Crew salaries and benefits are a minute fraction of the equation. They could double our pay and have nearly the same bottom line.
How do you figure?
total pilots * credit hours per year * hourly pay rate = rough estimate of pilot labor cost
If you take hourly pay rate * 2, you don't get anywhere near the same total as hourly pay rate * 1.
I get the point that pilot labor costs are a smaller part of the budget pie than some of the other slices (fuel, facilities, maintenance, aircraft leases)...but to say it's an inconsequential slice is in denial of reality.
At ASA, we just got this giant pay cut from DAL. The way they *were* running an airline and making money doesn't work after that. So, they're trying to figure out how to run an airline and make money in an age of lower total compensation from the primary mainline partner. Keeping crew/labor costs lower is one of the ways they can try to achieve that.
I'm not endorsing it or saying it's right or the best way, but it's one facet in a multi-faceted approach.