Mr Rat your approach: ''Let the pax know what's going on. Make a comparison to the health or dentist industry and as patients if they'd like this 'pay for a job' system there'' seems to make a great deal of sense at first glance, however I feel that the pax couldn't care less, in fact I believe that these days your average man-in-the-street would be delighted to hear the sad facts. This is because of the pervasive envy apparent at all levels of society (oops, sorry, there are no levels in society) today. Witness the undisguised hatred vented at aircrew by the simians running the 'security'-charade at airports today as just one example. Also, your average Joe firmly believes that modern aircraft fly themselves, innit? So why should pilots warrant above-average terms and conditions, the 'logic' goes. Of course pilots as a group generally accelerate this trend by continuously down-playing the challenges of what we do - sadly usually an ugly manifestation of false modesty.
