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Old 10-04-2020, 07:41 AM
  #55  
da42pilot
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Joined APC: Mar 2017
Posts: 559
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Originally Posted by Hedley View Post
Another way to look at a national seniority list. If another airline failed, would others want those pilots coming to their airline in seniority order and bumping them down? As an example, would other regionals like it if the very senior pilots from XJT went to their company and took the senior slots? I doubt it. We all like to talk about industry unity until it affects us in a bad way, then all bets are off. A national seniority list is good from the prospective of people working for a failing company, it’s bad for the rest.
XJT was closed down because we had too many high-longevity pilots, who command higher pay and several weeks paid vacation every year. XJT did not fail, this was an opportunistic shutdown to save money by going with someone cheaper.

With a national seniority list, the difference between the most junior airline and the most senior airline would likely have been much smaller. Which means XJT might not have been shutdown. The entire industry would have a more stable labor cost structure and management would be forced to compete in other areas. Lateral moves would keep longevity about the same at all airlines.

Also, every start-up airline has a huge cost advantage because all their pilots start at bottom year 1 pay, no union and with a basic contract. This has a destabilizing effect on other, more established carriers.

That said, I agree with Tallpilot. This is more of an economic problem not a legal problem. It’s within the reach of pilots to minimize the problems of lateral moves but I’m also not holding my breath it’ll actually happen. After all, “I paid my dues and now you will have to pay yours” says the senior pilot, right?
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