And what compounds the reply Lucas made just above (below?) mine here is that you've got entry level salaries for pilots often as low as $20-30k and senior pilo

And what compounds the reply Lucas made just above (below?) mine here is that you've got entry level salaries for pilots often as low as $20-30k and senior pilots making $150-250k. (Philip Greenspun has a great write-up on this if you care to google for it). So when you've got that kind of disparity, you're going to have guys who are quite ambitious and willing to sacrifice long hours to move up into the more livable parts of the salary range available in their profession.