A provocative query!
Perhaps it could be enlightening to play the conversation back with a substitution of titles. I would sugest "Rock Star" and "Gastroenterologist", for starters. Many other good job-title candidates wait in the sidelines..
All occupations have their Darwinian qualities. The more prestige, glamour, financial opportunity and importance (rightly or wrongly) associated with a profession, the harder the fish must swim to reach their chosen destiny. Does this apply at all to aviation? Will it stop anytime soon? Probably not. Will pilots adapt? Probably.
More in jeopardy, I think, are the airline companies that employ pilots. Even as aviation has grown and prospered, the airlines have become less sound financially. They expand like crazy when the climate supports growth, then suddenly wilt like an hydrangea caught in the sun when a bit of drought comes along.
The UAL mess illustrates one flavour of the problem: Pilots and crew have the most to gain and the most to lose as the airline goes through the challenge of shrinking operations to fit shrunken demand. Not just jobs, but valuable share interests and pension rights stand likely to go down the tubes without close cooperation to steady the ship. But the polarized factional interests of Capital, several mutually antagonistic Unions, and a bevy of Politicians are standing instead to fight to a finish.
Even if you are a certified rock star, it may not be a bad idea to have a trade in reserve for the tough times. Roofing is steady and predictable, at least. And it gets you out in the air.