Thanks WWW - to a certain extent I think you're right, most definitley in the near term. As a householder I can vouch for the change in the economy - we were having up to 5 foreign holidays a year over the last few years (including budget airline breaks), now we're looking at spending more time in the UK. I consider we're no more than average, so there simply has to be some effect on the airlines and I don't subscribe to the view that the foreign holiday is the last thing to go.
What I am saying though, is that the employment situation (on balance) is no different to any professional job. I guess it's just luck what part of the cycle you catch it in and prudent people will plan for the worst by having fallback options. In the long term, there simply has to be expansion, particularly China and India (and I don't see that they have adequate training?). Also opening up Iraq oil may change fuel prices etc in the medium to longer term. I'd be interested in your thoughts regarding the global pilot demand over the next 10 years.