Originally Posted by
TACHO
None of the stress and angst of a performance based system? Heaven forbid one would have to actually achieve a high level and prove he was worthy of the position. Don't know where this 'brown nose' nonsense is coming from... frustrated ex military guys I expect, where I believe it is prevalent. Your argument makes no sense, without seniority you would still have to perform, except theres one less hurdle, namely having to wait behind people who may be less able and are eligible for the opportunity only by virtue of that they exist in a company prior to you.
If you work out how much you lose by waiting in the lower rungs of a seniority based system, even though you might have a great deal of experience, then I wouldn't say the ts and cs are all that great...
As several have pointed out seniority is for the good of the company, not for pilots. I'll take my chances in a performance based system any day of the week thanks, I've seen seniority be abused as well and it was FAR from fair, make no mistake it's an old boys club, and if you think it guarantees you anything, you are in for a shock... lots of institutionalised people here, with a severe case of stockholm syndrome, or having invested a lot of time and faith in it, couldn't possibly admit that for the pilots as a collective it is harmful....
I think the majority on here hailing the benefits of the seniority system are Americans? The funny thing is this is a complete 180 to the American way of life, where they all say it’s the land of opportunity and if you work hard to can make it to the top.
the only problem is with the seniority system it makes not a jot of difference whether you sit on your thumb all day or bust your balls working hard. So why work that little bit extra?
I really do think the majority who are in favour of the seniority system are also either straight out of school pilots or ex military and have never worked in another industry. This type of system just doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.
Almost every career you move up a couple of position and then leave that company to a promotion at a different company. And it then continues. Outside of the public sector it is very unusual for an individual to spend their whole career at one company.