income I derive from other sources is that far ahead of what a Saab or Dash captain earns I feel more than vindicated with the decision that I took. I have to say though that there is always a feeling of regret and emptiness knowing that I never achieved and now probably never will ,the one thing above all others that I've wanted to do since I was about 4 years old.
I'll never enjoy that spectrum of flying that some people here have experienced. And it really bugs me. If I want to go ahead and do it I've still got time, but the clock is counting down really fast now.
I now know exactly how I'm going to feel about this issue when I'm 85 y.o. and it annoys me.
A lot of the costs that an airline has to absorb it has no real control over (the price of fuel for example). But it does have control over what it pays its aircrew and in a lot of cases they're being screwed. As far as I can see, in real dollar terms wages have gone backwards over the last few years.
Unfortunately for me, the financial numbers no longer add up. I just can't afford to be sitting up the front at the pointy end of a Dash or a Saab. And that's a shame. It really is.