CASS and Military LOA

[Rotorhead1]

I have been back on active duty for about a year now. Recently I wanted to travel home and I tried to ride the jump seat and the gate agent told me I was not in the CASS due to being on Military LOA. I was just wondering if any others have had this problem who I would talk to to get back into CASS. Thanks

 

[BAT31]

I ran into the same problem a few years ago. Most companies have a policy that drops you out of CASS after 15 continuous days of mil leave. I could not get the CASS guy at our airline to override it, and he certainly doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. Its a shock at first. But, its their policy so what could I say?

If you are lucky enough to be affiliated with Delta in some way, you can maintain your non-rev capability even when you are on mil leave. Delta is cool like that, most regional airlines aren't because they aren't used to dealing with mil pilots. I don't know about the other Majors.

I wish I could answer your question, but at least you aren't the only one its happened to. Try and contact your CASS manager for your airline. Be nice, and they may be nice. Good luck.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

CASS is for the flightdeck jumpseat. Cabin seating may be a allowed, but each airline has thier own policy....

 

[Rotorhead1]

No-rev has not been a problem so far. Some flights have been full and I would like to have the ability to ride the jump seat if possible. Does anybody know who is the CASS manager for ASA?

 

[MarineGrunt]

I'm not sure if the Feds or the company put a stop to your CASS, but bringing this up to your CASS manager might change his mind....

Part 4316 (b)(3) of USERRA:
(3) A person deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence under this subsection while serving in the uniformed services shall not be entitled under this subsection to any benefits to which the person would not otherwise be entitled if the person had remained continuously employed.

 

[mynameisjim]

Part 4316 (b)(3) of USERRA:
(3) A person deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence under this subsection while serving in the uniformed services shall not be entitled under this subsection to any benefits to which the person would not otherwise be entitled if the person had remained continuously employed.

So that says you can't have anything extra, does it say you must get the same? It's not how I read it. Is your company required to provide pension payments, health care, etc while on mil leave? If they aren't required to provide those, how could they be required to provide flight deck access?

I'm sure that could be overlooked if you really need to get on though. CASS schass, just stay in the lav til we push back and have a good time in the galley...

 

[Thedude]

I'm sure that could be overlooked if you really need to get on though. CASS schass, just stay in the lav til we push back and have a good time in the galley...

And then get sh*tcanned like those Mesa guys did about 10 yrs ago. But then its Mesa...getting fired from there is probably like getting released from jail

 

[MarineGrunt]

So that says you can't have anything extra, does it say you must get the same?

After a little looking, it looks like that is the case, but there could be a bit of a grey area depending on company policy. Here's a better paraphrase I guess.

"To the extent that an employer offers other non-seniority benefits (e.g., holiday pay or life insurance coverage - I assume travel bennies fall in this category) to employees on furlough or a leave of absence, the employer is required to provide those same benefits to an employee during a period of service in the uniformed services. If the employer's treatment of persons on leaves of absence varies according to the kind of leave (e.g., jury duty, educational, etc.), the comparison should be made with the employer's most generous form of leave. Of course, you must compare periods of comparable length. An employee may waive his or her rights to these other non-seniority benefits by knowingly stating, in writing, his or her intent not to return to work. However, such statement does not waive any other rights provided by USERRA. (Section 4316)"

Is your company required to provide pension payments, health care, etc while on mil leave?

For health, yes - not sure about pension since I have none! But after a certain period of time, they can charge an extra 1-2% or so premium, but must provide it if requested.

 

[Jetlaggy]

Yes pension is required to be paid as well as required to remain in CASS

 

[NCaviator]

This recently came up about a month ago over at mesa. Mesa tried to say that because myself and another guy were on mil leave that we couldn't jumpseat. Well, they forgot that there is a federal reg that prohibits them from doing that so we had to remind them. I fly for the guard so I stay away from mesa as much as possible.
It's much better to go to war in a sh*thole like Afganistan than work at Mesa. There are maybe two reasons to work at mesa and that's if no else will hire you or you need 121 experience to jump ship and go somewhere else. Hopefully that clears up any confusion on why NO ONE should even think about working at this place.

 

[Speedtape]

The reason I was given: TSA, for control purposes, requires removal of anyone from the CASS system after 30 days of continuous leave. There seems to be conflicting governement rules. USERRA is Federally manadated legislative law. TSA is a government agency with internal policies not specifically mandated by law. Without a doubt, there is a conflict.

 

[BoilerUP]

It's much better to go to war in a sh*thole like Afganistan than work at Mesa.

And that, folks, says it all right there...