That would be impossible to do, since any pilot that is displaced can go to anyplace where somebody junior to them is staffed (and not displaced), so if you Displace everyone seniority number 2 and below, nobody can go anywhere??

What they could do is choose a couple of points on the seniority list to start displacing. Displace all Captains and WB FOs below Seniority X , Take all pilots below seniority Y (a number further down the seniority list than X) in 756 FO seats and let all those pilots move to a new assignment . This is cutting with an Axe and would need to be followed with multiple refining displacements. Post 9-11 United started with pretty large displacements, but they were not targeted on a system level, they were targeted at the most over staffed areas. So, doing something like this or what you suggested would be a different approach than previous times we have gone down the path that it appears we are going to head down.

Currently over 20% of the 777/787 Captains are within 18 months of retirement so I would not anticipate any displacements in those seats except for potential BES closings (ORD 777?)

Currently about 6% of the 757 Captains are within 18 months of retirement so, potential displacements could come there. Especially considering that the UA 757s will likely be accelerated to retirement. (SFO/LAX 756 BES shrinking or closing)

Narrowbody CA and Widebody FO seats have about 2-4% of the pilots that are within 18 months of retirement depending on location.

So, the Displacements could be significant in the middle of the seniority list and get really ugly below that.