In today’s Washington Post, USAirways’ CEO outlines steps for emerging from bankruptcy, criticizes airlines’ attempts to build low cost carrier subsidiaries (including the efforts of his airline’s partner, United), and dismisses Congressional proposals to limit airline executive pay — while foolishly arguing that Congress should target individual executives instead.

His steps for emerging from bankrupty are feel good truisms. His criticism of low cost carriers are probably right on, but the piece doesn’t develop them.

And while he meanders to the right conclusion that Congress shouldn’t butt into CEO pay (presumably purely out of his own self-interest), it’s surely a bizarre suggestion that Congress should get in the middle of specific pay packages.

American law doesn’t look too kindly on bills of attainder. And if the arguments are valid against regulating pay packages writ large, those argument certainly apply to the largest pay packages as well. They may seem high, but microlegislating to solve individual anomalies hardly seems a wise approach.