Good post there Rawrawhammer (certainly got us old farts wound up!), and I'm one of those greyhairs you'd have seen with furrowed brow in the Perth exam centre. But I understand where you're coming from. If I was a 20-something weighing up whether to go $40K into hock or head north for 5 years and get $120K pa in the mines I know which one I'd choose (be on the flight to Karattha tomorrow!).
Maybe many of the greyhairs are in a similar situation to me. I flew helos 20 years ago before giving it away to feed, cloth and house a family. My thinking at the time was that I didn't want to end up being a broke and burnt out pilot at 50, so instead went into other industries and built some great experience and skills. But the intention was always to return to aviation
when I could afford to.
Now at 45 with the kids almost off the hands and the mortgage halved I've got another 20 years working life to go, so I'm hitting the books again (cursing the need to wear reading glasses
).
So yes, I agree that for a young'un in might look a bit of a worry when the number of greyhairs starts to outnumber the pimply brigade, but as another poster noted, the airlines will always be looking for fresh fodder.
There was a similar post on another aviation forum recently, obviously from a young wannabe asking the old hands "would you do it again?" Well, everyone is different, and all I say whenever a Gen Y says that they want to be a commercial pilot is "think very carefully about it. You have a 40 year working life and there's an awful lot of things you can do in that time." Pick the time to make money and give your family security, pick the time to have fun, and if you're really really lucky, do both.