Uh... MANY of the saab CAs were previously downgraded captains that took the first opportunity to upgrade. Many of us were under the impression that we were not under seatlock, because we had already upgraded and forced back to FO and were merely returning to our original position. There was a grievance on the issue. All the others, yes, knew there was a seatlock. Just like we all knew there was READY RESERVE in the contract (right avroman) and shouldn't be complaining about it. In the end, there wouldn't have been enough qualified FOs to staff the 900 left seats, so saab CA seatlocks would have been released anyhow. The argument is a moot point.

The issue between being a saab CA or a jet CA has nothing to do with flying skills. It has everything to do with being in charge of more than twice the amount of people. It's about the role of the CA and all the other responsibilities that go into it. It's far more than a pay raise and occupying the left seat... which many quick upgraded FOs are learning right now, if they made it through upgrade training.

Yes, the company has to pay for their decision of the released seatlocks. But you have to remember they staffed the way they did knowing we would be getting 15 more 900s. They didn't do this knowing DL would pull the rug out from under us and stop the deliveries at 5. Everything was planned on actually getting these planes, so to look back and complain about the decision the company made isn't practical. We should be glad that they company actually had the foresight to be proactive in staffing and what they were doing AT THE TIME when we were on track for these planes made complete sense. Glitches like what we're experiencing happen all the time. The end game is how they deal with it and it certainly looks to me like they're doing everything in the contract and MORE to mitigate involuntary furloughs.