So the whole thrust of your argument is that pilots can't be paid more because it'll hurt the companies ability to expand.
No - the pot is of a fixed size and your being paid more does not alone increase the size of the pot in any way through a concurrent productivity gain.
Au contraire! Too many people work in the airline! In BA we have a far higher number of staff per aircraft than our competitors, and that includes other 'innovative' airlines like Virgin. Its the other people in the airline who cost the money - the dead wood, the hangers on and the inept managers who cost us millions.
I think everyone knows that to be true - what is not true is that (a) pilots are the only productive element of the workforce - how do you think you would cope without IT integrating the GDSs who sell the tickets to the airline itself?, and (b) that industrial disputes from another sector would not equally stop airline operations.
Are you a Labour backbencher, or maybe RMT rather than BALPA?