I think both are issues.

As pointed out before pay needs to be in line with productivity and our productivity only changes with equipment size. That ultimately drives the acceptable average unit cost.

Wage distribution among the pilot group and longevity pay creates is own sets of problems because it damns an airline to constantly grow or at least to add a sufficient number of bodies at the bottom to keep the average unit cost down. At the end, management doesn't care how the money is distributed but only that the average unit cost are low enough. And that's a function of wage distribution across the pilot group, what we are paid on (credit vs. block) and how many hours they can squeeze out (90+) without increasing staffing and increasing training expenses.

The issue with seniority is that it isn't merit based.

Nobody graduate as a Valedictorian from HighSchool or College because you have spend the most amount of time there. People don't get management positions because they have the most seniority with a company. And that doesn't guarantee good management either. But the point is, it is merit based pretty much anywhere else.

Making captain is great but all it means is that you stuck around long enough for your number to come up. That doesn't make you a bad captain but it also doesn't mean you are a good captain. All it means you stuck around long enough.

I believe that is the primary reason that majors are so much into college degrees', community involvement, leadership etc. Because they are looking for merit based indicators of success than purely seniority based indicators.

Either way, the system will not change but it may explain some of the dynamics in the market place.