Hi Jason
I would agree that "it's who ya know not what ya know" but it has probably always been like that to a certain extent. As for spending 90K on basic training well why not try down the road in Cork and get the same piece of paper for 60K? Don't know if you are aware that on top of this you will have to pay another 30 odd grand for a type rating so that brings it up to 120K. I paid for my training by working for 2 years as a welder and 4 years part time work and also with help from my family. Money alone is not enough though you need lots and lots and did I mention lots of patience,determination a bit of skill and a brilliant memory! You do 200 hours flying minimum for the modular course and officially you are suppose to do 650 hours of theory but I would double that at least for the theory. It's not that difficult there's just a sh!t load of stuff to remember. There is a bit of maths and physics in it but it's fairly basic stuff. And then we get to the type rating: first 2 weeks, 10 hour days trying to learn the technical stuff and SOP's. For the rest of it profiles, memory items, company limits, emergencies etc. I would say for every hour I spend in the sim I spend 3 or 4 at least preparing for the session and that's hard work when you have 5:30 am briefings for the 7 am sim session. However after saying all that I really enjoy it and I could not imagine doing anything else. Hope this has helped you out a bit.