TTN,
There was a bloke flying the Skybus out of Lands End who had been a tube driver and had taken a hefty cut in salary to get into aviation - quite apart from the huge chunk of money to fund his ATPL. Still thought he had made the right move though.
Regt cpl I served with is now a 757 captain.
Shy Torque,
How could you not mention gender when that's the reason for the topic?
I hope that what I wrote didn't, and wouldn't be construed as detracting from Nikki's or
anyone's achievements - she got there based on her skills and personal and professional qualities - not because or despite of her gender, and in a meritocracy, that's how it should be.
Edit: Having just had a coffee I concede that the two separate strands of my post above might appear contradictory and mark me as a hypocrite of the highest order!