Well, sorry to have to tell you,
angryrat, but the world has fundamentally changed during my career. Adapt or die (which rats are pretty good at, as it happens).
The day it changed was the day Southwest Airlines opened for business. It's never going to be the same.
They are about creating as many pilots as possible, getting cadets out there as F/O's,to fill up all the gaps in aviation. They don't care about their future's, it is about creating a surplus of pilots to fight over jobs. In the end, it doesn't cost them anything and lowers the amount they have to pay.
Hmmm. Tell you what... go and search the interweb and find out how many pilots are projected to be required over the next 20 years. Boeing says:
To operate and maintain the airplanes that will be added to the fleet over the next 20 years, the world's airlines will need an additional 466,650 trained pilots and 596,500 maintenance personnel... The largest growth in pilot populations will be in the Asia Pacific region, with a requirement for 180,600 pilots. Within Asia, China will experience the greatest need for pilots, with an expected requirement for 70,600 pilots. North America will need 97,350 pilots; Europe will need 94,800 pilots; Africa will need 13,200 pilots; the Middle East will need 32,700 pilots; Latin America will need 37,000 pilots; and the CIS will need 11,000 pilots.
Now go and work out the training capacity for all those new pilots. Guess what... supply doesn't even come close to matching demand. In fact it is going to be a major issue for airlines. Pilots are going to be in serious demand.
As far as pay goes, well it's market-led, and whenever there is a shortage of pilots, salaries go up, often dramatically. In my first job, my pay went up 37% in one year (1988) due to heavy competition for the available pilots. If Boeing and others are even close to correct, those days will likely return.
The "ploy", as you call it, hasn't had the effect you think it has in Europe. There are plenty of people working for lo-cos, on good salaries and very good working conditions. Not the cadets, I grant you, but most of the skippers are pretty happy with their lot.
So I'm afraid your argument doesn't add up.