Pilots do try to milk every penny from management. I bet if management offered pilots a 25% increase across the board the pilot group of any major would accept it. The way the game works is simple. Pilots push management to get the highest wages possible, regardless of the airline's financial situation, and management has to decide how much they can afford to give the pilots after they've cashed the paychecks for the company officers and VPs. So basically they're greedy and we're stupid. I wonder why four of the six legacy carriers have been in bankrupcy in the last three years.