In my experience people only respond so aggressively (without addressing the question at hand) if the answer makes them uncomfortable.
People get aggressive & emotional when the same old stuff gets dished up time & time again. Management spin, repeated regularly in the press, starts to become fact in the everyday person's paradigm. Regardless of whether or not it is accurate.
Ever since Mr Hawke called airline pilots nothing more than bus drivers, we have seen this sort of mud stick & a constant erosion of the value of Australian airline pilots in the eyes of management & the general public. The consequence has been the consistent downward pressure on our T & C's. The most recent example of this sort of mud-slinging has been when QF was grounded. Now, every time you see a report on the losses QF is suffering, industrial action by the pilots is front & centre as one of the causes, if not, the main cause. All for wearing red ties & making PA's. But the gullible general public takes it as fact & pilots value & esteem goes down another notch. And with it, T & C's.
I have also seen data that shows the pilot's cost to be about 3% of the operating cost. Think about it in broad- brush terms if you like. Even if a 737-800 captain was earning $250,000 per year, that is only $278 per hour for the 900 flight hours he/she is available to the airline each year. If the F/O earns 60% of the captain's salary, the total flight crew cost per hour is $445, making about $592 total for a SYD - MEL flight. At about 170 seats, depending on configuration, that is a mere $3.48 per seat for the flight crew. HUGE - isn't it?
You sure don't see that figure bandied about in the press, do you? No! You see the annual salary, because that suits the requirements for the spin being peddled at the time.
It is a pity that the pilot unions have not learned that public perception IS important & that rather than maintaining a dignified silence, they need to fight fire with fire & answer every single one of the misleading press releases with the facts.