Serious question, not flamebating. It's obvious to me that most pilots blame management for their pay cuts and the current trend of decreasing pilot pay. However, with so many airlines going bankrupt the last couple of years, can many struggling airlines really afford to pay their pilots more?

I definitely believe that pilots should be well paid. But I also think that in the last couple of months with our economy taking a nose dive, a lot of people are going to suffer and that's unfortunately just a fact of life. These forums show how frustrated many pilots are with their careers( and they have every right to be IMO) but MANY other careers are facing the same problems now. Many doctors will tell you that it's not the same career it used to be. ATC used to be a pretty solid gig, but from what I have heard, in the last few years they have seen their pay cut quite a bit too.