Surgeons not butchers
Personally, when I'm sitting at the back of the aircraft I'm not happy to think that those up front are anyone who has managed to get an ATPL. I want them to be way overqualified. I want even the Second Officers to all have real command experience and have actually been through the wringer a few times and have demonstrably handled the pressure. There are plenty of other pilots who could no doubt operate the aircraft; but I want more.
To do that, the conditions for the pilots have to be good enough to get good, experienced pilots to apply.
My father was a slaughterman, and he was perfectly capable of neatly removing a spleen. I'm sure if asked to do any number of operations he could have managed it. If someone is cutting me open, however, I want it to be the smartest person they could find for the job - not just someone who could manage to do it. Being a surgeon is a very good wicket, and they get very smart people doing it, and I am very happy about that.
There are plenty of people who could manage to do the job. I prefer it to be done by a select group out of the set of people who could do it, and to be sure to get them, they have to be well paid.