Not to defend anybody at the AArrogant Phallus Association, but... the problem is not that they are overpaid; the problem is the rest of the industry is underpaid.

Ummm, very much understated. You make no bones trying to pick on APA guys as being at or near the top in the industry per this website (which only reviews hourly scales and does not include duty hours, reassignment rules and quality of life issues)... and then whitewash it with "the same can be said of management." Go do some research, AMR management is in many cases paid 10 times more than the nearest competitor.... before their bonus money is figured in...

You can keep making snide remarks, or you can admitt that in 2003 when every single employee of this company kept the place out of bankruptcy on the promise of management to make things right..... only to be shafted while they rolled around in money.
In the old days, if a company did well, everybody did well, from the top CEO on down to the washroom cleaner... the old methods of business management are gone. Replaced by the "me" generation... raised by MTV, and taught that ethics are meaningless so long as you glean every cent of profit you can from anyplace you can get it. That is the mentality of airline management the last 20 years.

The rest of the nation is only now beginning to realize what airline employees have been dealing with over the last few decades, since now Wall Street has taken a page from airline management play books and are doign the same thing. Run the business into the ground, steal every penny you can, then "reorganize" in bankruptcy, or get a government bailout. Airlines used to do that ALL THE TIME.... nobody did anything to stop it. Airline business models are being used in top Ivy League Schools to teach business administration... is it any wonder we have the economical mess we have today?