Don't forget that until the latest round of BKs, SWA was not nearly the highest 737 payscale on a per hour basis. Our previous contract in 1995 put our hourly rate at 90% of SWAs. Of course our rate stayed the same for the next 9 years while SWA went up but the real story at SWA has always been profit sharing and stock. That is how they make big bucks. I would be happy with a reasonable hourly rate but I want a piece of the rock, too. Our CEO makes above industry average then so should I. If I had f###ed up as much as our management has I would be buried 6 feet under.

Think about this as well. How many years do you have at the top of your payscale in most other professions? Here in ours you have to jerk gear for many years unless you timed the hiring cycle just right. You also have to count on your job not disappearing so you have the time to make it to the left seat land of milk and honey. Then, when you get there you discover that you only have a short period of time before you are fired at age 60 (short relative to the total number of years you put into this profession). Yes, 100k is a great salary and I am grateful each payday for my check but it can all go away so rapidly. Think of our high pay rates as compensation for the risk we take in just being in this profession.