I had actually said my peace until Dark Knight made the above post.
Seniority does ensure all get an opprtrunity in sequence to upgrade however, the final say in this process resides with the Regulator through an `approved' check & training organisation.
Seniority is about taking the control of a pilots daily life and lifestyle from airline management and putting it in the hands of the individual pilot!
This is ill-considered rhetoric. The fact is that in a dynamic industry Datal Seniority means that many worthy pilots will never see a command during their careers. Many will work for a company for years which then goes bust or is absorbed only to join a company with DS and then they start from scratch, the industry effectively losing the full benefit of their experience. Consider the 10 year FOs in Canada (Canadian/Air Canada merger) who were absorbed by another company and then put at the bottom of the Seniority list. Of what use was their experience when Junior SOs became senior to them? I know of one Check Captain who suddenly became junior to his son. I correspond with an FO who is still not a captain years later.
Example: the many ex AN check captains who joined QF as SOs. Where are they now? FOs on intermediate types, that's where. Most will never hold a command again- due to seniority. At least the industry and the younger FOs at JQ could benefit from the experience and mentorship provided by the"Blue Shirts", as some have so demeaningly called them.
I have already explained at length that DS results in promotion becoming a box ticking exercise. The next in line, whatever their knowledge, whatever their experience, becomes the benchmark. More often than not, this will mean that the potential standard of the industry is
lowered, unless by co-incidence or fluke the next datally senior
is the best, most experienced and suitable person for the job. This
is an industry safety issue.
Some posters have already seen the link between declining salaries and safety-If you don't see the link to how Datal Seniority lowers our T&Cs, go and speak to an Economist and get them to explain the effect of Labour Regulations, employment dynamics and wages.