This. As long as fares are cheap, Joe Public is happy and so is Congress. I hate to say it, but with the exception of 9/11 most people see an air tragedy on the news, think to themselves, "That's too bad," then go on about their day. Pilot pay never even enters into their thought process. And if it did, it's not like they'd call their Senator and say, "You know, we should really look into a minimum wage for pilots." As long as the RAA can say some Delta pilots make $200k, Joe Public will probably just get the impression we're greedy for wanting more. Just yesterday Joe Public couldn't even understand that I wasn't a U.S. Airways pilot since that's what was painted on the plane.

I think our only real shot at meaningful change is getting out of the Railway Labor Act. But Joe Public and Congress would hate that because fares would go up.