Pax boy.
The seniority system will not end for a very simple reason. Pilots are generic. We are selected for a very specific skill which make us all virtually identical. We are all qualified to be captains one day. If we weren't then the airline would not have hired us. This being the case seniority is the best way to determine promotion within an airline. Everyone still has to pass whatever course you are involved in but there is no politics involved in the selection. Even the most junior of us like this system and even management likes it. There has never been a contract opener my management at my airline through out it's history where they wanted to do away with seniority.
The posting about simply hiring a captain of the street is nonsence as well because of standardization problems, pairing difficulties and the like. I can just visualize the disaster of putting an off the street captain next to a senior first officer who should have the job by virtue of his seniority. CRM would be nonexistant.
I sense that alot of people on this forum are from many different aspects of this business and bring points of view tainted by their experiences( me included), but trust me, seniority is here to stay at the big carriers. The alternative would be Kaos.
Now, since I don't have much seniority I have to fly to New York on Thanksgiving.