Heyas Clamp,

Actually, the NWA APA system had very little "churn" at the bottom of each category, despite the fact that there were monthly awards. This seems to be the principal worry that fDAL guys have about the APA system.

The excess at the bottom of each category was mitigated by the Temporary Position system, which was extremely popular with commuters, and so almost always went quite senior. Lots of people benefit when senior guys bid temp positions. The senior guys get free travel & hotels to work, the mid guys in the permanent category move up, and the bottom guys stay in their position.

People forget that displacements cost the company money no matter how it's done, all at once, or a trickle over some months. The Temp system mitigated that by letting people even out the slight surpluses between bases.

Some people like the AE process because they say it lets people hang on to the bottom of a category longer than they normally would. But it also traps those same people, for months on end, where they might be happier in another, more junior category or a different base.

The monthly awards process smoothed the bumps, made it very easy to see the ebb and flow, and there were very few surprises.

Of course, sharpshooting the system, knowing exactly when you were going to training, and when you'd be in your position were nice parts of the system, as well.


The block/reserve separate category thing is a different matter. That system mostly benefited commuters, in that if you got the boot off the bottom of one category, you could just displaced into another blockholder position, and not worry about commuting to reserve. Honestly, I think we can do without it, BUT, you could emulate the benefit by setting up some kind of ultra long call reserve system that takes some of the sting out.

Nu