always seems to move towards all the Airlink politics.
Sadly these things do tend back towards Airlink, for one reason. From '95 till around '01 RF had his digit truly extracted. The man did just about everything right. You have never seen such a bunch of happy campers in your life.
Then management turned to the 'dark side'. And now Link is a study in how NOT to do it.
where so many things OTHER than seniority factor in advancement
Hell yes, but that applies in all airlines. Fleet Locks, base locks, training bonds etc.
The system works for a reason. We are all equally qualified and one assumes all equally able to do the job. Seniority allows the guys and girls to plan their career progress in an airline. Seniority takes the brown nosing/old boys network out of play.