"captain steve" is getting torn up in the comments. People are absolutely steamed at the thought of paying more for tickets. I think most stopped reading near the beginning when he mentioned that tickets were too cheap and proceeded directly to the comments to rant.

Here are some good ones:

"Do we see McDonalds fry boys and mutual fund managers complaining that their pay is a function of people wanting cheaper food and financial advice?"

This is one about foreign carriers purchasing US airlines- "So I’ll ask - why would it be such a bad thing if an airline with a better reputation took over?"

"So what exactly are “welfare wages?”"

Here is my favorite......"The skills involved in flying an airplane are overrated. (My pilot friends would agree)"

All those just from the first page of comments. We really are in trouble if we think the public will back us when the time comes.

I keep finding good ones...

"i disagree with the implication that pilots have irreplaceable skill- i just saw on tv where the bad guys offed the pilot, and harrison ford jumped in and guided the plane to safety via verbal instructions (ok, ok, i know he actually is a pilot, but the concept still stands)"

"Also, why don’t airplanes have parachutes for all the passengers?"

"How about we just eliminate the pilots altogether? Technologically, there is no reason to have pilots aboard"

I had to stop after this ridiculousness......"What ‘Sully’ did was admirable. But what you all fail to comprehend is that he was just saving his own ass. That was the priority. All those in the rear were there for the ride. His experience allowed him to save himself along with the other souls on board.

Now, I believe that pilots are overpaid bus drivers…. Yes, they require medical (which it’s obvious that some have ‘paid off’ their Drs to have a ‘pass’ grade) and they require Random Alcohol and Drug testing, but then again, so do Flight Attendants and Aircraft Technicians. They require x amount of hours rest but so do the other two mentioned groups.

At one point a pilot’s salary was close to that of the President of the United States… how do you justify that? Since then, their salaries and that of their counterparts - the whole airline industry- have taken massive pay cuts. Now, a pilot is receiving what some may still consider a very good compensation for their skills."