LC, just how did you come up with those figures of yours? You claim a Training Captain should be on 80K, and line Captain on 40K, yet a 737 Captain on only 50K? What do you base those figures on? Do you really think there will be a massive influx of pilots if those were the wages on offer?
"Since when do employers have to compensate you for getting your Pilot's Licence? I don't recall any such arrangement in any profession. So step back and think about how lucky pilots have been to be given that recognition." No pilot expects to be compensated for initial training, and what recognition are you talking about exactly?
"A bus driver employed for 38 hours a week earns say $15/hour to drive a school bus or charter coach. His responsbility in my view far outweighs that of a pilot. So let's put it into perspective. " Yes, lets do that shall we? Bus with 30 pax breaks down, coasts to stop on the side of the road, ordeal over in 15 to 20 seconds, no one even notices anyway. Airplane suffers a failure at 30 odd thousand feet, 450 miles an hour, 150 pax......now, you tell me who has the greater responsibility? Pilots get paid for what we may need to do, not always for what we actually do during the course of a duty, BUT knowing what to do takes practice and experience and study, lots of that on our own time, not to mention the 6 monthly assessment of our capability. Name one other profession that has that? Or is monitored as closely as us?
And yet you say, would you fly for nothing? No, we wouldn't, and not for your sad excuse for wages either. You display your ignorance of the industry by saying we get paid too much now, however wages have been on the decline for years, and now, because of that, there is a dearth of experienced pilots. So, as you say, market demands, our wages are on the way up. So up yours sunshine, don't expect to pay less for your tickets in the future, and your welcome to take that 12 hour bus trip anytime.
Personally, you sound like a tight ass who's only concern is to get the lowest paid denominator in the front so you don't have to pay too much, until there's an accident/incident in which you will promptly sue the offending company for negligence!
Maybe to put it into terms you can grasp, if I was on trial for my life, would I hire you?
A) No, because if you were any good, you could afford to charge more. Market demands and all that.
B) No, because you spend far too much of your time on these boards, and not enough on your chosen profession, so obviously your not very good, otherwise you'd have lots of work to do.
Nosey