Sherm, no. Not retire.
Let's say that QF agrees to GOAL with effect from 1 March 08. No current QF driver would get a look in at a J* command until all J* F/Os employed prior to 1 Mar 08 have had one of the three things occur:
a. Take the slot,
b. Be deemed not suitable for the slot by J* management, or
c. Knock the slot back.
After that it goes to the GOAL which would be datal seniority. Therefore a 15 year Dash driver trumps me (13 years QF). Next year the bloke or blokette who knocked the slot back or was found unsuitable would still have first bid on the aircraft ahead of others on the GOAL from outside J*.
There is no bogeyman in the GOAL concept. Same would apply if they decided to give the 787s to QFlink. All the current QFlink F/Os get to upgrade on it and then allocation after that is down to datal seniority from across the group. The 15 year Oxley/Impulse/J* driver trumps me for the gig. The 16 year QF driver trumps the 15 year Oxley/Impulse/J* driver, etc, etc.
The J* F/O who joins on 1 Apr 08- after the GOAL list is established- slots in behind all of the other players in the group. Therefore they'd be looking at upgrading to F/O on the 744 or perhaps another mainline type before they'd get a shot at command on J*. Again I think this is where the nay-sayers about AIPA and GOAL are coming into it. Any potential DEC doesn't want this to occur and so they're hammering hard at AIPA and QF mainline guys to prop up their own interests. Of course, you can argue that AIPA and QF mainline guys are also out to prop up their own interests but personally I'd prefer to look after those 3000+ QF group pilots who are currently IN the group before we worry too much about those who are yet to join. Note too that this is not about a 'b scale'- which I abhor- but it is all about choice! Ironic that J* markets itself as being all about choice whilst working overtime to prevent their crew from having it!
I hope that is making things clearer.