Good points but avoids the reason why pilots actually start at such a low salary. It's not just the senior pilots. Essentially it is supply and demand. The s

Good points but avoids the reason why pilots actually start at such a low salary. It's not just the senior pilots. Essentially it is supply and demand. The supply of people that want to fly an airplane [1] exceeds the demand for pilots. So we have a race to the bottom in starting salaries. There are people that love flying enough that they are willing to work for peanuts and that excess supply drives the salary down to the levels mentioned - "$16,000 per year" (I will assume that is correct.) Remove that excess supply and everything changes in the equation and what the unions and airlines can do (with an established airline as well as a startup). This is really similar to what happens in several industries with desirable jobs (entertainment is one of those). [1] And will do so for the salary that is currently offered to start in other words.