First of all......sorry if I say anything that's already been said......lazy git I haven't read the whole thread.
There is a long tradition of IT professionals on PPRuNe - partly because they may have more time to access the internet at work, but also because it is a job that pays well and therefore pays for flying. I am also from an IT background and I went in with the express intention of paying for flying training. I'm not working in IT at the moment however and indeed my flying ambitions have been on hold for some time due to medical problems
I don't think there is any real link between having IT skills and flying skills and I don't think airlines are going to look more favourably on you because you are good with computers, but at the same time it is a technical subject and as we all know computers are ever more prominent in the modern commercial airliner. Still when I have worked in IT there have been many spare hours that have been spent reading PPRuNe!
I have read once or twice on here of pilots who did suggest they would rather be in IT, but they were obviously seriously disillusioned with their present job. I also know one chap who is a 777 SFO who did a course in computing recently.......but he still loves flying and is not about to go and work in an office.......you can of course earn much more money as an IT contractor than as a pilot if you have the right skill set.....ie SAP/Oracle etc.....but hey, none of us are doing IT for the money itself, but rather the career that it can lead to.
Of course Capt PPRuNe himself came from an IT background originally, and that is how this site came into existence in the first place. I remember about three years ago when there were just five forums on this site and sometimes only a couple of topics (or less) in Wannabes! We have come a long way since then.......this is still the best website in the world so keep it up Capt PPRuNe et al!
[This message has been edited by Wedge (edited 15 April 2001).]