I am an outsider in the sense that I do not have my commercial license, but i'm working toward it. I wonder why this industry, compared to so many others, has such low pay for skilled employees? Why is it that when you leave one airline to go to another, you start at the very bottom, even though you have years of experience under your belt? Is it the unions that created all of this? Why aren't there free market principals at play? In other words, if true free market principles applied, then a pilot leaving Skywest with 9,000 hours to move to Southwest, he would be seen as a skilled aviator with years of experience and he would receive pay commensurate to his skill level. In reality, he starts at the bottom of the seniority ladder. I don't believe physicians have this kind of problem, nor do lawyers or accountants. So why is this a problem only in aviation?

And, i ask all of this knowing that pay has come up recently. It truly boggles my mind that an FO could have been paid roughly $20k for their first year to fly multi million dollar planes with dozens of souls on board. it truly defies logic.