Well yes, as long as they have two years experience , their licenses and pass the line test. Do you really think Local management on the Line is going to allow 100 guys from OH with no line experience bump into JFK and another 100 into LAX? They will do like Tulsa management used to do when guys from the line used to try and bump into Tulsa, fail them on the test, or terminate them when they aren't up to speed. Its not fair to the guys but its what was voted in. I agree you should be able to go where your 17 years puts you, but that's not what Tulsa voted for, instead you have to go where the Junior man or the vacancy is, and most of the Junior people are in NY or CA. IIRC HR pulled the two year experience requirement but Aircraft Maintenance management put it back in, and that was with a small movement of people where they were filling vacancies, not bumping, in a hypothetical Tulsa shutdown, I would imagine that management would make it much more difficult for Tulsa workers to bump the line, not because they like us but because they want to preserve their operation, if Tulsa cant get a c=check done on time imagine the impact to the line operation where On-time is measured in minutes not days or weeks, and the thing is do you expect the Line guys to fight so Tulsa can take their jobs? Its a bad situation and there are hard feelings because the leaders from Tulsa always had an attitude of entitlement and it never mattered to them what everyone else wanted or needed. Your buddy probably didn't bump anybody, he probably filled a vacancy in ORD, but if it came down to ORD having 25% of their mechanics flushed out to make room for guys who never worked the line expect the company to make it much harder for them to exercise their rights. So yes, if they are A&Ps and meet the other criteria they have the right to excercise it within the confines of the CBA and the GPM but remember, the company wrote both of them. If you think you are going to get hit the best move would be to put in for a transfer now, if you get into a line station on a transfer and don't bump anyone chances are you will find guys willing to help bring you up to speed, come in on a bump where you pushed their buddy out onto the street and you probably wont. Not only that but whatever station you get you bring your seniority with you so you probably wont be affected by any RIFs that come later. From what I've read here 300-400 a year for the next several years, even with 17 years you will probably get hit. It may be better to make a choice instead of it being made for you.