Originally Posted by Whiskey4

They can’t do that even if they want to. New hire bidding must be accomplished per the contract. Even the new Director of Flight Ops - Tech had to bid (granted, for a DEC slot in Group 2 due to his previous 121 experience) and he’s management. The only way Swayne gets a 175 is if the company puts enough of them in the bid so he can choose one. Apparently, he was not a Cadet at UND, so that puts him likely near the bottom of Group 3 based on age.

With pretty much all of the FO spots in the last two classes being 175, I’m not sure how likely it is for that to continue.