Hey Carl,

I can't stand Bill Swellbar either.

But the underlying data is legit, the way he puts it together isn't.
For instance the average salary chart, all it does is takes "money spent on pilots" and divides it up by "number of pilots"

Each airline in the chart may have different ways on accounting for spending.
What goes in one companies "pilot expenses column" might go to a totally different department at another company like "training"

Pilots out on medical, long term disability, family leave, mil leave, union business will all affect those numbers if they are counted as "pilots" but get compensated from a different pool of cash...

All that matters (to the financial types) is this number:

Pilot CASM
2010 Delta Pilot CASM ¢1.07
2010 WN Pilot CASM ¢1.42

The Charts about "competitive advantage/disadvantage" "average pilot salary" etc. are pure management fodder, and help Bill come in as a consultant to get better "labor deals".
You won't see any of those numbers quoted in an Annual or quarterly report because they simply have no bearing on the operation.

Even with augmented crews and guys on disability, to Delta Air Lines, pilots are 32% cheaper than Southwest pilots and our paychecks reflect that difference.

Now here's something for a little perspective 2010 numbers:

CASM was ¢12.55
CASM ex Fuel was ¢8.18
Pilot Portion of CASM ¢1.07

that's the proverbial "drop in the bucket"

Cheers
George