There has always been different standards of compensation within the industry based on which model one works under. Legacy, ULCC, and regional are all under the same industry, yet all pay differently. In the freight side of the business, Atlas or Kalitta pilots have never made what UPS pilots do. Both fly the same aircraft and do the same job, however working for UPS vs an ACMI means that you are negotiating with a much deeper set of pockets. I'd love to see you guys make major improvements, however I just don't see a ULCC getting contractual parity with a legacy. Without a massive global network, frequent flyer programs that actually attract a large customer base, and the credit card revenue, you're just sticking your hands into a set of shallow pockets.

As far as the ULCC being the wrong model to support, that depends on the perspective of consumer, employee, shareholder, or management. I do think that the ULCC will adapt into a LCC model. The industry has simply made a pizza so cheap that many people don't want to eat it again after trying it. There is a demand for low priced travel, however that company can't incur the same cost as higher priced competition and still sell at a big discount. Raising prices somewhat and greatly improving service, frequency, and reliability should allow significant improvements in ULCC/LCC compensation, I do however believe that there will always be a gap between regionals, ULCC's, and legacies.