rwethereyet, what is a deadbeat airline? I am guessing your definition of one is simply any airline that is not a so called flag carrier or one that does not pay half a mill the first year and give you 364 sick days the make you work more than 3 hours on the 365th. I am not naive to the state of our profession it is certainly not what alot of us had hoped for. That being said I do think it is naive to solely blame the airlines for all of our problems. I don't have to tell you or anyone for that matter that the world has changed in recent years. The market is now a global one. And of course with that comes great competition. I agree that some airlines leave much to be desired but, when a "flag carrier" is paying bag tossers 75k a year or has an enormous amount of it's emloyee's sitting around collecting paychecks doing nothing, then poping in and out of bankruptcy protection when ever it suits them. I would not be so quick to blame those who have maybe found a more efficient way of doing things. Ask someone in the auto sector. American auto makers have slashed thousands of jobs in recent years and there will be more to come. Would you call Nissan or Toyota or Kia deadbeat automakers. Probably not, I'm guessing an American autoworker would.
To your other point on will I or will I not fly for food. What do you suggest to those pilots who have not gotten on with a "flag carrier" slit their wrists and call it a day. Change careers. You do realize that people have bills to pay. That's not to say we should work for free or get pissed on, and certainly I know you don't believe that the major airlines only hire the best. So in the end I know what I will do. I will continue to fly. I will continue to enjoy it and I will continue to feed my kids and give them the best I can. And I will also strive to make my profession a better one instead of whining about how the discount carriers have screwed the industry over.