On Guard and Fearcampaign....two excellent posts.
Bottom line: Supply & Demand. For years Cathay in HK were implying there were 'hoardes' of Mainland Chinese pilots that could be used to replace troublesome (but grrr, admittedly very safe) westerners. THEY WEREN'T THERE. In fact the Chinese airlines are noe employing Westerners. The same applies globally with pilots now. They've all been snapped up by their own local carriers, new low cost operators and Middle Eastern Airlines. Barring any global catastrophe, the shortage is biting but hasn't had 1/4 of the impact it will have.
Yes, Supply and Demand is the bottom line.
However: Forget business acumen, will pilots be cohesive enough to take FULL advantage of the situation..No way. A greedier more self-serving bunch would be hard to find (except for the Geoff Dixon/Alan Joices of the world).
In Australia the only way these improvements will take place is if AIPA, JPC and AFAP put aside past differences, work intelligently to take advantage of changing political momentum and unite and work to achieve a standard salary/type across the industry. And people - don't pay for endorsements!
Will pilots work cohesively for their own benefit. IMHO Fat chance (but I live in hope).