Originally Posted by dh05z28

After reading part of the "ugly" on the website, I have a crazy idea. Airlines are all based on seniority, correct? What if the FAA implemented a seniority based license system. i.e. each 5 years you get a new "bar" or whatever on your ATP license. This could potentially give pilots some more advantages to land an equal job at a comparable pay scale, and more leverage against their current employer. For example...

Lets say the FAA made it a requirement for certain upgrades and seat assignments to be based on this system. Take a CA slot on the 747 at airline A have a requirement of a 10 year 121 experienced pilot, not a 10 year at airline A alone! Now, lets say 747 CA at airline A didnt like the way things were going and wanted to go to airline B. In todays airlines, this would be a crazy move! The captain at airline A has an awesome seniority number and salary. Why would he/she want to give that up to sit reserve for half the pay at Airline B!!?? If the FAA rewarded experience (not just who got their license first but who's had a part 121 employee number longer) they could make a lateral type move into a comparable pay scale instead of going to the bottom of the pay scale.

Yes, I understand that airlines already do seniority based salary and schedule rewards. However this is all based on CURRENT pilots on their own seniority list. I guess what I'm getting at is the idea of a "universal" seniority list that could transfer from airline A to airline B. This could cause airlines to take a step back knowing their pilots have more options out there.

I think that as pilot's we can all respect the long time and hours other pilots from other airlines, have put into the 121 world. It seems almost criminal to lock people into positions they are not happy with because of the fear of losing money, QOL and other things they are used to having at there current jobs. This doest happen in other professions....Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, you name it. In a normal economy most professions can make a lateral or progressive move from company to company without having to start over. If pilots were able to bring what they have earned over the years to another airline, things could change for the good.....anyways, food for thought.