Actually, qualified applications have shrunk quite a bit. Regionals have been lowering minimums to fill classes. Rumor has it that the stack of qualified resumes on file at Alaska is down to less than 150 -- down from thousands in the pre-paycut era.

I never took a job at a regional. And I'm honestly not knocking anyone that does work for a regional. Regionals have their place. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to serve as a Mil pilot.

My point is that this community as a whole seems very divided and very individualized. And as long as it remains this way, then no one should expect any amount of improvement regarding pay scales.

Also, I don't think this is just a "pilot" problem. Honestly, If the airline industry as a whole is to survive, then companies really need to start collectively pulling together and consider raising ticket prices. Especially with oil prices on the rise. Companies undercutting each other like we just witnessed with Mesa and Aloha only serve to bring the entire industry down. "Ultra-low cost carriers" really means ultra-low profit margin. Which in turn means Ultra-low employee pay. The public loves it, but it really does reduce us to a bunch of glorified bus drivers.

Heck, 10 years ago you couldn't buy a one way ticket for $49. It would have cost you at least a couple hundred. It's ironic that as the dollar decreases in value, inflation rises, oil costs rise, and our economy declines, that ticket prices actually "decrease". This industry is on it's way to implosion.

beis77, all of your concerns/examples/hopes deal with deregulation. none of what you said can happen unless some form of re-regulation occurs.

ghillis,

i agree with you to an extent, however, re-regulation in the sense of government regulation of the industry, wages, ticket costs, route structures, wouldn't be required to get the airlines to talk about a way to pass on the increasing fuel costs to the consumer.

There's a technical term for that: price-fixing

And it is heavily regulated, the participants are monitored by the FBI, and eventually relocated to federal low-risk housing facilities.