He flew as a Captain ONLY by staying in STL. Anywhere else--F/O, probably 75/76
You hit the nail on the head here with the STL base. There was language to protect the pilots in the STL base. This lead to a lot of dead heading between STL and ORD which has caused issues with the ORD base.
I have no clue where this will end up but it comes as no surprise that AA has announced that they will be closing the STL base in Bankruptcy Court.
Clearing a hassle for AA and pushing the senority issue to a final agreement during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Needless to say someone or the other will end up not being happy.