Does remind me of the mess our beloved beancounters and union reps can get caught up in. Bit fuzzy memories now but in BEA in the 70's, SFO's were of that rank because they missed out on Commands because there were no Commands available for the time being. So, these bods marched about with three rings & enhanced pay because there was no Commands available. Crikey, still can't get my A grade, GCE A level in economics around that ! Then, come the merger, on the tripot, a whole group of older Captains were told that they exceeded the age limit for transfer to "widebody", like the OD 74 or even our own ED tristar. So, smiling away like cheshire cats, they just carried on doing what they always did in a "slimbody" but picking up "widebody"/"bypass" pay ! Accountants at the non union operators down the road fell about laughing at the very notion. I suggested to Court Line that I would like to be a 1-11 FO but on Tristar pay since DE on the Tristar was not available. When my turn for command came up, I hoped that there would be no Commands and I should pick up bypass pay as RHS 1-11 until retirement. Nah, didn't get in.