Originally Posted by
B2N2
Its a paperwork issue not a safety issue.
Exactly. No story at all. Perfectly legal. "Unfreezing" his ATPL would only be required once he gets upgraded to captain. If he wasn't offered this opportunity within the 20 years he was flying with that airline he will never get it, so why bother? All he did was "violating" a company internal rule by which he gave them a reason to kick him out. They probably waited patiently since 19 years for that.