I was at a major UK airport the other day chatting with our refueller. We got onto the subject of salaries etc and even he was surprised when he discovered that his £30k basic salary was more than I am on as a turboprop F/O - it makes you wonder when the guy fuelling the plane is earning more than the bloke flying it... I wonder if the pax realise it!
1. The pax don't care, aviation is price sensitive.
2. It's market forces at work. I don't imagine that there are many starry eyed teenagers leaving school saying, "gosh, I want to be a refueller". The same cannot be said for the pilot profession. Whilst there are a pool of wannabes waiting to sit in the RHS why pay them over the odds? If they wish to work for crap money that's up to them. Nobody has put a gun to their head have they?
3. The market will eventually pick up and there may even be competition between airlines for employees. People who sign the CTC contract may regret signing up to it. However if they are happy to sign it so be it.