Well I think in the end, the philosophy is simple...your hiring people to fill seats, not throw touch downs in the NFL.
When the performance required of our employees drops a notch in the job description, it's pretty obvious that management will drop the employee performance required and pay, to fit the description.
As automation increases, I suspect as the pilot skills become even less necessary, being a team player will become more of an issue in the cockpit..
....unless the plane crashes...then of course we want pilots again...but then we forget...and drop the standards, hire buddies and pals over experience....then a plane crashes....and we want pilots again.....and then that passes, and we forget......