You can thank your unions for the out of whack pay. There's no way someone based in, say, Altoona, should make the same as someone based in DC - but that's what the contract calls for. It's just irrational.

We could also talk about pay based on seniority rather than competence and experience. A great thing if you never need/want to change companies. Unfortunately, it also means that most of you CAN'T leave because you'd start over again at the bottom of the barrel. Again, that's stupid. Why should a CSR with 10 years experience have to start at the bottom? Same for a pilot or an FA. Again, thank your union.

There's no doubt that some executive pay is way out of line. But really, it's not as pervasive as many think. Consider the risk of being a CEO. Let's say a middle manager manipulates financial statements and doesn't get caught. Doug certifies those statements as required by SOX based on information available to him. Then the employee gets caught, the financials are inaccurate and the CEO is looking at massive fines and/or jail time. Quite a risk.