Do not know the answer to this. Probably pick a point at which the "Start-up" moniker no longer applies. An arbitrary figure - say 15 or 20 years. Long enough to be estabished, and at 15 years the line is obviously succesful - at 10-15 or 20 years the airline, if successful, needs to pay in accordance with the industry stalwarts. Again, this should be an arbitrary figure to produce a good argument. It is foolish to say "lowering the bar" on a start-up, simply because NO start-up can pay industry leading wage. SWA did not pay industry leading wage at first. If they STILL lagged, it would be a sin, and the pilots that flew for them would be "lowering the bar"...as it is, the first pilots for SWA were pioneers (and well compensated with Stock Options).