It is articles like this....

[determined2fly]

I am 34 years old and in my final semester in college. I decided to take my education seriously in the late stages of my life. My career choice was always wanting to fly for a living. I read these forums on a daily basis for hints of encouragement from the men and women in this profession. I know it is possible to make my dreams a reality, however, I came across this article in the New York times and a sense of uneasiness came over me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/business/economy/14income.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

 

[BobDDuck]

I think this was posted somewhere already, but either way...

This article is pretty much 100% on. If you can't be willing to face this possibility then this career is not for you. In fact, if you don't think that this is an inevitability at some point in your career you probably should look somewhere else.

I was very fortunate in avoiding getting downgraded (by 3 people) but it has meant that I am the most junior captain in base and have been for almost 18 months now. That means I never get more than 10 days off a month, I don't get ANY say in what line I am awarded (I just get the one that is left) and next month when they award vacation, I will get what ever 2 weeks are left at the end. I haven't had a Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday off in over a year (with the exception of the week of vacation I had last December. I haven't had more than 3 days off in a row since then either.

The plus side to all that is I didn't take a pay cut so I really shouldn't complain.

The glamor of this job, especially at the regionals, and even at the majors when things move backwards, goes away VERY quickly.