Do germanwing pilots being paid while they're sick and can't fly ?
If they're not, like Ryanair, this should be the key point of this story.
Yes, they do get paid. It is not a zero hour contract like the contractors that fly for ryanair. In germany by law a maximum of six consecutive weeks, thereafter up to 78 weeks a lower pay by the health insurance (public health insurance) or even longer on private insurance.
@portmanteu, the main problem is you can't. Mental problems are not easy at all to diagnose, especially if the person in question does not want to disclose any problems. Even specialists in that field struggle there. And AMEs are not psychiatrists or anything close. And psychological testing doesn't help much at all. Lubitz passed a three day test to get into the lufthansa cadet training and as far as i know another two day test battery after his break.
From statistical evidence in other fields where people have problems, like for example alcohol abuse, the best thing to do is offer peer support and support in general, not the chance of losing your income, job or even license. In that case pilots that think they may have a problem consult either their peer support or a professional without any fear of reprisal and get into fixing that problem.
Granted, that is not an easy fix, it means in many carriers a change or company culture and it is not one of those easy measure politicians love so much because they can sum it up in one simple sentence.