I'm not suggesting FAs are "throwaway employees," nor am I suggesting they're not skilled employees - I'm suggesting that if an FA living in a metro doesn't like the $22K salary then they should go find a job elsewhere, because there are lots of jobs that pay better than $22K. It's Adam Smith in action - The employer isn't throwing them away, the employee is moving their labour elsewhere.

However, there doesn't seem to be a max exodus of FAs from their jobs, so there must be something other than salary that is keeping them around. Flight benefits? Shift flexibility? I don't know...