Carl,
I can see your point. However here are some numbers for you.
I used you being 52 and expecting retirement in 2021 (age 65). I gave you the benifit of the doubt and considered any DAL pilot that should retire in 2021 senior to you. I did this because I didn't know your exact DOB.
Using this there were 242 DAL pilots that would be on the list senior to you using a relative position ratio when you retire. You would retire at 2% at the largest airline in the world.
Here's my math:
You said that you will retire 9 at NWA and I used 5150 for your pilot numbers.
I used 7330 for the number of DAL pilots. You would integrate with the 711 guy at DAL if you are 500 at NWA.
Again, I gave you all guys retiring in 2021 (above #711) being senior to you and I'm sure that if you did the same with your numbers you wouldn't be number 9 (unless you were born on Jan 1).
Summary: You lost less than 2% of your position through your retirement date because of the relative seniority position proposition. I don't see how that is too bad for you considering you are likely to be working for a more stable carrier with more routes, more aircraft and more pay.