Great post Nerd.
Somebody brought up the seniority-based pay scales, and the ingrained "pay-your-dues" system that's plaguing the airline industry. I will also say that the problem isn't the management. The problem is the collective mentality of airline pilots in the US.
After my airline collapsed (Aloha), many of us lost everything. Nerd, imagine yourself right now, you are an experienced captain making a solid living, but due to really poor management, you find your airline collapsing and now you no longer have a job. OK, it happens to the best of us, you say. I will go and find another job. But unlike most other "professionals", you, despite most likely decades of experience in the cockpit, years as a captain making decisions, are limited to making less than $3000/month again, and that's if you're 'fortunate' enough to get hired an outfit like say Allegiant or JetBlue.
"It's not fair to have anyone off-the-street or some 'brown noser' bypass me (in terms of pay, seat, etc.) - I was here first" is the argument you'll hear from the people in any airline.
What also fosters the above argument is are the tiered payscales. Everyone rightfully wants to protect theirs. So as a result, if, God-forbid, your airline goes out of business, and you're young and 'fortunate' enough to get hired by another airline, remember, your experience, your time in the industry, your previous compensation do not matter one iota. You are still sentenced to under $3000/month.
... and what's even more shocking is that the pilot population accepts that as normal.
Do airline managers 'lose' all their years of experience when it comes to their compensation? Maybe their 'loss' is about equal to the percentage of pilots' pay cuts as parts of concessions.
The management sees this as a way to keep your wages low simply because you will have to start over somewhere else, and to many, it might be financially impossible. Just think in terms of concessions you've given over the last decade, still better than losing your seniority-protected pay, right? In the meanwhile, look at the airline executive compensation and bonuses while you were taking pay cuts and losing your pension.
Sadly, US pilot population accepts this as normal, and as long as that mentality persists among the pilot ranks, you will not exact any changes.
As a result of this, many of my former airline colleagues took jobs flying for overseas airlines where there is no 'seniority system' like in the US, where you are paid as a professional from day 1 as opposed to 10 years from now.
Unfortunately, in the US, I don't see the pilot compensation system changing without radical changes in pilots' collective way of thinking, and sadly, I think it's highly unlikely.