To all the people who want a "merit based" upgrade. Exactly what kind of "merit" do you think the companies are going to look at? It's not going to be how well pressed your shirt is, or how well shined your shoes are.

Imagine your "upgrade" interview.."so Captain applicant, we see that you have called in sick once in the last five years, that's sub-standard performance for this group".

"you diverted to an alternate twice last year, while the part 135 FedEx feeders managed to land. Sub-standard!"

"Your fuel burn numbers are 1.2% worse than the best applicant, sorry, sub-standard performance".

Flying airplanes is a business where "merit based", IMHO is one of the worst things we could base promotions on.