Far too much doom and gloom. I'm beginning to wonder if our younger generation's heads have been filled with too much negativity by the constant bombardment of the the doom mongers. You really can't open a newspaper or turn on TV without being some talking head informing us that if we don't do something about it soon: WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!
Frankly I'm pretty sick of it, and have gone from being an avid newspaper reader and follower of current affairs to someone who rarely buys a newspaper and if I do pick one up. I only read trivial stories. It's the same with the TV and the internet.
For those of you who believe all the crap you read, try and get hold of newspaper archives from 30 years ago and you'll find the same nonsense.
This current recession, is in part due to everybody having talked themselves into it. Sure the banks played their part. But mostly it's caused by negative thinking brought on by consistently pessimistic predictions.
As for the long term viability of an airline career? Well frankly, if that bothers you, don't become a pilot. Even if it did all end in 30 years, so what? You had a good run. I doubt if it will though. I suspect my new born son, should he chose that job when he grows up, will enjoy a long and fruitful career.
As for the oft mooted, unmanned or one-manned airliners controlled from the ground.
Comparing them to unmanned trains is just asinine. Usually people who come up with that suggestion are non pilots. People who think that the smoothness and routine of airline flying is only because of all the automation on board are simply ignorant. Microsoft FS is not like the real world.
I remember as a child worrying that with the tremendous rate of technological advances that aeroplanes would be replaced by 'something' before I could become a pilot. I was a child of the space age, which was a considerably more optimistic time and it looked quite possible. Now it's the era of climate change and global disaster. Pessimism rules. So the current child worries that there will be no aeroplanes because all the oil will be gone. Neither attitude makes sense. The world just rolls along. It's also important to remember that for the most part humans have advanced over the centuries. Rarely have they gone backwards. There is no reason to suppose that will happen now. Aircraft are here to stay, in what form remains to be seen.