Originally Posted by
zegnaangelo
I find that hard to believe, a Senior Captain joining another airline and downgrading to a Second Officer? Isn't that position for newbies out of flight school?
It depends on the airline, but most have a strict seniority system where new joiners are hired at the bottom of the seniority list at the most junior rank. If the most junior rank is Second Officer, then that's where all pilots would normally join that airline. Qantas is one such airline.
A number of very senior pilots who either lost their jobs or resigned during the pandemic have ended up as junior pilots at other airlines. Many more decided it was all too hard (and quite frankly a slap in the face), and either retired early or found careers in other industries. The airline industry has lost a huge amount of experience as a result. Unfortunately, that's life in an industry where highly trained people are treated like commodities and experience counts for five-eighths of f@#k all if you change employers.