Pielut, that's really a shame, and it speaks volumes of ethics on account of that department, and I am sorry for your friend.

Perhaps your friend had a reasonably nice discrimination/wrongful termination lawsuit available to him, or I hope at least he got a nice severance package.

However, the fact remains and the history is littered with failed airlines, and I don't mean just startups - I'm talking established carriers: Pan Am, Braniff, Eastern, Aloha, ATA, etc. Let's not even get into start-ups or mergers. Tough sh*t, right?

Well, it is... in a way. But bear something in mind... all of those airlines had some very experienced pilots who were making a pretty good living. Now that their airlines have gone under, their resume indicating their experience, loyalty to one company, other professional experiences doesn't amount to squat - $3000/month, right seat, and that's if you're "lucky."

Here's the thing... seniority should have its place, but in my opinion, the difference between the top FO and the bottom FO shouldn't be more than 5%-10% difference in pay. Why? You're doing the same damn job. I was making $95/hour as a 737 FO, and my counterpart who was hired after me and was still on probation, was making something like $30/hour. Experience? Nope... this person was furloughed from another airline and he had been in the industry way longer than me, had way more total time and time in type than me, yet I was making 3 times what he was making doing the same exact job. Why? Seniority... Even back then when we were hiring, I thought the whole concept was grossly flawed and cheapened us as a whole.

When we were taking paycuts, we were asked... do you want to risk having to start over at year 1 somewhere else or take this additional 10% paycut and forego your annual cost-of-living 'raises'? I suspect that was the driving force behind the post-9/11 concessions, all the while the airline management and executive compensation skyrocketed.

This 'seniority for pay purposes' has been used against the pilots time and time again, yet we're still swearing by it.

I am simply at a loss that seemingly well-educated self-proclaimed professionals would allow themselves to keep getting taken advantage of in this fashion time and time again. Yet, here we are...