You are so worried about the former AT capt.

What about the SWA FO who WAS an AT capt, or a Capt at another B level airline? Why don't your care about that guy's SWA upgrade? He will have hundreds of younger dudes put ahead of him who will NEVER retire in his career.

How is it that you are missing this most important part of the equation over and over an over again? Age demographics ARE THE issue. To paraphrase, "It's the Demographics Dummy!" The rest of your argument doesn't even register with SWA FO's if you pretend it doesn't exist.