A lot of people could never even earn their private, don't kid yourselves. And I never plan to drive anything for a living. I plan to fly stuff. Big difference. And if you have the attitude that flying is just a job and you're just like anyone else, no one is ever going to think you deserve to be paid much more than everyone else. Do you ever see an athlete go on the record saying playing in the NFL is just a job and they're really average people? Its all in the image and public perception. Ever seen footage of a 60/70s airline pilot walking around an airport terminal? You could tell from the way they strolled around how highly they thought of themselves. They thought they were badass, the public thought they were badass, they were paid accordingly. Pilots start talking about how easy newer airplanes are to fly, programs start saying you can be an airline pilot in 90 days, bitching about the career becomes public and widespread, and poof, the public image takes a huge hit.
As much as I think the majority of the flying public couldn't add 2 single digit numbers together, the fact is what they think directly reflects the profession. Talking about how "easy" flying is won't help. Flying is not easy. Scanning a boarding pass as a passenger boards a plane is easy. Maybe even monitoring auto-pilot for hours could be "easy". But flying a fully-loaded 172 at night in moderate turbulence over mountains, hauling freight thru a thunderstorm in a 40 year old turboprop that's falling apart, formation aerobatics inches off the wing of another airplane, fire bombing in a P-3, fighting an airplane that's suffered a structural failure, flying close air support under AA fire, or ditching an airliner aren't. All are different walks of flying, and they all take skill, balls, and aptitude. Most people could never do that stuff. Maybe you think your flying job is easy, but don't speak for everyone else by saying "flying" is easy. You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
