Flying can also be a refuge for those who don't want to work for a real boss, and can't stand the idea of office politics and kissing someone's bum (ass) to get ahead. Seniority creates a numerical sequence as a substitute for social cliques and company politics, even "affirmative action". There have been some smaller US airlines, both passenger and freight, where seniority was not always used. But these were non-union.
Airline pilots have no liability insurance, which has become almost unaffordable for thousands of US doctors. If we screw up bad, or even try to cover something up which ended ok for the plane and passengers, our career is over.
