Of course these salaries seem crazy, but remember nobody is forcing these guys to work for peanuts. They're all well educated people, they could get other jobs, but they choose to fly because they love it. And since deregulation the airlines have been able to exploit that.
We should also remember that there are far more jobs for pilots now than there were before deregulation - force salaries - and fares - up and there'll be fewer jobs.
It's a trade-off - few people would deny that it's gone too far in one direction, but there will be consequences that not everyone will like of pushing back in the other direction. And then of course there's the question of exactly how one might push back in the other direction. Government regulation to increase air fares wouldn't be an easy political sell.