Originally Posted by
JustAsking
I appreciate all the help/answers from those of you who have been around. One question I have relates to seniority. Does seniority begin when you start day 1 with the company, and if so, is there anything that can change your seniority while still employed with the same company?
Seniority at Envoy starts on day 1 of newhire training. Some airlines do it at the end of sims, end of IOE, projected training completion date ect. Leaving the company due to leave of absence, resigning, or getting fired may have a negative effect on your seniority but it depends on the specific circumstances.
Originally Posted by
JustAsking
Once you pick a regional, doesn't it benefit you to stay there until you move to a major if possible?
To an extent yes. Going to another airline starts you back at square one. Having said that, if you have a good reason to jump to another airline such as quality of life, sign on bonuses, not commuting, faster flow/upgrade it may be worth it. Sometimes your airline may go bankrupt, things get really ugly, and your company renames you after an SUV like the Jeep Compass, Mitsubishi Endeavor, or that one GMC makes, in which case it may be time to make what's known as a "lateral move" to another regional.
This is one of the reasons that one universal seniority list has been a pipe dream of ALPA for decades. The chances of this actually though are basically zero.
Originally Posted by
JustAsking
For example, if a new hire FO starts in April, and then 6 months later another pilot starts but comes into the company as a "street" captain, would the new hire FO eventually be senior to the transfer once he/she upgraded (basically, wouldn't the person who transfers mid career always be junior until everyone hired before him/her caught up to them?)
Both of the pilots in this are "new hires" when they are hired. Previous experience means nothing with regards to seniority, it just so happens that one of them meets the qualifications to be captain and the other does not. As you mentioned, street captains tend to stagnate on the bottom of their specific aircraft/base seniority list as most first officers upgrading to captain will be senior to them. This will last until the pilots hired after our street captain become qualified to upgrade to captain themselves.