To use the excuse that the costs must be reduced so the traveling public can have cheaper flights does not hold a lot of water as the % difference in the direct operating costs is not that great.
No matter how small the saving, if it can be made, in a competitive industry why wouldn't it be?
Maybe reducing the excessive number of managers and the CEO's salary, would be of greater benifit to reducing those overheads.
I've no idea if there are an excessive number of managers in the airline business, but it does seem from these pages that many aircrew do not understand business, and would therefore tend to underestimate the importance of an effective management structure in a highly-competitive environment such as airline operations.
Your comparison with the Marine Service is a valid one. No-one is owed a living.
SSD