Originally Posted by
CFM567
I've been the most junior full time Captain at SWA since September 2019 and just want to throw some realism into this thread. I was hired by AirTran in April of 2008 and when I upgraded there were a bit more than 1,000 senior to me that bypassed. I run into guys regularly that express their regret for that decision. When we start upgrading again, which I'm guessing is only months away, upgrade classes will be filled with those pilots for at least a year before anything goes junior to me. By the time pilots junior to me start upgrading, it will fall back to around 12 years for upgrade times.
I love the optimistic projections being floated, but IMO, they just aren't realistic. I hope I'm wrong....
CFM
I think that the potential for premium on the FO side will have a big impact on the bypass rate. For me personally, if there is premium available as an FO I’m bypassing until I can hold the schedule I want (around 75% in base/seat). It seems like SWAPA is pushing hard to return to an efficient manning model, will be interesting to see if the company listens.
if the company stays hell bent on suppressing premium then I feel you are right about less bypassers