Yes, you are (sometimes) correct about slots. I had my DCA 320 Captain bid in since the pandemic displacement in May 2020, and could not hold it until November 2021. Sometimes there were slots that went senior to me or had grandfathered pilots in them and other times there were no slots. But for almost a year and a half my bid was not awarded. So I don't know that it’s really accurate to say I “definitely has the seniority to hold it” during that period. I could have held it pre-pandemic, as I’m assuming your friend did, but chose not to bid it then because I was enjoying being a 756 FO.