To be fair to the new pilots doing their licenses right now, they listen to a flight instructor every day who is telling them to keep flying because it's worth it. They hear how, sure the money sucks for the first two years, but it gets better every year after. This, typically, from a slightly older pilot who became an instructor within the past two years. Then come in some real old guys who tell them to be careful of the big bad wolf. At such impressionable ages as graduates are, who do you think they're going to listen to? To them the Air Canada pilot is the gold standard and they're not going to listen to anyone who does not meet or no longer meets that standard. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, but I think we all know the type we are referring.
What needs to happen, and I've said this before, is a change in the way we train pilots. We need to have older and very experienced pilots going back to do the training. That way they get instruction in not only how to fly, but how to be a professional pilot. Unfortunately, ab initio training (PPL up to CPL & ME-IFR) is very much seen akin to teaching kids to drive. If we want to keep having 250 hour pilots teach ab initio, then do it under the guidance of a CFI who has a minimum of 5 years operational flying at the commuter or airline level. There must be enough of us willing to go back and do that...for the right price of course.
