What would be difficult for them, regardless of the payout, is they would not have known that the last time they finished work was the end of their airline career. Any plans they would have had for an orderly exit and one last flight to their favourite destination was gone. I realise that it is a first world problem in the disaster that is C19 but it is worth acknowledging that a significant number of pilots in Qantas and Virgin, with collectively tens of thousands of flying hours, will never again walk through the cockpit door to go flying.