DLax85

I think this logic is congruent with the often spoken...

"Hey, stop complaining all the time....if you junior guys don't like the rules in this industry, you can always quit"

...of course, retirement is a much nicer option.

DLax85

...the seat

fedupbusdriver

The capt is awarded the line one day before the f/o, so he owns the line.

frozenboxhauler

Which is the politically correct way in use, as opposed the old "negative airmans list".
fbh

fedupbusdriver

or now the negative two geezers list.....

Daniel Larusso

After all the wailing from everybody around here about seniority, it's interesting how no one really seems to care much on the seat v. seniority deal for trips and bidding.

subicpilot

Not sure what you mean here...there's not much to care about. Seat seniority is all that has ever existed as far as bidding is concerned, with the exception of the standing bid. We have senior people in all seats and aircraft right now. The over 60 stuff doesn't change anything.

Daniel Larusso

It's more of an observation than anything deep-like observing that most of the 'purportedly' rational it is what is comments around here are coming from left-seaters. There has been a lot of talk about seniority and it's meaning/rights around here lately. Whether it's DW saying retroactivity is the right thing to do b/c of seniority, certain contractual rights (or respect for some) due to seniority, or more recently what the Age 60+'ers should/can do with their seniority going forward. I just found it a bit amusing that after all of this talk of seniority, that it doesn't really seem to bother anyone that the Capt always gets to decide who stays on a trip when there are bidding restrictions even if they aren't the senior pilot involved.

JetJocF14

Of course, someone will ask --- What if the FO is senior to the Capt?

If flying from say Paris to Subic and in that situation, as Capt you simply look at the F/O and say " NOT FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS " .........

Jetjok

Seniority, while being the cornerstone of this industry, is a little different here at FedEx. In most places, guys actually aspire to become captains. Here, we've lots of guys who, for whatever reason, aspire to gain seniority in whatever seat they happen to find themselves in, then stay there for protracted lengths of time. However, seniority within seat is only good for: standing bids; vacation bids; monthly bids; RCS/PC/PT dates and times; and last but not least (I think) upgrade or transition training dates. Once one shows for a flight or pairing, they then fall into the trap of "if you're a first officer, then you're subservient to your captain, while if you're a second officer, you're subservient to (first) your captain and (then) your first officer, when the captain is off the flight deck.

At some other airlines, once someone junior to you upgrades to a higher seat, you've got one year to accomplish an upgrade, or you're shown the door. In those systems, seniority across the spectrum of the crew force, is more in line with seniority across seats, whereas here, it's not.

And before guys like P.cubed or FDD home in on, and get upset with my use of the word "subservient", the definition of that word, from the dictionary was "serving or acting in a subordinate capacity." It was not a slam or was not meant in a demeaning way.