Pilots No Longer Living The Dream

Among the jobs little boys dream of -- policeman, fireman, bulldozer driver -- airline pilot long held the added virtue of satisfying grown-up dreams: pay that reached $300,000 a year, 20 days a month off work, the prestige of one day commanding a $200 million airplane, and a lush retirement at 60.

But the airline industry's financial collapse this decade did away with much of that, leaving thousands of young men -- and increasingly women -- chasing a dream toward a disappointing reality.

"My wife thinks I'm nuts," said Jason Captain, 32, of Fort Worth who left the Navy last November, walking away from $75,000-a-year lieutenant's pay for flying military brass in and out of Guantánamo Bay.

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