How much are pilots worth
In my view pilots are worth probably more than they are paid. They certainly should not be on the receiving end of pay and condition cuts, which seems to be happening everywhere.
How do I justify the above, well, they are responsible for a lot of £ / $ worth of kit - £165 Million for a 777, literally hundreds of passengers and fellow crew (say $1million / head), day in day out, all weathers / times / locations. It's when (rarely) there is a problem/event when their skill and experience is really needed. THAT is the "value for money" moment.
Erode terms and conditions, devalue the job, dissinterest the best, pay peanuts (get monkeys), and you are on an instant downward slope.
Lets put it another way. If I owned a fleet of $165million aircraft, I would DEMAND the best trained and experienced people up-front, and reward them accordingly.
Unfortunatley, it seems that reading this forum, Willie Wonka at BA, Emirates and other airline managements think differently these days.
Flying Lid