Mac:
You've obviously picked up on a thread and would like a story. There is one, but it needs to be treated with great care; even more so than many Panorama exposees.
The debate is most certainly not about money. The profession is vocational and that is being abused by management. Much of aviation has become a sweat shop existance, (by comparison to other 21st century professions). Crews are treated as cost items, not assets. The similarity with the health service springs to mind. There are limits of work set out by the CAA's of each country. They are LIMITS, and within those there are guidelines. The guidelines are ignored and management treat the limits like the Italian tax system. It's a good game to find the loop holes, whether they exsist or not.
Generally, in Europe, the lot of the average employee has improved dramatically over the past 10 years since various EU legislation has been introduced. Health & Safety at work has improved the working enviroment. Public transport was exempt from much of these rules and the quality of life has deteriorated beyond a joke.
Having said that, there are some good company's, namely the majors; most likely because they have had a strong union for many years. Indeed, most pilot unions were formed within the flag carriers. Being a commercial pilot is as different as liquorice allsorts. There is no national standard of employment; it just depends who you work for.
To make an accurate assessment of the profession will take great care, delicacy, honesty and no pre-conceived ideas. There is no broad brush to cover all, and thus may not be as easy to present as it first appears.
PS.
Roobarb: Well said.
"Pilots hate management." IMHO this is caused because most managements dislike pilots, all crews. They make their money from transporting pax. That's easy becasue they will do as they are told!! The a/c will fly all day & night, and with enough fuel, for ever. The bean counters hate the fact that they have to have crews. They are the limiting factor. If pax would fly on an unmanned automated a/c the financial boys would love it; until the first prang.
What amazes me is that all except one excellent management team I've worked for, most airline managaments operate 180' to what is considered good man-management practices. Morale is not consdered an asset. We are part of a machine, taken for granted. It erks them that this component is a 'lifed item' (i.e.FTL's) and not an 'on condition item'. And that the service life is too short.
What erks us, about them, is that if we displayed the same level of competance and desicion making that they do, we would fail our regular checks, never pass a command course and ultimately be kicked out. Somehow that never seems to happen upstairs.
Perhaps the definition of accountability you were talking about.