For most of you on this thread.....
Do you think a company board acts in a vacuum?
Do you really think they come to a company board meeting with nothing but their own thoughts and experiences on which to base any decisions?
If so then you really should get out more or change your reading material. Quite frankly an airline board made up of nothing but pilots would be disastrous. In fact, any company made up of nothing but its own specialists would be disastrous. As an example have a look at Rolls Royce when it was dominated by engineers. They spent it into bankruptcy over issues with the RB-211 from which the Germans picked up the spoils. Oh what irony.
And before any here think of quoting airlines that have prospered with pilots at the head then the vast majority were in the days of complete regulation when running an airline was akin to shooting fish in a barrel.