My peers and I happened to get in and get out of a very cushy job at just the right time. Many of us knew what we wanted to do while we were still in high school.
During college, we logged the required flying time, and, when we graduated, were immediately hired by the airlines for a job with (literally) stratospheric opportunities. Sadly, as you mentioned, for young pilots today, it is a very different story.
There will be huge consolidations in the industry to compensate for skyrocketing costs and a shrinking labor pool of qualified applicants, which, in the end, will mean less competition and rising costs for the consumer. It will definitely be interesting to see how it all plays out.
