Anthill, who introduced the idea of the seniority system to VOz? actually that doesn't really matter but if it was the airline that proposed it perhaps they saw the writing on the wall for an airline without one!
It's interesting that the creation of the seniority system included improvements in pay, I think long term it will result in a reduction in senior pay, so it's possible that removal of seniority would cause losses in pay (the initial bloodbath) but long term perhaps pay rises??? I've always wondered if a union approached an airline to get rid of seniority would the airline accept the proposal.
The advantage for current crew would be you could leave and try greener pastures, if they were no good you could 'try' and come back, the point being there's a chance to come back in the same position as opposed to going right to the bottom or no chance/point to come back. Also some airlines want a known quantity in the left seat they can't afford to lose them after investing so much money.
The answer to if seniority is the problem probably lies in what the airline would say to the proposal to remove seniority, if they said NO then clearly seniority benefits the airline and more than the crews.
I'm not against seniority, I just think airlines use the system against us. We use it for one thing the company uses it for another.
A BA skipper told me law firms once used a seniority system which had the same effect of guys accepting low pay as they moved towards the top, unable to leave as they would start at the bottom of a new law firm at even lower pay. I suspect we need to worry less about our position in the airlines ie S/O, F/O or Capt. and worry more about pay. Who wouldn't take a demotion if you got a pay rise! While what happens now is we are willing to take a pay cut for a promotion.