Perhaps one other concern that I haven't addressed is that the recruitment of Direct Entry F/Os onto the passenger fleet in 2008 and the extension of captains beyond the age of 55 will slow down the number of upgrades. We have just completed the budget submission for next year and I can confirm that we plan to upgrade close to 90 S/Os to JF/O and 90 SF/Os to Captain in "08" very similar levels to "06" and "07". The limit on this continues to be set by the training capacity of the Company which is enhanced by extending C&T crew beyond the age of 55.
Here's a thought... maybe pay Check and Checkers a fair amount for the work they do and in addition employ enough so that you have surge capacity and hence no crap rosters, then maybe you will be able to keep them in the department longer, then you won't need to attack the conditions of employees purely to satisfy your bottom line.