we interrupt the negative rant for a positive one...
I had the distinct pleasure of jump seating with a "west" crew on Saturday. My wife and I were heading to FL from PHL to visit a very sick friend. The flights were all very full with spring breakers. For once, my "seniority" allowed my wife, at the top of a very long list of NR's to get the only remaining seat in back on the first AM flight. I would have to ride jump seat, which I hadn't done in a very long time. I told the agent to hold my wife at the JW as I was not sure what type of reception I would get from the "west" crew.
I was pleasantly surprised when they welcomed me with open arms! Wife got on and we were off. Reaching cruise altitude we enjoyed almost 2 hours of good conversation. We agreed that the seniority thing was a royal mess. We all sympathized with each other's positions and had respect for them. We also affirmed that the situation will only get "straightened" out by the courts, if at all.
I always knew (from my friends of the former America West) that we were not that different. In fact, after this flight, I realized that the majority of posters on this web board are actually the minority. These guys on my flight were exactly the same as the guys I fly with on the east. Same problems, same responsibilities / families issues etc...
I have been in the training department for a long time( never told them), these guys flew a professional operation. Textbook SOP's etc... and it made me proud (a feeling I have not had in a while) to be associated with such a group of pilots! I told them as I was deplaning that if there were a pilot dictionary, their example of that flight would be THE definition of Professional. Other than IAE motors on this airbus, there was NO way to tell the "West" apart from the "East"!
Ok, enough said, sorry if I injected a little sunshine into the gloom here. Back to my lurking status.