[vacri]

Cricket players do have players unions. They're not paid as much as NFL stars because there's less money overall in cricket.

Pilots' unions in the US are an example of a skilled profession milking the industry. You can't have an airline without pilots, and the union knows exactly how much the airlines make - and pitch their wage demands to just below 'breaking the bank'.

The value of IT staff is harder to quantify - a commercial plane needs two pilots (generally). An IT department needs... ?

[jsmthrowaway]

Airline pilots are also woefully underpaid, particularly in the regional lines. After spending a lot of time and money on an ATP license and probably a degree (the cookie cutter "career airline pilot" programs run $50-70k), pilots can expect to make under $20,000 annually at a regional. During Congressional hearings after an accident, it was revealed that the copilot made $16k. Career pilots a few decades in barely break $60-70k. And many fly 14+ hours a day.

Given the race to the bottom in the airlines I would consider ALPA and the airline unions necessary and I am all for treating pilots better. Since pilots, you know, keep aircraft from decorating the sides of buildings.

It's pretty sad when a Wendy's manager can do better than a regional captain.

[MacsHeadroom]

That's way off base.

A second year DC-9 captain makes $82k/year.

A 747-400 captain can _easily_ make a quarter million a year when including bonuses and benefits.

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/legacy/delta_air...

[marvin]

You don't get to be captain of a 747 after three years on the job. I think it's pretty well established at this point that there is a significant downwards pressure on airline pilot salaries in Europe and the USA.

[vl]

Or maybe senior pilots screw young pilots and airlines: http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/unions-and-airlines

[Nick_C]

That's the actuality of it. It's all based on seniority.

[n09n]

Like every union ever.

When performance is not measurable, all you have to go on is seniority.