Do you think that De-regulation ended the "glory days" of the airline industry? I don't know if you're looking for a bigger salary or for a lifestyle that existed 40 years ago as a pilot but I don't think either one was lost by de-regulation.
The airlines just like any other industry (or aspect of our culture) are evolving and we're not going to go back to the way things were. Things won't be the same in another 40 years as they are now but they wont be like the past either. We need to try to guide our industry down a good path into the future but trying to drive it back into the past is futile.