With GA and the military, as well as the occasional shock keeping the supply of pilots nicely ahead of demand, the model they developed was designed to keep downward pressure on wages. It certainly worked.
I suspect you’re correct but has anyone got any data to back it up?
Eg, what was the ratio of Australian 737 Captain salary to average national wage in
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2017?
If anyone has been flying jets for 45 years can you give us some figures so we can google the relevant average salary?