What I didn't reckon on was the instability, the seniority system which works fine at BOAC where you join at 20 and never leave but screws you in the real world where carriers go bust and layoffs are common and the inescapable fact that we are heading down the seasonal/contract/dock labour type schemes where you pay for everything.
A very good point - it must be - I had not thought of it! It is not yet affecting BA but the future is uncertain and, as you rightly point out, many must surely be wondering is this a job for life?
I agree about the sea of change too, but the harsh reality is (and I assume you are alluding to the commonly held belief that pay-to-fly pilots are unsafe) there are no statistics (thank God) to prove the lack of safety. Take Ryanair as the most common example, as everyone knows they have yet to have a serious accident, but, whilst you regularly find critics from within their own ranks on here, I cannot recall a single one who believes there is a lack of safety. I have a couple of friends who work for them, one is a Captain, one an experienced (now) FO, and they tell me the training is rigourous, the engineering second to none, the management harsh, but the pay good.
So my question is this (and it is a question, not an opinion - yet): is the fatal accident you mention really a risk, or do the LoCo managers in fact have it sussed: you simply don't need to pay us that much any more, and it still all works?
I really hope the answer is no, or we will all be giving up, and the answer to the thread question is that we will have wasted our lives, that's how much.
Of course that is not to imply I am sitting waiting for a fatal accident. I am sitting waiting for fatalities of management careers and hope that, because they are all short term opportunists, better (maybe not as good, but better) times will roll.