To suggest Pilots are insulated in their role in an airline is either a wind up or shows a complete lack of understanding of the day to day job.
Whilst pilots may not know what happens in the ivory towers, the opposite is true at the coal face.
Hard for many to understand but airlines make money flying passengers & freight.
Pilots interact with all facets of the money making part of the business on a daily basis. It's a pity management do not.
A typical day has the Captain speaking directly with airport managers, engineers, flight planners, Customer Service Managers, cabin crew, passengers, baggage & freight loaders, ATC, dispatchers, refuellers etc.
Generally anything of consequence to a flight will be relayed to the flight crew.
The visibility of the organisation from an operational perspective from the flight crew should not be underestimated.
Senior management could learn much from spending the day following a crew around the network.