Was replying to kungfu pandas objection (which he has removed, so edited to say ) . . . if people hadn't been so willing to throw their own money at funding not only their licence, but their type rating to boot, there would be, if not a shortage, at least not an excess. . . as airlines wouldn't train too many pilots at their own expense just to keep the salaries down by virtue of "creating" too many candidates.
Sorry to say, but this rot has , at its roots, SSTR & P2F & the mentality that has continued thereafter.
If you were a "valued commodity" (I.E in plain language you cost the company some money) you wouldn't be dicked around with.
The last 10-15 years has seen individuals self-financing, to the ridiculous extent that we eventually arrived at the ultimate "bad joke" of paying to do "extended line operations". . . what, really, does the profession expect/imagine we command in the way of respect ,when all & sundry were willing to prostitute themselves to jump the Q regardless of experience/ability.
The current situation had the seeds sown by the imbeciles from the "want it & WANT IT NOW ! " generation who believed that seniority/meritocracy was best replaced by ability to pay.
Unfortunately, ALL of us in this industry are reaping the benefits of their ill founded short term mentality.
As for back-stabbing. . . well you know the old joke "more loyalty/fraternity to be found in a Bordelo" only problem . . it isn't a joke.
It seems many LIS crew may have accepted cr@p to jump the Q . . .sounds familiar ? if that is the case, well, I hope you are subsequently able to repair the (self inflicted) damage caused by accepting T's & C's that were "below par".
Whilst I broadly accept that we should all stick together, if one group struck out alone for self-serving reasons, should they expect the others to rally to their aid when they finally choose to realise they sold themselves a lemon ?
I don't know the exact history of the LIS base, but it seems that some went into it with their eyes open (in one respect) but with no imagination vis a vis "half-promises" of what would "possibly" transpire in the future.
In spite of all this I wish them well, but I guess they should also accept, that it was their hand that put the signature on whatever crummy contract they now hold in their hand.
I think the only point that has any merit in a Doctor/Pilot comparison, is that (to the best of my knowledge) you cannot (well at least not in Europe
AFAIK) go from zero to doctor & gain employment as a Doc purely by self financing. . . however, I stand willing to be proven wrong on that score too, as nowadays ? ?
who knows.