Don, it ain't at the demand of the bean counters, it's at the demand of the EBA. Seniority rules. There was an exception made early last decade for a bunch of experienced ex Ansett 737 pilots who were fast-tracked to 737 F/O outside of seniority. I'm just saying that the S/O role is a great system for new low hour pilots - especially cadets. Experienced pilots joining have to put up with it also. I'm not suggesting that they should remain S/O's for 10 or 20 years either, which happens. But that's another thread.