I talked to a relatively senior B727 Captain Flex who did not realize that 38 B727 captains lost their seats on Posting 8-02 last June. As of today only one has been trained. That number includes 4 WB Flex instructors on passover and 34 Active captains. This was the Over-60 bid. The unforseen factor was the number of senior first officers that bid over to the left seat. This relatively small, obscure number of demoted captains seems to be a thorn in the side of the union, especially the dozen or so that bid HKG captain. I have heard the the union line and I believe strongly in the principle -- "Seniority has its priveledges." Having said that, here is the problem:
If you are involuntarily excessed to a lower paying seat you will not be trained in reverse seniority order. Choose your seat carefully.