Upper Deck Right
Actually, if you think about it, there is a great deal of benefit to Long Haul members if the Progression documents were opened up to allow more movement.
Specifically:
a) Current agreements means that regional can only go to short haul, and from there, to long haul.
b) Long Haul crew can only go to short haul during the exchange of divisional transfers from Short Haul to Long Haul.
If the CP arrangement was opened up, and Regional crew went straight to Long Haul (as is the case, because most of them want to take that road in Impulse), it would mean LESS Regional crew going to Short Haul - thus leaving more slots for Long Haul to transfer INTO Short Haul. Honour the increased numbers as they stand now, give Regional Crew the option of either Short Haul or Long Haul (one or the other) and progress from there...
I can think of many Long Haulers who would appreciate the fast-tracking of deployment into Short Haul *if you consider a 7 year waitlist fast-tracking!*
In finer detail:
a) Get Regional Crew to select which division they would like to transfer to (one only)
b) Changes permitted every 6 months from date of application
c) Determine the number into Short Haul and Long Haul. Work out the minimum numbers from each division (eg. 18 for Eastern, etc).
d) Determine the number of slots that would have been allotted to CP and MINUS those that have selected to go into Short Haul = Number of remaining slots OVER AND ABOVE the 50 divisional transfers per year from Long Haul to Short Haul.
Of course, some measure/formula would need to be applied to ensure that Short Haul crew wanting to transfer to Long Haul aren't disadvantaged (ie. that is, having regional crew jump in front of them). Maybe something along the lines of in circumstances where Long Haul achieve transfers greater than 50 due to regional crew entry, this same excess applies from Short Haul to Long Haul.
That way:
a) Regional quotas from CP document are met
b) More crew get the chance to progress between divisions at a faster rate, as crew enter their desired area quicker
c) Crew are happier!
d) QF then gets experienced crew to enter Long Haul - why this should be the sole domain of Short Haul only is beyond me, especially when you consider that a large number of CP crew are CSM's now!
Sure my plan probably has holes in it - but what do you guys think?