Although agree with most of this analysis there’s the issue of supply vs demand coming back and somehow levelling things out again. Sure they’ll need pilots again but the cuts the boys and girls have accepted to get their recency are permanent. Pay and conditions never went up with the laws of supply and demand. During the best times with strong unions we’ve managed to get an inflation adjustment plus half a percent. Taking a 20 percent cut is something you will never ever get back.
I have very little sympathy for people believing it is okay to work for free just to be in the game. It undermines the whole industry and every other pilot who stood up for themselves over the last years.