I agree entirely, I think the pay situation sucks & I have turned down a position working ont eh ground for an airline to do this that would have paid me double what i'm likely to earn. The problem is that I have invested £50,000 plus in my fATPL so I cant just sit back & watch my ratings rot away!!
I do feel its really easy for the guys flying around in jets & turbo props to say that its not good for the industry to work for low pay, but the reality is that there is an abundance of FI's & FO wannabe's & in a comodity market price goes down, simple economics!! I never thought I would be instructing & never really intended to do anything other that work for an airline, however in the last 3 years the whole world changed & the aviation industry was hit harder than most. You have to adapt to survive & unfortunately the decisions we make have an impact on the industry as a whole!!
I wish all those doing FI courses all the luck in the world but the jobs out there are few & far between & with soooooo many people applying for the ones that are advertised publically the school can force the price. Its not the pilots that are at fault, its the economists & financial advisors for each of these schools!!