AA furloughs cancelled!?!?

[aa73]

OK, it's official:

WE HAVE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED OUR PILOT STAFFING NEEDS THROUGH
THE SUMMER OF 2009. WITH ALL FACTORS CONSIDERED, AND ASSUMING
THEY STAY RELATIVELY CONSTANT, WE DO NOT PLAN ON FURLOUGHING AS
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF A
CAPACITY REDUCTION, REMEMBER THAT OUR ORIGINAL PLAN FOR 2008
CALLED FOR RECALLS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. IN A PREEMPTIVE MOVE,
WE CANCELLED RECALL CLASSES STARTING IN JUNE. THIS MOVE,
COMBINED WITH THE SPIKE IN MARKET-DRIVEN EARLY RETIREMENTS, THE
NUMBER OF MILITARY AND PERSONAL LEAVE AUTHORIZATIONS, AND A
SOLIDIFYING OF OUR TRAINING REQUIREMENTS DRIVEN BY THE
ANNOUNCED RETIREMENTS OF THE S80S AND A300S, HAS LEFT US VERY
CLOSE TO THE PILOT STAFFING NEEDED TO FLY OUR PROJECTED 2009
SUMMER SCHEDULE. TO ABSORB SHORT-TERM OVERAGES BETWEEN NOW AND
NEXT YEAR, WE HAVE GRANTED SOME WELL-DEFINED SHORT-TERM LEAVES.
.
FURLOUGHS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PAINFUL, YET NECESSARY, WAY OF
DOING BUSINESS IN THIS INDUSTRY. I AM PERSONALLY AND
PROFESSIONALLY DELIGHTED TO SHARE THIS NEWS WITH YOU.

 

[Starscream]

Anyone care to speculate as to when recalls might resume? And what the anticipated deferral rate will be?

 

[magrs]

My guess, January 2009 and deferral rate of 66%.

Classes will start off small, but most likely increase to 40/mo for the next year or so. My understanding is that the reserves are being spent every day!

 

[stlflyguy]

And is anything being done about this 7300 pilot floor business? Or will this be frittered away?

stlflyguy
(waiting for the phone to ring)

 

[Draginass]

And is anything being done about this 7300 pilot floor business? Or will this be frittered away?

stlflyguy
(waiting for the phone to ring)

Yes. That and the pending gross scope violation concerning the alliance with BA/IB.

As far as waiting for the phone to ring . . that's ok, but don't bet the farm on it. I think we've seen the bulk of our retirements and from here on, the jury's still out on the impact of the age 65 rule.

Deep down I consider airline work not much more than day-labor. I'll fight like hell to change it back into a profession again, but there's a lot of pilots that are still working for day-labor money and work rules.

There's some major kool-aid being consumed over at the "new" Delta. They sold out cheap to Anderson.

 

[Angus Khan]

Deep down I consider airline work not much more than day-labor. I'll fight like hell to change it back into a profession again, but there's a lot of pilots that are still working for day-labor money and work rules.




I understand the frustration in the airline pilot profession. It's been bad news after bad news for years now. However, as an AA furloughee now for 6 years, let me tell you, it's often quite better on the inside than out here. "Day-labor" out here means being on call 24/7, inconsistent training, truly poor compensation, aircraft being sold out from underneath you, no protection from employer abuses, no sick time, little to no 401K matching, etc. Rest rules, whatever.

I'm not saying things shouldn't be better at AA, just that it's likely better than most of what's available out here and lots of people would like your job.

Though I'd have to bypass initially to avoid being furloughed AGAIN, I look forward to going back someday.

 

[Vastly Underemp]

Hey 73,

If you find yourself flying out of LA, here's an old saying from my TWA days: What color socks do the different bases wear? White socks in STL, black socks in Chicago, dirty socks in NY. In LA? No socks!
__________________
Glasspilot1
AA (Former TWA)
Retired

And if you wear socks during sex, you must be MSP-based!

 

[jj21211]

(OT) Nice Kawi triple, Glasspilot1!

 

[glasspilot1]

(OT) Nice Kawi triple, Glasspilot1!

You're close JJ. It's a Suzuki Triple 2 stroke. 1975 GT750. First modern water cooled motorcycle. It's my baby! By the late 70's all the manufacturers had switched to 4 strokes with their street bikes for exhaust emissions.