ChrisH, Skyhigh

ChrisH great post!! dead on target!
SkyHigh????Part of the reason why the salaries of airline pilots are going down the tubes are these LCC's (except SWA) who pay their pilots cr@p!!
and I'm talking about before 911. How can Delta compete against Air-Tran when Air-Tran pilots work so much cheaper than the Delta Pilots?
You can look at it and say the Delta guys are overpaid, but they're not, Its the Air-Tran guys who accept the low wages, which in turn causes Delta to try and match somehow.
My favorite is that "Aviation Genius" Neelman from JetBlue. He's on all these TV shows pontificating about how smart He is and How JetBlue has somehow unlocked the secret of profitability in the airline business. In reality He starts a new airline where every employee is on their first year pay, then He pays them sub-standard pay, gets a cherry deal from Airbus, and cherry picks the best routes...Now how could Delta or other legacy carrier compete when Delta has to pay their Capts 12 year pay, and their salaries are excellent! ditto for all the other workers in the company! So Delta's hurting and guys like skyhigh are laughing or saying that those dummies at Delta can't figure out the "new paradigm"
In about 8 years, hopefully pilots at JetBlue and Airtran and their ilk will be at higher salary levels, and I'll laugh when Neelman quits and starts JetRED with bottom feeders all the jetBlue pilots etc will feel the pain.
I don't wish ill will on these pilots, many are my friends but as pilots we can't keep on accepting these low salaries without realizing the consequences for the profession. I know its easy for me to say due to my position, and I feel for everyone of these guys.