I can't imagine lawyers, accountants, doctors etc spend anywhere near this amount.
No, you're right - most of them spend a lot more. Some doctors who get to have Mister instead of Doctor in front of their name spend double.
Some people forget that airlines are a business. They exist to make money, not to make hopes and dreams come true. Our entire western society is based on the acquisition of more things, and for those at the top, money talks. Airlines do what they do because someone tried a new way to hire people, and a bunch of pilots jumped at the chance. The airline realized they could save a ton of money, so they took something else away. Still more people jumped at the chance.
So you want to blame someone? Blame the pilots who sold their souls just so they could fly something with jets under the wing a couple years earlier than they otherwise would have.
Don't ever blame the airlines for doing what they are expected to do. If I were a shareholder in an airline, I would want that airline to make whatever smart business decisions are necessary to protect my investment. If I was an executive and could make a group of so-called professionals drop everything, then does that make me bad at my job, or good?
I say so-called professional because do you think a lawyer or doctor would permit their wages and working conditions to be eroded like us pilots have? Not a chance. Their professional integrity is worth more than something as silly as money.
Now, you say you have a passion for flying. Don't apply at the airlines. Go do something else. There are a lot of flying jobs in aviation that don't involve Boeing or Airbus products. Airline flying is not flying. It's button pushing and bus driving. Go fly a Beaver in Canada or a Twin Otter or Caravan in Africa. That is flying, and you'll enjoy it more when you look back and realize 20 years have passed and you've seen really cool things instead of hotel rooms and restaurants.
And yes, this happens in every industry. The pilots who think otherwise are naive. But, if you truly believe that being a pilot is no longer special, then you have not sat at a desk in a go-nowhere job staring at the cubicle wall for years on end, wondering whether it is raining or snowing, daylight or dark outside. Go do that for 10 years, then come back and try and tell me there is still not something special about flying over a mountain range or seeing the cities of the world from the air.
Perspective my friend. You're at the beginning, looking down a long, hard road of sacrifice. I'm out the other end where I've paid my debts and dues and am starting to enjoy my career and the success that comes with it. It is worth it, but 20 years in has seen a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Realizing your dreams is not cheap, and it gets harder every year. I never sold my soul. I was never willing to work for less than I thought I was worth and that resulted in turning down a lot of opportunities. As a result, it took me 10 years longer to "make it." And I couldn't be happier.
So answer this: at 38 or 40 do you want to look back and realize you've made it and it's relatively clear sailing to retirement, or do you want to be sitting in that cubicle, staring at airplane pictures and watching YouTube videos wishing you had just taken that step?
Trust me on this: 20 years goes by in a blink. Yesterday it was 1997. I have no clue how 2017 came along so quickly.