Originally Posted by
Jetjok
"Haven't bid a Captain seat". I think what he's saying is that if you're senior enough to be able to hold wide-body captain, but are still an f/o, then, in his opinion, you're part of the problem. That would suggest, at least to me, that he is understanding of guys who don't want to bid 727 captain and be at the bottom of the list. However, once they can hold wide-body captain, they will be senior enough (again in his opinion) to hold a narrow-body captain slot at some "reasonable" percentage. Again, that's my interpretation, but I'm sticking with it. It has nothing to do with 60+ years of wisdom (or lack thereof, as my wife can attest to), only my understanding of the english language.
The reality is, ALPA fought many battles to have a seniority based system. Monthly schedules, Recurrent Training Dates, Vacation bidding....all driven by the a seniority based system. I can understand that the company would want to have the MOST experienced pilots pipelined to the W/B left seat, but our system is what it is. If somebody camps out because their relative seniority would be better or the flying is what they prefer, then that is totally their perogative. They should not be viewed as "a problem". If we are TRULY hiring the "best of the best" then it shouldn't really matter, right?