I just read "Why pilots should make $200,000 year".

There are a lot of truths in the article, but it sounds like pilots are forced to make the sacrifices for their profession. Are most pilots coerced into paying their dues? Were you forced into the military, or was that a price you were willing to pay to get the training and the opportunity to fly for the airlines?

Like everybody else, I get paid my money and I spend my money. The marketplace is setting the price- and that includes on the supply side. The industry is overcapacity in a lot of respects, clearly Virgin America won't help that aspect. But go ahead and have your carrier charge 50% more for a ticket and see where that gets you.

America is still a free market economy. Right now, pilots are in excess "supply" and the companies are using that to their advantage- as a stockholder I expect them to. And so would most pilots with investments.