@ FWRWATPLX2...
I couldn't agree more!
If I had taken these tests I probably would not have become an airline pilot because I would have most likely flunked them.
Been flying commercially now for 37 years some of it flying a Dash 7 and a Dash 8 for commuter airlines prior to flying the FK28, 3 years of that based in France (LFPO) for a French carrier so I know how it works in France and how complicated it was then to become an airline pilot in that country.
Since then I went back to a very good corporate gig and I'm glad I left the airline world and I certainly don't have any regrets either.
Some of my friends stayed with the airlines but with all the ups and downs in that industry (pay cuts, mergers and companies closing down) and 9/11 some of them are completely fed up with their work environment are so looking forward to retirement.
It is just not that fun for them anymore and these guys are pilots that loved to fly, they had the passion in their blood and becoming an airline pilot was their dream and now they couldn’t care less about going to work.
Unfortunately for us and upcoming pilots, the industry changed so much in the last 25 years and I don't think it is going to get any better in the future.