All very interesting and well-reasoned posts - thanks. As John Maynard Keynes said (I think) "When the facts change, I change my mind". I still think however that the fundamental structural problem in pilots' working lives is seniority, and this issue is linked closely with union membership. While seniority has some benefits, it ties you in to an organisation with which you may no longer be happy, and so removes you from the free market in jobs, which I believe will become increasingly a feature of every other professional's experience. Fewer jobs-for-life anywhere, increasing numbers of self-employed contractors, perhaps? This profession cannot insulate itself forever from this trend.