A lot of verbiage there, WhaleFr8.
Truth be known, Polar's then chief pilot even turned away a high senority FE guy that had a B-737 type rating (his reasoning was that this FE was a little rusty)! Another high senority FE that was accepted to the -400 program (but later suddenly dismissed) had flown as a qualified Polar classic FO just a few years earlier.
I believe that it became political, as the choice on which of the qualified FE's to send to the -400 was actually made by a committee of one. . . (Note - The then chief pilot was even heard to exclaim "think of all of the current -400 FO's those senior FE guys will displace"!).
Again FR8, - The basic reasoning of 1998, was that the FE's had about 10 years to aquire basic certificates, and thus Polar's CBA clause was intended to save jobs. . . . . BUT - With the more recently established ICAO standards, the "FE as cruise pilot" concept has now become obsolete. . . Do not deny that this concept was at one time used by the world's most major airlines during that time of transition years ago.
Last edited by L-38; 5th Feb 2009 at 18:19.