I am worried about her choice of career as there is sooooo much negativity within the forum. A sign of the times or has it always been like this?
Sorry, I re-read the post and realised that I hadn't answered the entire question.
Well, in many respects you are right to be concerned. For a great many young (and not so young) people this is an attractive career. That attraction isn't always justified, and certainly is fraught with risk, disappointment and heartache. It is difficult not to be negative when the costs are so high and the attrition rate is also so high. Obviously, the prospect of being an "airline pilot" is attractive on so many levels to people looking towards future careers.
The realities of course are often much more mundane. In providing honest answers to such a huge wave of prospective hopefulls it is very difficult to temper positivity and enthusiasm with what must nevertheless be truthful answers. That truth is often perceived (rightly) as "negativity" but it is nevertheless essential.
I think it has always been this way. However I think as times have changed, so have peoples expectations. In many ways it is a good thing that youngsters have a wider range of expectations and opportunities. On the flip side of that statement I am also dismayed at what I call the "X-Factor generation" of people who seem to feel entitled no matter how unrealistic their expection, or how unwilling they are to achieve the ethos necessary to succeed.
Any answer or opinion I give on these forums is done so in the expectation that in 90% of those who might read it, it is futile and pointless. However I am content that in the remaining 10% who accept or reject it, it serves some useful purpose, even if as a catalyst for argument or objection.
There are enough people reading these forums, who are serious and motivated, and looking for honest comment and opinion. I am sure you and your daughter are two of them. Like yourself I am a father, with children looking to a future in commercial aviation. I work with a lot of young people who have come into airline flying through these routes. I have worked in this sector of the industry for quite a long time now. I certainly don't have all of the answers, and even more certainly don't have all of the answers that people always want to hear. However I do like to encourage people to find a route to the goals they have. That route may (and often is) a compromise based on their own situation (financial and otherwise.)
There are a lot of success stories, and those are usually founded on a strong ethos of the all attributes that would be found in most other walks of life. A succesful and rewarding career in aviation is prefectly achievable and worthwhile for a great many people. Internet forums do nothing to filter out the numbers that might fall into that category, and it follows that much of what you are likely to read reflects that fact.
Nevertheless this is a good as place as any to do some research, and research you really must.