As the ol' saying goes, no other airline does this, why should we?

Look, I have absolutely nothing against retiree's but at CAL, (and apparently every other airline out there), that isn't how it is done.

I'm dead set against retiree's having any priority at all above active employees but you did get vacation passes so I'll live with it and so should you.

I don't know what other airlines do. I just know they (retirees) earned their seniority, just like WE are doing now and I have something intrinsically against taking someones seniority away. I'm an old schooler who HAS seen the airlines in general diminish the idea of seniority by building in many little protective devices for the sake of being more warm and fuzzy. It's just that with each little "warm and fuzzy" they build in, they are in fact "restricting seniority". So I know by now, seniority has taken on a different meaning than it used to be. So be it, I will in fact live with it. Take care.

Frankly, that is a bunch of baloney. With PBS, vacation, bidding - seniority has never been more heavily emphasized at UAL. Looking at PBS alone, if you're not in the top 30-40% in seat you get crap. It was never that way before PBS. I'm in the top 3% in seat by choice, and I get everything I want, but I'm giving up tens of thousands a year to get my life back. Very few have that choice.... Before PBS the schedules were much more homogenized. That is just one area. Pay is another. Just look at the UAL widebody rates WRT industry standard compared to the narrowbody. Narrow body is 15-20% below industry, while widebody is about 5% below. The junior, as it has always been, gets the short end of the stick over and over again. The real problem I have with that is that 12-15 years is junior now at UAL, whereas 2-3 years was considered "junior" in the past.
Take care as well,

Scott

It is amazing how you can just change a word or two around and see that this is just a junior vs. senior thing. We should all be working together, not fighting in groups (Like USAir is with west/east). What a wet dream for management.

Touche' and good points but unfortunately doesn't change the landscape of pass benefits as they've been for the last 30 years.

I like the idea of working on the same team as management just like you said you liked in your time at Skywest. It can be like playing baseball. We get to be the catcher and management is the pitcher! We can even call the pitch and management if it thinks better can just shake us off. At least everyone will be 'working together'. Perhaps it will help us all 'fly right' as well.

Mr. Stoops
Sorry I don’t know how to cut and paste here, I’m a rookie at this.
Well I’ll take mine with some cheese and mustard.
I guess I was being too philosophical with too broad a swipe. I wasn’t referring to the Pilots’ contract specifically; I’m not even familiar with its intricacies. I was referring to all the airlines and all the unions over time. I was wondering why so many seem to think (or not) that it’s OK to strip away someones (retirees in this case) seniority. And I can only presume it’s because they’ve become accustomed to it (seniority restrictions) in so many little ways they have been desensitized.
I better add here that it’s not all presumption; I am somewhat familiar with some contracts at some airlines and familiar with other contracts going back to ’65.
Again, look what happens when we allow “them” to produce groups. They are us and we are them (or will be). There should be no groups.

Your post don't make sense, you don't even know the UAL system, I doubt you're a UAL employee. Better boarding priority? How so when retirees become a "C" after the vacation passes which you active employees get also? Better boarding priority, now that's a laugh.

You are not getting the jist. Maybe it is the old age.... You GET 8 HIGH PRIORITY VACATION PASSES A YEAR. If you are traveling more than that then the regular employees SHOULD go ahead of you. We are trying to fit in our trips around our jobs. You guys are trying to fit in your trips around shuffle board tournaments.

But now they just play their shuffle board on the Wii. No need to retire to FL even. :D