Isn't it one of life peculiarities that everyone thinks a pilot (or fireman, for that matter) is overpaid until an emergency that requires the skills for which they are trained to be used: then they couldn't pay them enough!:p

CK you're absolutely right, and if pilots encountered emergencies every day far fewer would wish to fly for a living and pilots would be paid far more money to do the job. Modern day flying is overwhelmingly routine and non-eventful - we sit there while the computer does its stuff. In fifteen years of turbo-prop flying I've had one engine failure and maybe six other non-scheduled visits to the check list. Perhaps I've just been lucky but I reckon the average firemen sees more excitement in a month than most pilots see on line in a decade, thank goodness. Anyway, no intrinsic value attaches to a job - when all is said and done it's all about supply and demand, however unfair that may seem.

Max,
You are forgetting we get checked every 6 months and our jobs are on the line.
I dont think webster and his jolly band have consultants in every 6 months inspecting what exactly they DO!
If that was the case 50pc would be on the rack.
DONT UNDERVALUE THE PEOPLE AT THE SHARP END!
It only takes one big cockup .
Look at Valuejet !:cool: