Originally Posted by
mike734
You want to talk national seniority?
Unfortunately, seniority is a necessary evil. Promotion by any other means is a recipe for disaster. However, a national seniority list would be nice and 1978 probably would have been an opportune time to implement it. But, at the time, the "haves" were having none of it. They are all but gone now and the senior pilots left are not able or willing to sacrifice any more for the benefit of anyone but themselves. And who can blame them?
Perhaps now, with a large retirement bubble coming, would be a good time to try again. I don't know the legal ramifications of implementing a national list. I'm sure the hurdles are staggering. But I do think a paradigm shift is just over the horizon. Increased automation, ab initio, and a shortage of pilots with enough time to qualify as new hires, may force the issue. Will APLA (and the other unions) step up and help craft the future or will they fight change?
Anyway, just spit balling here. Good night.
I come from a background of economics, and I disagree with the notion that size doesn't matter--part of our higher pay for a larger plane is based on the notion that the equipment that generates the most revenue pays the most. Another way to look at it is to assume that the position of the most responsibility pays the most, and in this case responsibility is measured in the value of the equipment, cargo and lives. That's why even non-union nations pay more for larger equipment--flyDubai will never match Emirates because one flies 737's and one flies heavies.
The fact that some airlines have agreed to pay multiple airframes the same rate is simply a matter of convenience and expedience for both the company and the pilot group, as it saves money on training cycles because we have no incentive to chase certain upgrades, but we get the benefit of bidding what we want to fly based on our own personal criteria.
The same phenomenon occurs in nearly every profession, even sports: news anchors earn more than in-the-field reporters; quarterbacks get paid more than other players; the lead actor gets paid the most; senior partners in a law firm get the larger share of the profits; a VP will always get paid more than an entry-level manager. I could go on, but I think I've made the point.
Has seniority been the fault for a lot of other issues? Yes, and it would be folly to say otherwise.
However, a national seniority list is dead in the water before it starts for three main reasons: senior pilots will
never go along with it (and in some cases, neither would locally senior but nationally junior pilots [see America West/USAir]); it is a concept that would fail spectacularly without the support of
ALL the pilot unions, and getting ALPA, SWAPA, APA, IPA, IBT, and USAPA to agree on something like this would be an exercise in futility; third, and most important,
the airlines themselves would never go along with it. We sometimes forget that
everything we have must be agreed to by two parties, not just demanded by one (bankruptcy not included).