There is a reasonable reason for the modern lack of cachet.
It used to be a genuinely difficult job.
Simple supply and demand of pilots who could do it kept it elite.
It is now not at all difficult to follow the magenta line, and things go wrong so rarely that the airlines don't really worry about the fact that half the pilots are crap. Chances are that nobody will ever find out. It only becomes obvious when there is a smoking hole or, more topically, a big splash
You can't expect respect when we all know that the job is easy. Expensive to get into, but easy.