The philosophical argument of 'might makes right', very close to the argument of 'fair to the majority', is often tenuous. Just because I physically could take the purse from the sweet little old lady, doesn't mean that I should. Just because the group that will benefit the most from this payout, captains, and senior captains at that, has the voting majority to make this pass, it doesn't mean that it is in in the best interests of the entire pilot group for this to pass 'as is'.
Now, with all that out of the way, I'd like to go on record, as a relatively junior FO, as supporting the methodology. Clearly, it is not a perfect solution. I do strongly support the concept that the longer serving, and suffering, ASA folks should receive a proportionally larger share of the signing bonus. Frankly, however, it does appear that captains will receive a larger share of the signing bonus because FOs will receive a smaller share of the signing bonus. With all of that being said, I think that this is the best solution achievable.
I'd like to see a special lane on I-75, both directions, for flight crew only, with no speed limit. I'd like to see a requirement that Skynation be profoundly spayed or neutered. Repeatedly. Finally, I'd like to see a law that mandated free ice cream for everyone on Friday. Every Friday.
Come on, in the grand scheme of things, this is a relatively minor issue to hold up the signing of this contract. It's just money. Whatever the dollar amount is, be it a free cup of coffee to a down payment on a new FO-mobile, it's more than I expected when I finished IOE. Let's vote this in and move on.