Originally Posted by
TED74
Yes, I believe that if you sort classes by age, that method will put more experience toward the top off the list than if you sort by SSN, or randomly. It may or may not hold true for a single class, but I think it would over time.
If it were safer to have only the oldest pilots be the Captains, then we would just do away with seniority list, and put everyone in their seat based on age. It's not, so we don't.
The wheels come off your theory when you expand it beyond a single newhire class. The youngest guy in this week's class will always be senior to the oldest guy in next week's class. Does that make our operation inherently less safe because the youngster this week could be a Captain before the greyhead next week? The answer is no.
I can get on board with the theory that the older pilot has less time, so why not throw him a bone and order everyone by age, like most other airlines do. However, to say that there is a safety advantage associated with that method is really reaching.