I noticed quite a few NBA charters (as well as other charters) in the ATL 320 bid pack for next month.

Whoops. Didn't read the date, did you?

We start flying SEA-CDG in a year and a half from now. March 2012...

I consider the lance captain thing a major concession. It reduces captain seats by a fairly significant margin. It would even more with us spread out over all our different categories.

As far as the rest... sure, it would be way better for the most part.

Are all those charters already bought and paid for?

I'm confused...again

A concession for who? Our management are the ones who want to get rid of the program in a bad way, not SWAPA. The main thing that we pilots have enjoyed about the Lance program is that it increases one's choices and it is a major facilitator of trip trading. IOW, it allowed us all to be more productive (I know....I know...that's anathema to your culture ;).) For the FO who lives in a senior domicile and doesn't want to commute for an upgrade, it lets him have both. For the captain who is trying to give away a so-so trip, odds are it's a Lance who will pick it up. For the mid-to-junior FO looking for a little open time beyond what the company has available, it will probably be found on the give-away board from a lance. As far as less captain seats, that's largely an illusion. Lances are captains. Before some restrictions were put on the Lances in our last contract, most were virtually never flying as FOs, and a few years ago the highest paid pilot at SWA for the year was a Lance (he reportedly grossed well north of $400K)

The company is convinced that the Lance program now costs more than the value it produces. It was born out of the hyper-growth early years when guys were upgrading at <3 yrs. When Herb would find a good deal on a couple more -200s and drop them on Crew Planning, they needed to be able to staff those aircraft right now, and the Lance program gave them that flexibility. In the no/slow growth mode we are in now and for the near-future, it probably is a bit obsolete, but I and many of us will be sad to see it eventually go. Our collective QOL will take more of a hit than many here realize.

We begin flying SEA-CDG on March 24, 2012. Sailing fun and the other guy saying stuff about the winter pull down and it going away in summer weren't paying attention.

That's next year, in about 5 months.

At least you admit that you aren't any kind of gold standard in this industry. "currently well paid, but..." As far as how you feel about how all the legacy carriers fare in their contract endeavors, I personally couldn't care less. SWAPA hasn't done squat for anybody else in this industry save themselves. Witness the crap sandwich you are serving to your soon-to-be co workers. But not to worry Rolf, we'll raise the bar for you so that you don't have to do any heavy lifting when you come up for your next contract. You're welcome. And welcome to Atlanta.

Why don't you go beat on someone whose seat/seniority you are taking? Never mind, ya'll are doing a bang up job of that.

Any Captain named Lance needs watching anyway. NERDS!