Originally Posted by Timbo

The single bigggest problem we have always had in this career field is, there is zero sideways mobility.

When you get hired at a Major, and get your seniority number, you are pretty much locked into that one airline the rest of your carreer, unless they go under, ask anyone at Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Braniff or any of the many other, one time great, carriers who are no longer with us. And if/when that happens, if you want to contine to be an airline pilot, you must start at the bottom of a new list, regardless of how many years of experience you have.

The system we have now has many flaws, no doubt. And any new system will also have flaws, there is no perfect solution. The question is, will it be better or worse, long term?

Here's something else to think about re. heavy pay vs. light pay.

What If...when the 787's (or A350's) finally come on line, the Majors who are today operating 747's and 777's replace all those larger jets with the (smaller) 787's? Delta did this years ago when they replaced 55 L10-11's with the smaller, lighter, less pax capacity 767 Er's. Pay cuts all around.

What if in the future, they replace the MD88/90 fleet with some new 100 seater? More of the same. ALPA's current pay formula (GW, seats, speeds) only improves our pay when airplanes are getting bigger. It works against us when airplanes get smaller.