Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
Seriously?
This is not a joke?
How would you gauge someone for an upgrade? Um, just what I said before, you open it up to applications, HR reviews them, person gets an interview, goes through a sim, is graded and valued based on many things, a board makes a selection. You think this is impossible? It works for all sorts of skilled labor, like Doctors, etc. I'm not talking about corporate flight departments, I'm talking about the rest of the business world, literally.
Based on what you just said above, pilots SHOULD start out at zero each and ever time, because they have no skills that can be measured, no background, no ability to "tell the story", no way to improve themselves inside and outside of work, no extra leadership experience, etc. You're just giving reasons to sit on your rear end and expect the world to come to you because you are such a great person. Do you not see you are shooting yourself in the foot?
Like I said, this all works fine with most businesses, but to "break" the cycle and the things that you feel you are owed, the eventual or mythical "upgrade" or start out at the next airline with decent pay, you have to give them a reason to do it.
You are inferring a lot and yes I'm serious. The economy of scale is too large to fairly promote based on a resume, much less let some boob from HR determine whether or not a pilot applicant gets a shot at upgrade.
The way you laid it out is almost precisely how it works, except there is no HR interview involved and there should not be. The efficacy of pilot should be determined by other pilots. Upgrade candidates currently
go through a sim,are graded and valued based on many things, an instructor makes a determination: Pass/Fail.
In your world, for the sake of simplicity, let's say 2 pilots are vying for the upgrade. Each has 5000 TT in type. Each has a BS in Basket-weaving. Each has an equal amount of volunteer time. One guy smiles nice and looks good in a suit, the other guy smells bad and looks like a Sh!te sandwich. The guy who smiles nice and looks good gets the job. Same scenario you alluded to before.
All that aside, I think your premise is flawed. If you consider flying 85 to 95 hours a month with minimum time off in between sitting on your rear end, then you must have some high standards. There are many who go the extra mile with volunteer work, Union Work (SAPA for SKYW), Graduate Degrees, etc. Not so they can be competitive for an upgrade, but so they can get hired at a Major. For most of us, that's what this is all about.
Combine the list
I guess we could always have upgrade selection boards based on Fitness Reports.
We'd all be outstanding or 5s (not sure how you do it in the Air Force) and promotions would be based on who the guy was with the most experience.