Road apples.

Respectfully, your lofty perch has blurred your vision of the maggots dodging baggage carts (in spite of our dandy chartreuse vests). A 747, 777, 767 Captain, especially one relatively senior in his domo, remained in essentially the same spot, give or take a few numbers. He will continue to loiter near the top of the pay scale for the rest of his career. Yet many of the FO's (particularly those on my team) had their upgrade pushed way back. That represents real money. Add the B/C fund kicker and the power of compound interest (not to mention dividends) and pretty soon you're talking real big money.

There's a big difference between taking a whiff of a $hit sandwich and having to eat it.