Pilots will step over the dead bodies of others to get the job. They will fist fight their grand mothers for a seat in ground school. If everything including the left seat were up for grabs then a lot of experienced pilots will come out of the wood work willing to do the job for less than the other guy.

Professional flying is not a job anymore but a life of martyrdom. The majority of pilots compensation comes from job satisfaction. In the airlines experience really does not count for much anymore. Pilots are hired based upon their friends and family network.

Take all that away and open it up to all takers who meet the stated minimums and you would see wages plummet. LCC's prove it. Why would an experienced captain take a job at a start up for less than they could be earning on year two at an established major?

Pilots are not paid by what they can do but for what they will do. The airlines commonly offer the best the opportunity for QOL over corporate. Corporate guys usually have to give up a lot more control over their lives. They are paid for what they will give up.

I flew right seat in a corporate/135 learjet and citation. My schedule was 24 hours a day on call for 17 days in a row. I had a 30 minute call out and averaged $1000/ month. My life was miserable. I could not go on a date. I had a hard time sitting through a movie. I worried about buying a gallon of milk since I could be called away at any time for weeks at a time. I could not go skiing even though the lifts were only 15 minutes away.

When I was called out it was almost guaranteed to be over every weekend. You could count on being gone for every holiday because those are the times when the VIP's wanted to visit their friends and family. Corporate guys are paid more because they have to put up with a lot more.

The regionals offered similar wages and an actual schedule. Eventually there was hope of reclaiming a shred of a normal life.

SKyhigh