Pilots on low wages aren't a safety risk becasue they don't care about doing a good job, but because they may:
- have to take two jobs = fatigue risk
- be burdened by debt = distraction, and easily threatened by airlines (safety culture, working practices etc)
- not necessarily be the best candidate for the post, but just the one who can pay for it i.e. training/the job (literally, paying to fly) the lifestyle by having another income stream
Whilst FOs coming into jet jobs in the EU/UK aren't on the kind of wage highlighted in Moore's article, most of them will have anywhere between £30000 (£50000 if they have a degree) and £100000 of debt, whilst still in their early twenties, and without a mortgage. Similar problem.
No matter how much people want to do the job, if it doesn't pay enough to live on compared to other jobs requiring an equivalent level of qualification, the talent will desert the industry and we will get left with the monkeys earning peanuts and the talentless playboys.