As far as HR are concerned, a pilot is just a licensed body in a seat. Seniority serves the corporation more than the individual; pilots are less ‘portable’ to higher-paying jobs in other companies & ‘the market’ is artificially capped/skewed.
So if, while working under a seniority system, an individual defers promotion for any reason like:
- they’re building a house,
- their partner has cancer,
- a child has special needs,
- they need to commute interstate while caring for aging parents,
- they like the fleet they’re already on,
- the work/life balance is their best compromise, or
- the pay is tolerable…..
…..why do some infer it’s just laziness/rorting?…. & their ‘inspired’ solution is apparently to pay SOs less.
In most companies SOs don’t exist. In most companies, ULH flying is done by multi-Capt & multi-FO crews. Most QF SOs would be FOs in any other company.
…And enough of the hyperbole please
effectively block any new joiners from ever getting an SO seat on the A380
🤔
All pilots join & are obliged to retain a Class 1 medical & appropriate ratings for their job. Thereafter, their career choices are framed by the EA (& seniority system) under which they work. IT’S FAIR! Some aspire to,
and achieve, rapid promotion by being portable to other cities or ‘less-desirable’ fleets. Others simply compromise in order to balance life’s competing priorities.
There endeth the lesson.😊