I worked for an airline that went from a seniority, promote from within culture to a “merit” and “experience” based system with a heavy focus on direct entry Captains. It wasn’t pretty and the people it often attracted were :-
- those who had been sacked from previous airlines for safety reasons, but rated and available now
- friends of managers from inside the airline
- friends of managers from outside the airline
- individuals that had lied about experience, qualifications and even one with a criminal conviction for perjury
- other airlines non-upgradable FO’s with bags of hours and a chain of failed upgrade attempts. These were made DEC’s or continued to fail upgrades
There were good guys too, but overall it was unsafe. I had been a Captain for that airline in the past but was demoted on moving from the turboprop to the jet. I just watched scary pilots appearing out of nowhere, whilst not getting a look in myself. Many long serving pilots left the airline to go elsewhere, to the bottom of a seniority list, like I did. My previous airline is now left with many pilots who will need constant management and will always be risky.
Seniority does ensure that the airline has to provide good training, give structure to careers and the airline has a chance to see the pilot performing well, prior to upgrade.