US airways was flooded with apps when they started hiring in the last year, would this have been the case in the 1980's if they were paying almost half the compensation package that Delta offers? The answer is obviously No; They would have to increase there pay to match that of Delta and the other carriers to attract pilots, lower standards, or go out of business.
What are you talking about? Until the recent AA merger, US Airways did pay half of Delta and there was a line of pilots at least 10 miles long in terms of applications on file. There is no shortage of pilots willing to move on to a major.