BTW, the old system wasn't all about who got to avoid flying, but also who got to perform flying.

With the RAW system, it's almost impossible to fly much more, so we're conditioned to ask ourselves why the other guy isn't also getting screwed. IOW, since we're all going to get very close to 70 hrs, +/- 1 or 2, we don't want to fly, and we're thinking in terms of spreading the pain.

But under the old system, a senior commuter could opt to bid high, fly his butt off, and finish early. They RAW system ensures this can't happen: you have to commute in, but you can't necessarily escape skywards, if your score is higher than another pilot's, and only one trip is up for grabs. You're a prisoner, whether you're senior or junior.

The only benefit to the current system of being senior is that it lets you bid for days off.

We can do better, and large RAW buckets are only a small step in that direction. On that note, I'm going to bow out of this one.