Well this certainly has gotten spirited. I don't like the ugliness but it sounds like people are saying what they feel needs said.

There's a lot of talk of "justifying." Frankly I've got absolutely nothing to justify. I love my job, I'm happy with my compensation, and I believe in what we're doing. I've said before that I'm making twice as much now than I was making before for a fraction of the difficulty / stress / risk. I like the atmostphere of mutual respect and trust where I am, and I like positive attitudes. Someone comes along and accuses me of "bringing down the industry," "lowering the bar," destroying America, whatever, then I'll sit down and tell that person, if I sense that they really want to hear and aren't just venting, why I believe it's far more complex than one pilot group either blindly or maliciously screwing over everyone else. That I came into this industry with open eyes, fully aware of the directions it had the potential to go. It boggles the mind that this would need explaining to an educated adult, but apparently it does because scapegoats are an easier out.

But let's at least be honest. If I hear "the bar" one more time, I'm going to puke -- can we just substitue "my salary" for "the bar" and dispense with the code words? "I wish you JB guys luck at raising my salary." "Thanks to you guys for lowering my salary." Don't make it about altruism, brotherhood, God, and country, it's about your pay. Your pay. So please call it what it is. How about this, anyone who's terribly concerned about the plight of our fellow pilots -- let's get together and fight for raising the salaries of the military pilots who are making far less than you and I while getting shot at half-way around the globe and running a Maintenance / Operations department in the meantime? We're not exactly poor here. And then a fellow pilot says that he's making "the big bucks" already but is furious at "inconsequential" JetBlue because its existence is hampering negotiations to score even more money??

We're pathetic?? Pathetic is basing your entire life on what you're paid. Pathetic is bitterly pining for "the old days." Pathetic is feeling so out of control of your own destiny that you need someone to blame for it. Pathetic is seeing a group of folks who are happy with their job and concluding that they're either deluded, spineless, ignorant, or all three.

No, I've got nothing to justify. I'm going to keep going to work and enjoying myself. If I begin to feel that I'm being compensated unfairly then I'll fight for what I consider to be fair. And if I find this ineffective or I find myself becoming unhappy with what I'm doing, then I'll look inwards, I'll say to myself "I'm a smart guy, how in the world did I not see that coming?" and I'll go do something else.