BigWhiteBird, the algae-based fuel is not as close as you think, for various reasons.
On the other hand, who will profit most from this exercise? Education and training institutions in US, no doubt. The cost of a 4-year engineering degree at decent uni is now so high that the entry level salaries for space/aero are laughable. They sometimes barely cover the basic needs. Yes, this is also at Boeing and LM. As it was pointed out, same situation applies for entry and mid-level pilots too!
Plenty of suckers fell into this trap before (including yours truly) thinking about long, rich and fulfilling career (talking engineering here)....
Lasciate ogni speranza, voi chi entrate