It all comes down to cost base
At the end of the day FR still have by a huge margin a lower cost base than virtually all other European airlines, indeed FR describe themselves as a "ultra low cost airline" the recent change in strategy to move to more main steam airports and reduced baggage fee's and other charges will no doubt over time nibble away at their cost advantage, but we are talking of a few cents at best, the biggest cost impact would come from addressing the main reason that many experienced FR pilots are calling it a day, which from conversations i've had seem to be lack of certainty of the pilot tax & social insurance position, lack of standby pay, lack of holiday pay and a basing policy that can lead to you living out of a suitcase, the actual money earned doesn't seem bad, but the rub is that throwing more money at the problem through increased sector pay will not address the real issues.
Unfortunately when you know the cost of everything but don't understand the value of anything then this is what happens, I personally don't see it changing whilst ever MOL is in charge, pilots are a cost they detract from the bottom line and add nothing to the business seems to be the mantra, perhaps it's no bad thing, their low cost and prices seems to attract a larger share of the bottom feeders in pax terms, the people who benefit from this approach appear to be FlyDubai & Norwegian and the sand pitt T7 operators, funny old world.