Comp Stall, pilots salaries will have very little/no effect on fares. They will have a positive effect on the company's bottom line if they are reduced. They hqve never been more than a few % of the operating costs, so by halving them, only ever knocked a $ or 2 off a SYD-MEL fare anyway. That's the argument the AFAP used back in 89, and it's probably one of the only truths they did use during that time.
Pilot salaries are inconsequential in the overall costs of fares. They only improve profits when the management succeeds in screwing the pilots.