My friend Gary, a 757/767 capt at UPS, posted this at our union forum....I thought it would be good for some of the younger guys to see.
"I thought this industry was bad back in 1978 through 1983 when I was trying to get a go at it. I worked hard and struggled through all the crap: The military tightening their belt as far as the number of acceptable applicants in a given year, thousands
of airline pilots on the street due to furloughs, commuters making you pay them money to fly right seat in a Metroliner, good commuters would pay you $700 a month to fly right seat if you were lucky enough to get one of those jobs, the PATCO strike, Branif one going under, the Continental strike, American Airlines starting the "B" scale etc. etc....
Every furloughed pilot I knew was telling me I'd make more money dancing on bar stools than I would at this aviation dream I was pursuing. In 1980, I was selling my blood plasma twice a week to finish off my CFII rating.
I can't imagine how some of these people feel in today's market. I can only hope that they are in this business for the love of flying, and its fascination and future dream paycheck, and not it's realities. I'm mentoring some college students at present, and it's getting really hard to keep them motivated into thinking something really good is in their future.
Aviation has been pretty good for me. But, I will never forget those five years when I was trying to make my way into the cockpit of a big jet.
No longer selling my plasma,
Gary~"
I've seen the good times and the bad times in this business. If you're just getting started, don't fly because you think you'll eventually get rich but because you just can't see yourself doing anything else. Keep plugging ahead because you need to be ready when an opportunity presents itself.
"I thought this industry was bad back in 1978 through 1983 when I was trying to get a go at it. I worked hard and struggled through all the crap: The military tightening their belt as far as the number of acceptable applicants in a given year, thousands
of airline pilots on the street due to furloughs, commuters making you pay them money to fly right seat in a Metroliner, good commuters would pay you $700 a month to fly right seat if you were lucky enough to get one of those jobs, the PATCO strike, Branif one going under, the Continental strike, American Airlines starting the "B" scale etc. etc....
Every furloughed pilot I knew was telling me I'd make more money dancing on bar stools than I would at this aviation dream I was pursuing. In 1980, I was selling my blood plasma twice a week to finish off my CFII rating.
I can't imagine how some of these people feel in today's market. I can only hope that they are in this business for the love of flying, and its fascination and future dream paycheck, and not it's realities. I'm mentoring some college students at present, and it's getting really hard to keep them motivated into thinking something really good is in their future.
Aviation has been pretty good for me. But, I will never forget those five years when I was trying to make my way into the cockpit of a big jet.
No longer selling my plasma,
Gary~"
I've seen the good times and the bad times in this business. If you're just getting started, don't fly because you think you'll eventually get rich but because you just can't see yourself doing anything else. Keep plugging ahead because you need to be ready when an opportunity presents itself.
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