I don't agree that the FO and CA should be compensated at the same level just b/c they are both in the jet (so are the FAs and pax for that matter). I do think the large chasm between junior and senior pay has been rationalized over the years by rapid and certain advancement due to things like age 60. If we cannot expect the continual upward mobility due to certain retirements, its entirely possible for a large segment of the population to be stuck in an unpleasant financial spot for a long time. If this is turning into a real job, we need a real job payscale.

Its happening right now in my engineering job. We have a ton of baby boomers who are hanging on b/c they can't afford to retire. The side effect is that there really is no middle to our population. They all got laid off. Only in the last few years have they been hiring new young people. Eventually, there will be a large lurch when the greyhairs retire, but until then, its fairly stagnant. I started out far higher in pay than a regional FO, but a CA catches up pretty quickly. I also work at least 5 days a week, some weekends, and some overtime. A significant portion of my office works every weekend and 60-80 hours a week. A senior regional CA at one of the "better" regionals makes about the same as a senior engineer who didn't play the politics to management.