Sorry for the thread creep here, I just don't want newbies being blamed for destroying the industry when they are just doing their best in the situation they are presented with.
The scale of post 55 retiree v no hour newbie is (or was) probably 1:10. However it was the moral justification that irked me for the mindset of the retiree is the same as the newbie, ie. "I'll accept what the industry offers" rather than "I should sacrifice myself for the greater good".
The difference is that the retiree has had their chance, the newbie really has no choice. No disrespect to retiree's as their wealth of experience is priceless and they bring a lot to expanding airlines, without them there would probably be no training, no newbies.
The rest of us are in a newbie/retiree sandwich. I don't see a brighter future now that 55ers are drying up. The industry will just reorganise a la JAL, Qantas, forming lite versions paying half the wage. They will be crewed by newbies and sandwich'ies wanting a command, thus shrinking the mother airline. This is the real threat under our noses while we're focused on newbie bashing. BA EU/US comes to mind.