Hey Guv,
OK, let me get this right, your assertion is that some major airline pilots are overpaid.
Well, I figure that you may, in a very few limited instances be correct. To be fair, one could claim, with a reasonable level of accuracy, that there are some individuals in ANY type of work who are over paid. (example: Deon Sanders when he was with the Cowboys) In my view an example of a CLASS which could be considered over paid would be politicians...but most assuredly NOT airline pilots.
Your view reminds me of Ted Kennedy, et al, who shriek of the "rich" not paying their "fair share" and how we don't need a tax cut etc... I wonder if old Ted has ever felt guilty about being so rich, and then decided to add a couple of thousand extra dollars to his tax payment on April 15th?
I don't fly for a major, not yet. But I have certainly darn near starved to death struggling to get there. Among other things. Along the way I have been on fire three times, had several engines quit, blown one engine to pieces, flown when sick and when the ducks were grounded, flown in the ice with no boots and lost a prop COMPLETELY OFF a Queen Air. I have suffered duty days over thirty hours and have been lied to by EVERY aviation manager/aircraft owner I have ever worked for (not to mention the FAA). I have been yelled at, screamed at, had my job threatened for questioning safety or regulations and have been called every name in the book except for "white man" by simple minded managers who suffered from extreme tunnel vision. I could go on and on...
I have, and so have a great many other professional aviators, suffered through all this (and more) because we needed the experience. We needed the experience to "move up the food chain", hopefully all the way to the top, God willing. And SOMEDAY, by God, when and if I do make it to a major, there will have been others there before me. Others who perhaps suffered more than I. Who realize the value of determination, and the true cost of "success", and who have fought for pay and work rules so that others would strive to join them in the cockpit of a major. If and when I get there, I aim to be well paid. I've earned it! And for those who may come after me, I want them to do even better.
You see, GUV, if young people are not drawn to the airlines to fly "your" airplane, then who you do think it will be that will fly "your" pax/cargo that in turn pays "your" salary? What about the minor carriers and the FAR 135 night freighters? Does ANYONE believe that a young person would just volunteer for that abuse without first having determined that it was, temporarily at least, necessary for the furtherance of his/her career? I guarantee you that if the majors were to cut their salaries, you would see general aviation (in the USA at least) and the commuter airlines shrivel up and die on the vine. NO YOUNG PILOTS. The death of an entire industry.
Any rational person knows that a company exists to make a profit. But no company can make a profit for long if it does not share its wealth with its employees.
I guess your choice is simple. You can make a lot of money all at once, or you can make even more money for a long time.
Seems simple enough to me.