Fly,I agree with the question of Co' size before implementation of Seniority.My Son's in a firm of 25 pilots, still employ'direct'captns due experience,but after 5 years there it's still rankles when he listed by Alaphbet instead of Date o'hire.(he's a Captn)
I spent 32 years with a
Canadian Co',which used Seniority,as per norm in Larger firm's-It was the most'acceptable ' by the majority..The whole lifestyle was predicated on your bidding(number)and the 'best' you could do for quality of life..
Management always had the prerogative to 'tap' the Wizkids for 'Checkpilot positions'which refuted pure senioity as per upgrades..Ideally the best(qualified and respected) guys were approached,to police standards etc,BUT later due to the fact that co's'burnt the guys out(25days/month,Sim'Line checks etc)the Majority of Checkies were the most 'Junior'qualified Captn's trying to avoid the'Reserve' lifestyle(on call/contact).Reserve could be quite extensive in a Large carrier(Years).
Another 'drag' from seniority was the fact that Pilots ,as they got older, were still'forced' to fly larger/farther to get the 'high' $$$ of the Formulae Pay system(productivety Money)whereas the European aspect of service pay(hourly rate per service year)allowed the 'senior' pilot to stay closer to home,the younger pilots skirting the world(choice)....
Too bad this system wasn't more acceptable to the associations(pro/con)
