Originally Posted by iahflyr

My biggest gripe about being in a union is that we use a seniority system. That ensures that you are promoted not based on how good a pilot you are, but simply by how long you've been with the airline. That means the crappy pilots get promoted along with the good pilots. The worst pilots of group never get let go, and instead become the senior captains.

Every time an airline tries to do merit based upgrades, there is major outrage. Virgin America and XoJet were the two most recent I was aware of. A seniority system assures that the pilots just barely good enough to not get fired will be your Captain someday. I would love to get rid of it.



I would like that as well. A lot of doctors and engineers are salaried but get overtime (paid at a straight time rate normally) for working above and beyond a normal work week. We are essentially salaried (75 hour guarantee) with the opportunity to make overtime if we work extra hours.

Also, I have read Flying the Line Volume 1. I suggest you read Atlas Shrugged.