I remember in junior high school someone came in to talk to the class about working for the airlines and the benefits they got. This was back in the late 70s, though. For a while I thought working in IT for airlines would be a great job (but didn't go in that direction during or after college).
About 2 years into my second job I took a Learning Annex class with a very motivated instructor about becoming a travel agent (with benefits a big part of the carrot), but couldn't take the idea of the 60% pay cut very well.
The mileage game and bottom-fishing the ULCCs and mistake fares has proven to be a viable alternative over the years.