SSlow

Not necessarily.

The idea is that we need some sort of national seniority status to protect unionized pilots who are literally forced out of their positions, so that every time the powerful monopolistic legacies decide to come together and steamroll the smaller competition, the labor groups aren't all forced to start over at year 1 pay with zero seniority. Not saying everyone keeps all of their seniority, but at least some of it to prevent management teams from eternally whipsawing all of our pilot groups. And honestly I don't really know what the answer would be.

But none of this matters as it will never happen.

I love this job but IMO the biggest downside to airline flying is that there is no sense of brotherhood or camaraderie within the group as a whole. Like, at all. Everyone is a lone wolf "army of one" type and that means only looking out for oneself generally.


We saw this at the regionals. There were folks who were generally excited that their company, and hence their seniority list, was growing at the expense of the livelihoods of others as mainline partners shifted the flying around. However the big unknown was that we were always wondering which pilot group was going to be next.

It's all great and wonderful until it happens to your company.

rickair7777

As you say, will never happen.

1. Companies don't want to pay new hires high longevity pay & bennies, just because they were senior somewhere else.
2. The legacy pilots wouldn't go for it, since they know it would mostly be a benefit afforded to other pilots at their expense.

There's no whipsaw at the majors, but there certainly is at the regionals, so that's another reason legacies and regionals wouldn't go for it.


It's not like the military, the only mission to accomplish is stay safe.

I prefer the "enlighted self-interest" approach whereby a rising tide lifts all boats. But ultimately we're all there to make money and go home to our familes asap.

I'll take camaraderie at work if I can find it, but really that's what I have friends for. Too hit and miss at the airline.

rickair7777

Yes it does. If flight attendants got $200K then we wouldn't be getting $500K. Only so much revenue to go around.

Born2FlyAv8R

100 percent

FriendlyPilot

This is a terrible idea which is why it hasn't been implemented.

We don't "need" a national seniority list. The system works fine the way it is.

Its just a ridiculous idea really. It might work for some other unionized industries, but its not a good fit for airline pilots.

rickair7777

Also other industries are allowed to have one union for an entire industry, which covers all employers. For whatever reason the RLA doesn't allow airlines to do that, so we have to have separate unions at each shop.

SSlow

Is it a terrible idea because it's bad for you on an individual level, or are there actual reasons for why this would be terrible for the industry as a whole?

It's not a personal jab, but I'm just curious why you feel that way.

CincoDeMayo

“To the victor goes the spoils”. Pick the right horse and the career will work out fine, otherwise, there will be a starting over point. It is what it is, as a NK guy moving on I don’t like going back to year 1 at the bottom, but this was the risk when I went to Spirit

Likewise because I took a risk on Spirit, and the possible upside, I would not like other pilots from a failed airline coming in over me; whether that means bases, bidding, or higher wages than me.