A few things need to happen to save the industry.

1 Some form of government regulation needs to be in place... somethign along the lines of the utility companies.... private for profit, but regulated.

2 A national union with an established pilot contract... doesn't matter where you work, or for whom... this is the baseline pilot contract... period.
If your employer wants to give your local union more that's fine, but nobody shall accept less than whatever comes out of the national.

The $1 per seat is a good starting point for 1st year FO's. $2 per seat sounds good for Capt's. If they did it on a per seat basis, the step raises would seem smaller but in reality work out well. Example; 5 cents on a 50 seater would be an extra $2.50 and hour. The same 5 cents on a 150 seater would be $7.50 an hour.
There would need to be a baseline minimum pay as well.... since the pay by seat thing doesn't work well for smaller 121 transport aircraft like the Beech 1900. $19 and hour for a first year FO stinks, and 38 and hour for a Capt is a joke.... way too much responsibility and liability for such low pay... even on a small plane...