Bravo, Sir, bravo.
I'll sticky that after a while. An excellent summary of where we are and how we got here. It often suprises me how little Wannabes know about the industry and its recent past. Mention airlines which were household names a decade ago or aircraft types which were exceedingly common and you get a blank stare. Fair enough we don't need or want every wannabe to be a closet spotter aerosexualist failed airline expert, but, knowing diddly about the recent (20 years) history of your chosen profession is not smart either.
Mind you I've flown with FO's who didn't know which of the Air Frances was a B757 and which was an A330 - no, really - so maybe it doesn't matter.
The current job offers where you pay excessively for a type rating from the employer and then labour on very low terms are a function of them being the only game in town. How long they will stay the only game in town is debatable but certainly for the next year or two. I think the big attraction of seasonal working where you're all but laid off over the winter is going to be something that they try to incorporate into their recruitment even after the upturn.
WWW