Please tell me what greater earning potential an Aeo or wsop ew / aco has in civvy street than say a groundcrew cpl/sgt?
There are a lot of jobs out there that pay a damn sight more for people with "supposedly" less earning potential than aircrew.
I can think of plenty of trades that would possibly benefit from a retention bonus, then again most people have had enough and money isn't the factor that is going to keep them!