Despegue has a point. Very interesting to see how easy it is to disparage flying as a profession and then come up with the time honoured 'bus driver' cliches. Yet somehow thousands are apparently beating down ctc's door to become pilots. The industry is undoubtedly in a dreadful state but it is too easy to denigrate the application and yes, study required for a successful career. It would be unfair to compare an EASA ATPL course with a Cambridge University engineering degree but the ATPL is not negligible. The skills required of an airline pilot are not exclusively academic.