Anansis - great synopsis of what an airline pilot's life looks like nowadays.
There are still some bright spots out there, here in the US cargo pilots (primarily FDX & UPS) are still doing ok although they too took some concesions. FDX in the form of company mandated lowering of minimum monthly guarantees (~20-35% overall pay cut) and UPS where some pilots took short term leaves of absence, military LOAs, reduced monthly guarantee, etc. It was all "voluntarily" although the pilots did it just to save the junior pilots from being furloughed; not sure "volunteering" is the right word in that aspect.
Either way, the cargo pilots are doing pretty well especially when compared to some of the "major" airlines here in the US, such as USAirways (Sully's company) where they've lost their pensions, everyone's had their pay slashed numerous times in the last 10 years or so, captains have been displaced to FOs, FOs have been furloughed, etc., etc.
Who knows what the future holds but if the EU aviation market follows the US - it'll probably get much worst before it gets better. As always, you'll find a few exceptions to the rule - SWA, FDX and UPS in the US and Ryanair, Lufthansa, etc. in Europe - but I do wish I was an airline pilot in the 50s when our profession meant something and when we were being compensated accordingly.