Originally Posted by
CleCapt
Sled,
You have some very good points here. BUT, you seemed to have concentrated too much on the retirement side of the equation. You fail to take into account the age at which someone was hired. Your comments assume that all the pilots at CAL are younger than you. IF a 2005 737 Captain was hired at age 45, then under your scenario, he should be ahead of you solely because he will retire sooner. Looking at where you are on the list when you retire might help you justify your argument, it can also be used against you. As far as I know, RELATIVE SENIORITY has been seen as where you are on the list now (or current snapshots) not where you might have been if you got all the planes you had on order, didn't shrink any more or pieced out to other airlines ( ie Pan Am and TWA )
Take a look at the lists, I did. I am one of the older guys, hired in 2000 at age 40. I had to go something like 260 guys down the CO list to find someone older and then another 250 or so for a second one. Although I am on the older side, our guys at the bottom end of the UA list are considerably older than on the CO side overall. As for there never being a precedent for furloughees going ahead of active pilots, there has never been a merger under the new ALPA guidelines.