Ok ok ok..you win…it is a non winnable argument in my opinion anyway. My point is that it's not just you EK pilots who are along on the race to the bottom, it's the whole damn industry. But, as you are in the sad position of not being able to do anything about it from where you are, I suppose some complaining is warranted. But jeez guys…about every little thing?
At no time was I ever putting down the hard work put in by most to get where they are in their career, I am close to the end of my own long and (mostly) good one myself, and am very familiar with what it takes to be successful and alive to enjoy retirement. From both sides of the desk. So when I say "it's just a job"? At the end of the day it really is. You work as hard as you can, be as safe as you know how, stay as healthy as you might, and when you're done, guess what? No one cares. The world thinks we are overpaid and under worked and nothing will ever change that. (They don't care how long it took for us to get where we are, or how much effort.) The people that run the airline business have figured out how to keep the free fall of our working conditions going at top speed and we are almost powerless to stop it. So in the cold light of day, it's become "just another job" to those who don't care about it. Don't get me wrong, I care very much about the act of flying. I do it with all the best people I know, with all the professionalism I can, on one of the best jets ever designed, and I am pretty damn proud of where I work. That part will never change. I fought with companies along side of my fellow pilots, and know the frustration of losing a job because of arrogant and stupid management. Really the pity is that you made a choice to join and they moved the deck chairs on you. Not "it's a pity" because I don't understand. I do. I wish you all luck…just know that your colleagues constant bellyaching is getting old.