Originally Posted by
aflyingtuba
Seat lock: currently a hot button issue. Company says when you're hired into the Q that there's a 1 year lock, but the company has also had a standing policy that FO's are seat locked until upgrade, and after that the only way to move around is if a pay raise is involved (i.e. moving from the 145 to 170). Any current Q drivers on here could give you a better picture on what's happening there.
To be clear for the original poster, the contract says the following:
Originally Posted by Article 7.C.10
New hire first officers shall be frozen in status and equipment type until eligible to upgrade to a captain position.
As for your mention of "pay raise" to change types, that language
does not apply and is strictly reserved for Captains. As referenced below in Article 7.C.9.b:
To further clarify, the company can waive the FO seatlock utilizing the following language, also from Article 7.C. but from part 13. and reads:
Originally Posted by Article 7.C.13
The company may waive any of the restrictions of this Article on a non-discriminatory basis. The Union will be notified in advance when any of the restrictions are waived.
In short, under the current CBA, the company is in violation if any FOs transition between Q400 and E170 without also offering that vacancy to all FOs. It's always possible (and likely) that they will simply do whatever they want and fight it out through arbitration. Full disclosure: short of a furlough event, fleet reduction, or hybrid base (such as HNL), the company has NEVER allowed FOs to bid across types.
If you are a new hire (or perspective hire), be prepared to stay on the Q400 until we achieve a new CBA or until you are senior enough to upgrade to CA. Which BTW, stands at about 7 years for all equipment types.