Skippy:
You are on a different planet sir, you really, really are.
Most of the airline pilots I know, even the younger ones, well, they may have debts but they're right up their on the income scale in comparison with most.
No, Skippy, it is you who is on a different planet. Piloting is not a career anymore - your terms and conditions will be worse than a fair-ground operative can expect, and your salary less than a taxi driver.
Try living on $20k a year:
Professional Pilot Salaries - The Truth About the Profession
Try earning less than a taxi driver:
Low Pay One of Many Difficulties Facing Regional Pilots | Fox News
Try earning $10 an hour (the $20 here is
flying hour , not hours worked):
The U.S. Airline Pilots Who Barely Make Minimum Wage - Skift
Try living as trailer-trash in a car park:
The Parking Lot Where Pilots Sleep - WSJ.com
Try living 25 to an apartment:
Airline Pilots Who Commute - Articles - Executive Travel
And the same happens in Europe, with the low-standards airlines. Tell me, Skip, how much of your annual salary would be left over, when you are laid off for 4 months each year, and then told to relocate 2,000 km at your own expense - you and all your family. And don't expect to settle in Lithuania for more than a couple of years before the next move - to Greece perhaps....
Sacked Ryanair pilot claims O'Leary became aggressive - Independent.ie
Most of us, Skip, are just hanging on by the fingertips, and looking for a career with better prospects. Refuse collection is looking like a good option at present -
stable job,
always demand for your services,
regular work pattern,
no overnights,
you can take a flask of coffee with you,
you can stop off for a Dunkin Donut,
you can have a piss without asking,
no test every six months,
no medical every year,
not confined to a telephone-box for 14 hours,
nobody recording and replaying everything you do during every day you work,
no relocation to another state with four days notice - at your own expense,
no furlough for four months each year with no pay,
no strip-search twice a day, including belt, shoes and everything bar your pants and vest,
nobody fondling your bo!!ocks every day just because they can,
no living in a trailer in a car-park,
no living 25 to an apartment,
salary paid into a bank, instead of cash,
basic health insurance included,
pension included - a pension, remember them?
What is there NOT to like, about refuse collection?
Silver