Smudge Cat ... our wages were never reduced ... THEY JUST NEVER WENT UP!!!!
I havent thought about this much, but there are 5 sides to an aircraft operation, with many fixed costs ... BUT, one of the costs that can be debated between owner/operator to reduce overall business costs is MAINTENANCE. All other airport charges, fuel, airways charges, registrations, building leases, etc are all fixed. Wages & Maintenance are all variable, so to keep variable costs down, they will ultimately argue with maintenance - thus Chief Engineer feels the squeeze, and hires engineers for less pay, so the business can still make a profit. ... The pilots wages aren't reduced due to they need the most experienced pilots they can get to not give their company operation a bad name. Pilots are a necessity - Engineers are a burden.
Anyway, thats one little theory that has stuck in my head, but unless people have a better one, would love to hear it ....
Cheers, KP