wiser words have not been posted on here in a long time..

Reminds me of all the talk about how good Southwest is. Fact is, everyone talking about how good Southwest or Fedex are today are missing the whole picture and undervaluing themselves greatly.

The reason Southwest looks so good today is the same reason an ugly fat girl at the end of the bar begins to look good after a long night of drinking.. The profession has been so beat up over the years with the massive growth of "regionals" and contract concession after contract concession that those who run the show (managers) have effectively managed to reset the "0 point" such that we consider $175/hr with FAR's as work rules to be "good" captains pay.. Managers love this re-allignment, just the same way oil companies love that the American public considers $3/gallon gas "cheap" now.. it's all about incrementalism..

In fact, if you take inflation, the rapid growth of salaries in other professions and cost of retirement all into account, this profession is in the worse shape it's been in since the 1930's when unions first came into being.