The industry is cyclical. It goes through a major downturn every ten years. The industry struggled in the early 80's, only to have an upturn at the end of the 80's. It struggled again in the early 90's when Pan Am, Eastern and Midway shut down, and Continental and America West were in bankruptcy, and more pilots were on the street then than there are now.. By the late 90's we were in a hiring boom. Now in the early 00's we have another downturn. Within a few years you will again see a major boom. The key is to get to a good major at the beginnning of the next upcycle, so you can weather the next downturn which WILL come in the early 10's.