Originally Posted by
skypilot35
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. N
ot 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.
Where the major airline does the same thing to you if you have to "restart" at another major. You're betting on the major being around forever, like TWA, etc. The days are long gone of counting on the pension to carry you after 20 years, assuming you have that long left when you even get to a major. You are correct though, by keeping the goal "get to a major", you allow the entire industry to walk up and down all over you and hold that as leverage.
The question remains, if your major takes a dump and you are a 777 CA, should you have to start over again at another major at the bottom? Not saying you are
owed anything, but if major B just happens to be looking for 777 CAs, you are qualified, have lots of hours, seems like it would make sense you could apply for that (in the normal business world). If the only "need" is for CA on a particular aircraft, maybe you can or can't get it, depending on your experience. May not be a good idea if what you've flown is radically different and there are more qualified candidates, etc.
The interview thing isn't complicated (like AT&T and kids around a table). Same or similar process for initial hiring. Grade it objectively based on points if you like, 5 points for graduate degree, 5 points for every 10K of time, IDK, it could easily be done though. Sitting around and saying it can't possible work when it works just fine for the rest of the world sounds a little ridiculous, not to mention it worked just fine when you hired in. Plenty of sims are capable of objectively "grading" events based on how many altitude deviations, how close you meet tolerances, etc, you know, "pilot stuff". I've used them.
It's amazing the mountains that have been erected by the pilot groups and how they've told themselves over and over they are the greatest mountains ever and now that management has figured out how to manipulate them in every way possible, those pilots are unwilling to abandon them.
Seniority has a purpose, longevity pay in a specific job classification/grade, bidding for work assignments in the same, etc, but nearly every other industry, skilled and unskilled, does not use a seniority system for promotion.
Seriously, you could also make the same "the world is not fair" arguments for any other industry, that you have much more experience, are a better person, dressed better, etc, but HR departments have come a long way, they are pretty efficient and have to be very objective, or face lawsuits and litigation.