Highly-skilled airline workers live in airport shanty-town-- all to 'provide for family'

Story here. Excerpt:

'For about 15 days a month, Alaska Airlines pilot Jim Lancaster lives in a motor home in Parking Lot B near the southernmost runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

Every four minutes, a jetliner or turboprop roars in -- 500 feet above his front door -- for a landing. The noise is so loud it forces Lancaster to pause during conversations. But he doesn't mind. Lancaster puts up with the smell of jet fuel and screaming engines to save time and money.
...
"This is the cost of being a pilot today," said Todd Swenson, 40, a first officer with Alaska Airlines. His wife, Amanda, and 2-year-old son, Noah, live in Fresno, a six-hour commute by car. "I've wanted to be a pilot all my life. It can be awful here. But I have to provide for my family, and I love flying airplanes."
...
Today, the colony has more than 100 residents -- mostly men -- from around the country, including captains, first officers, mechanics, flight attendants, support staff and employees of air cargo companies. There are at least two married couples, who work as flight attendants. About 10 people are on a waiting list.'

They've been there at least since 2005. I wonder if most of these people were women if they would be living on the tarmac like this for very long? I rather imagine the airline "wouldn't hear of it," and probably put them up someplace "more comfortable". Meanwhile, wives and children sleep tight at home - minus the old man, since he's making these sacrifices for them.