Originally Posted by NineGturn

That's absolutely not a fair comparison. If a top coach, doctor, salesman, etc. is dissatisfied with his employer or his employer goes under, that top performer with years of experience doesn't thave to start over at the competition at minimum wage. He may even get picked up with a pay increase.

Also...there is nothing in our system that requires or indicates that a senior captain at a major airline earning a six figure salary is any more competent or deserving than a regional first officer earning $22 hour who has a similar background and experience. Most likely though, that second guy will just quit aviation and all his experience is lost to some other endeavor.

IMO there is nothing wrong with paying a low time pilot intern level wages until he/she has proven experience and can land the plane consistently without making the captain break a sweat. The problem is that everyone being hired at any airline in our country is lumped into that same category regardless of experience.

And btw...other professions, doctors, lawyers, salesmen, coaches, etc. also have seniority in their workplace....it's just not the single driving factor that determines their pay and status within the company.

I'm guessing that most airline pilots have never worked seriously outside the airline industry and simply don't know any better.

Get rid of entitlement pay, entitlement transition and upgrades... Get rid of hiring only at entry level... It will fix this broken system and pay will begin to stabilize across the board and even go up at the high end.