Thus the market offers higher wages to pilots on average.
Your joking, right? It is a hell of a lot easier to pay back 30k worth of debt with a good graduate job then it is to pay back 80K (sometimes more) worth of debt as a very poorly paid First Officer.
The outlook doesn't compare favourably for pilots until at least Captaincy and possibly not even then. Example - my girlfriend, 30 years old, a graduate and a consultant with a well known international consultancy firm earning 75k per year (and she's blonde). Her job considerably safer then many pilots jobs at the moment. The big big money isn't until Long Haul Captain or Training Captain.
The fact of the matter is that Pilots are not amongst the highest earners and particularly when compared to the investment they have made. There will always be that steady supply of pilots who have placed aviation on a pedastal and are prepared to pay through the nose to follow their dreams. FTOs simply play on and manipulate this passion to assure their existence and keep the wheels of the "system" turning.
It takes the likes of WWW et al to keep wannabees in touch with reality.
NGB
