MH152,
Agreed.
I completed my PPL in 2005 and booked 6 months off from work in summer 2007 to complete CPL/MEIR.
I knew and worked with influential people in 3 airlines at the time. It couldn't have gone wrong...
Of course it did. These airlines have not recruited a single wannabe since then. One went bust.
I couldn't have timed it worse. Any earlier and I would have been job hunting in a relatively positive job market with contacts. Any later and I would not have wasted £50K.
That is why, whilst I will not P2F, I can't judge those who do. Of course some are complete pricks. However, some of them are simply good guys who are desperate to make their investment work after some rotten luck.
Sitting on a flight deck and demonising those to P2F is very easy to do. I just think that it's a symptom of our problems and not the cause.