Pilot's salaries have never killed an airline. Even the Guvnor's statement that pilot salaries are causing 10% of the losses - if you cut that 10% (what about the other 90%??) would you expect the pilots to work for free? What a crock - pilots just happen to have the only part of the operating cost of an airline that a manager thinks is negotiable when times get bad - try getting your fuel 10% cheaper coz you're having problems, or knock 20% off your parts bill or your terminal fees coz you're having a bad quarter. Enough of all these accusations of greed - the pay packet is just a very small part of the cost of operating an hugely expensive device like an airliner and for all the crap I have had to go through to get this job and the myriad persons who want me out so they can have it for themselves, does the expression "pound sand" mean anything to you?.
In the past, some pilots have succumbed to the pleas of poverty laid on thick by management, and because we are human, we can sometimes be persuaded. In the last round of prosperity, pilots made up what they had lost or given up in past recessions; still there are people who spout this drivel about pilot salaries killing airlines. I for one am sick of it - keep your hands off my pay and get back to managing. When all of the other costs of operating drop, including fuel, parts, fees, capital costs, taxes and the manager's salaries, come to me cap in hand and we'll talk.