Cycles
Aviation does undulate with the business tide however when it comes to pilots it is undeniable that their wages and benefits have been steadily ratcheting downward with every cycle.
I watched an interesting documentary last week about how the job market is changing. Educated people will forgo higher paying jobs for more "interesting" positions. As a result the wages and benefits of these "fancier" jobs are declining while other less technical positions are gaining.
I have the same idea for some time now. In other words in the near future pilots and engineers will be the lower paid than plumbers.
SkyHigh