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Still, the pilots broke one of strictest rules in aviation - the "24 hour" rule.

You do not know what you are talking about. There is no such thing as a "24 hour rule." FAR Part 121 is the governing law, and most airlines use a way more conservative 13 hour rule. Even in the old days it was "eight hours bottle to throttle". 24 hours. Your ignorance is showing.

Pilots are very highly compensated and they get plenty of "down time" between duty cycles to hit the bars all they want.

Are you professionally ignorant, or are you just talking to read yourself? Pilots to NOT have "pleanty of down time" between duty cycles. Once you begin a trip you are governed by FARs which permit an AVERAGE of 12 hours off between 14 hour duty periods.

Few airlines waste money sitting people on a layover when the FARs do not require it. Pilots are glorified truck drivers anyway. It is so easy to pilot a plane that even 13-year-olds can master it. Any stewardess can learn to be a good pilot.

No you have lost credibility. You say: 1. Pilots are highly compensated. 2. Anyone can do their job. Question then, what kind of idiot would NOT try to get the job? How dumb are you that you are NOT an airline pilot? Flying Microsoft Flight Simulator is not the same as .8 Mach at FL390 with Level 5 TRWs on a dark night. Sheesh... And, what pray tell is a "stewardess" - WHO ARE YOU? Have you even FLOWN as a passenger in the past 20 years? There is no such thing as a "stewardess" and hasn't been for 25 years.

Flying Microsoft Flight Simulator is not the same as .8 Mach at FL390 with Level 5 TRWs on a dark night.

And who says it is? BTW, those who fly military fighter planes such as the F-18 are on a far different level than those who fly commercial aircraft. Not even the same league. Commercial piloting is more akin to truck driving, whether you care to admit it or not.

And, what pray tell is a "stewardess" - WHO ARE YOU? Have you even FLOWN as a passenger in the past 20 years? There is no such thing as a "stewardess" and hasn't been for 25 years.

You seem to be the one who is misinformed about the airline industry. I flew several times in the past year and each and every time, I had stewardesses on board. In fact, if you read the news, you would have heard about the stewardess who thwarted a terrorist attack on an airplane over the Atlantic last December. They guy was going to light some explosives in his shoe on fire and the stewardess stopped it!

It is because of that incident that I changed my mind about stewardesses. A few months prior to that incident, I posted here that stewardesses should be done away with entirely. I proposed that the airlines hand out a bag lunch to each passenger as he/she boards the plane and provide vending machines in the back for such things as beer, soda, peanuts and headphones. It used to annoy me greatly to have stewardesses lug those blasted beverage carts up and down the aisles during flight, blocking off my egress to the lavaratories.

But alas! I have come around on the issue of stewardesses in the months since the December incident. Stewardesses have proven their value after all. I just wish they didn't have to lug around those beverage carts. Maybe we can still stick some vending machines in the back and hand out those bag lunches. The stewardesses will then have more time to focus on suspicious passengers.

And, what pray tell is a "stewardess" - WHO ARE YOU? Have you even FLOWN as a passenger in the past 20 years? There is no such thing as a "stewardess" and hasn't been for 25 years.

Everybody knows what a stewardess is. Drop the PC garbage.

Are you professionally ignorant, or are you just talking to read yourself? Pilots to NOT have "pleanty of down time" between duty cycles. Once you begin a trip you are governed by FARs which permit an AVERAGE of 12 hours off between 14 hour duty periods.

I believe that Sam was referring to the fact that most pilots have days off between trips. Within a given duty cycle you are correct, but a friend of mine who flew L-1011's for Delta would be off sometimes a week at a time between "duty cycles". Plenty of time during that time to drink all that one wants to. BTW my friend does not drink.

There is no such thing as a "stewardess" and hasn't been for 25 years.

The uniformed lady who brought me my Bloody Mary on my last flight seems to think she's a stewardess. (And for my money, she gave a very convincing impersonation.)

what kind of idiot would NOT try to get the job?

Hi, I am an idiot and I got a PPL with the intention of going on to ATP and CFI. But I got bored with it because it was not intellectually stimulating enough. Pilots really are glorified bus drivers.

I have to wonder why professional pilots complain so much, and if they really are so professional and hard to replace, why do they need a union?