Mike,
That charactor got banned...twice, of late (again). Not to worry. He doesn't fly for the airlines and has a chip on his shoulder...having been rejected by the airlines in the past.
So far as networking...it's a useful tool, but I disagree that it's necessary in any segment of the industry. I got my first corporate job from an advertisement in Trade A Plane. I got my next by visiting the company office. I drove to the general area, called the chief pilot, and asked if I could drop by. He told me he wasn't interested in talking to job seekers. I told him I just wanted to stop in and shake his hand, and he invited me over. I came in, sat down, and we talked for about ten minutes. He asked if I had a resume. I went downstairs to the car and retrieved one. Shortly thereafter, I left his office with a job.
On another occasion, I did the same thing. I drove about six hours to drop a resume, expecting nothing (delivering a resume in person can make a big difference). I was asked to stay the night, put up in a nice hotel, and the next morning given a full interview, a drug test, and a checkride in a company corporate jet...right on the spot...and offered a job. On a different occasion, I drove seventeen hours to meet the chief pilot of a company, got a tour of the facilities, and was left in the maintenance office. I thought I was having a friendly conversation with the director of maintenance, but by the time our chat was over and I left his office, I had a job as both a mechanic there, and as their new parts-pilot, flying parts and mechanics around the country to service aircraft in the field. Not long after that I found myself flying large airplanes for the company.
On another occasion I dropped by an operator to see if they could use a relief pilot. Their regular pilot quit that day, and the next day I was hired as the full time pilot.
I visited a job fair to deliver resumes, and came away with several interviews, and from those, a job. I got my first job in aviation washing and waxing airplanes, which lead to flying, which lead to more work. I got my first crop dusting job after driving in search of an operator. I broke down outside an ag operators house in the state of Kansas (USA), and ran out of money. He hired me, put me up in his house, and I began flying his airplanes, mixing his chemical, and sewing canola with his tractor, and fixing his equipment.
I began skydiving at a dropzone, and was soon flying their airplane and working on it.
And so on...nearly 30 different employers in all over the years. Some full time, some part time, some seasonal, some temporary. Some one-time deals, some lasting years. The common thread? I didn't get any of them because of networking. I disagree that it's necessary. It's useful, but it's important for me to know when I'm hired that I'm there because I was picked for the job as the one the employer wanted...not because a friend got me the position. To others, perhaps not...and it's true that networking works. it's not necessary, however, and one shouldn't feel greatly disadvantaged simply because one doesn't have a buddy on the inside.