KRUSTY, I thought that you would know better than that. Yor own company, REX is on the verge of an organisational and standards collapse because it cannot attract people with experience into the company.
Why?
Because anyone with the ability to come to REX as a DEC with the requsite experience and qualifications to make a difference, cant. The reason being that seniorty dictates that they will have to start as a lowly FO on FO salary. Thus, as you lose experienced people to
VB CX QF J* the operational quality of your company will degrade to the point where it becomes a basket case. Further, those that stay and are promoted in order of datal seniority come to influential positions (C&T) are promoted before they have the depth of knowlege to do the job well.
I'm sure that your management knows this and would love to offer higher salaries to those that will stay with the company and also deliver on quality. There are people out there who would consider a reasonable package to come to REX (or Qlink) and actually add to the operational quality and not leave for an FO slot somewhere else. But, nah, because of datal seniorty, the company promotes people who are barely ready for T&C positions and can offer a sub-standard salary for doing the job. The reason that they can offer the sub-standard salary is obvious: supply and demand. There is, because of a limited number of quality applicants for the position no competition for the position. The employers know they have a captive market of pilots and reduce conditions as they seem fit.
Shame on you! I thought of all people, you would know better!
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When I read L_R_Ts post all I could think was "how typical"!
I have worked at companies that promote and employ on merit and also on datal seniority. I have never observed this 'back stabbing' as you speak of at companies that promote on merit. Never.
From anecdotal evidence, even companies with datal seniority can manipulate circumstance so as 'mates' can get promotions out of sequence. For example, a company in Perth failed some very experienced people so as some 'mates' could get an early shot at commands. The same company also lied to some other staff regarding the bidding intentions of some dataly senior FOs to manipulate these 'junior' (with about 3 times the flying hours!) pilots into their own bidding intentions*. As a result, some 'mates' (who were even more junior, both dataly and experiencially) got promotion to Captain. So dont tell me that datal seniority 'protects' the pilot body regarding promotional opportunities. If you think this, you really are a neophite!
As for you unfounded assertions that meritorious promotion results in a degraded standard, I defy you to produce objective studies that prove that to be the case. Come on; I'm all ears! Show me I'm wrong. I bet you cant, because there aren't any! What rubbish you speak! Amature hour mentality stuff is what you speak. Fool.
When employers have a captive market in there pilot body they are able to reduce T&Cs. We then all suffer as an occupational group. The capacity to say "stuff you, I can get a better deal somewhere else" and then leave is what will allow pilots to improve their conditions. Imagine if FO at the legacy companies could leave for DECs somewhere else. How do you think that that would influence the likes of Dixon
et_al to see well trained, experienced pilots leave for somwhere else. They will be forced to improve conditions if the exodus threatens their operation. If datal seniority were universally removed, it then increases the options for allpilots; more options=more movement. Simple.
As cited in the Time article, American pilots have not come back to their employers because they can get a better deal elsewhere. It should be obvious that, as a consequence, T&Cs must improve so as companies can retain staff. This is part of a really basic economic axiom; through datal seniority we not only protect the weak and the semi-competant, but we regulate the market against ourselves. The companies must laugh knowing that when people leave they will have to start at the bottom again. This means that there are less 'better deals' to leave your current employer for. Datal seniority creates the captive market that holds us back!
Now tell me again that the Earth is flat.
