It is "alleged" that one major European airline is paying £22,000 plus £12,000 flight pay for newly qualified CPL's? And you're warning people OFF applying for that?
My mistake Luke. Those are € figures, so take off something like 10% for £s. Of course that's after paying for your integrated course, a €35k type-rating and you'll be paying 40% tax with no pension or other benefits.
The point is that pay for flying a medium-sized airliner is low and is getting lower; which is highly relevant to the question raised in the original post and subsequent discussion.
Commercial aviation involves extremely expensive training, low chances of getting any job, and even a job that you regard as so fantastic that it should be grabbed like the proverbial starfish to a rock is not affording fair reward for the job performed.
You're absolutely right Don: A good education is not evidence of intelligence, but it is evidence of hard work and application, and when coupled with a little intelligence it is what gets you into the cadet schemes for the likes of BA. Believe me, when employers touting a handful of jobs to thousands of applicants have a choice between equally intelligent candidates, yet only one is articulate and well-educated, we all know who will get the job. That applies to all industries - except football perhaps...