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ACA & furloughed pilots?

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W8N4UAL

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2002
Posts
46
Hello folks-

Furloughed last October, and curious if ACA requires furloughed-types to resign from their previous carrier. I thought I remembered seeing an email that said they don't, but I wanted to confirm it before I shot off a resume.

While I'm on the subject, are there any other airlines/fractionals that don't require resignation?

Forgive me if this has been posted previously. I did a couple of fruitless searches and didn't see anything...

W8N
 
I have heard 'unofficially" they are not requiring you to send a resignation letter to your former employer, but they do want to hear you say that you'll resign your seniority. A friend there has told me that he has met many pilots getting hired by ACA who are furloughed and haven't been required to send resignation letters Be sure to say you'll resign seniority during the phone interview. They'll still interview you if you say no, but it'll be a waste of your time. I was told that they are having a class every week until fall or winter. Good luck.
 
I have a friend who is on the interview board here at ACA.
Apparently we're getting enough resumes from furloughed major airline 121 guys. However they do a telephone prescreening interview, and they'll ask you if you're willing to resign your seniority number at your major to come to ACA. If 'yes', then they'll interview you.

That being said, it would probably be a step backwards, career-wise, if you had a seniority # at a major to give it up and come to ACA. First year pay is slightly over $21/hr, and upgrades are running at over 2.5+ years. Second year you could make $34/hr.

It is my understanding that ACA got burned by a number of Comair-types during the strike who said they'd resigned their seniority number, only to return to CMR when it was over. Expect the background check to require some sort of proof that you'd resigned from elsewhere. I'm not sure what the legal implications of this are, but from ACA's point of view, it's simply CYA. As an ACA LNP, I agree - I wouldn't want the co. to waste $$$ and resources training somebody who we knew was only going to be here for a short period of time.

If I was a furloughed 121 major airline pilot right now, there would be plenty of better options for me. Try the sim companies, FlightSafety and PanAm. I know some regionals, including ACA, are looking for experienced flight instructors. In fact, we've hired back a number of our 'alumni' who got furloughed from major airlines as flight instructors. Also check out corporate or charter opportunities. Enjoy the free time as well - hopefully within a few years the industry will snap out of this funk.

Hope this helps. Good luck with stuff.

JTrain
 
interview?

rdy4to said:
I have heard 'unofficially" they are not requiring you to send a resignation letter to your former employer, but they do want to hear you say that you'll resign your seniority. A friend there has told me that he has met many pilots getting hired by ACA who are furloughed and haven't been required to send resignation letters Be sure to say you'll resign seniority during the phone interview. They'll still interview you if you say no, but it'll be a waste of your time. I was told that they are having a class every week until fall or winter. Good luck.

Hmmm... wouldn't this topic of resigning come up as a direct question in the interview? I can't imagine trying to bs the folks asking the questions........:confused:
 
Hmmm... wouldn't this topic of resigning come up as a direct question in the interview? I can't imagine trying to bs the folks asking the questions........

The question of resignation never came up directly during the interview. During phone interview I said I would not resign. They still set up an interview. Figured I'd give it a try. Right before the interview Dean Hess told me that he just noticed my answer to the resignation question on the phone interview sheet and wanted to confirm my answer. So I figure I slipped through and wasn't meant to be offered an interview or I really sucked during the interview. The rejection letter almost beat me home. Either way, I never misled anyone.
 
Thanks for the info and advice.

I might still send a resume, but I agree with the spirit of the previous posts in that I'm not going to say I will resign just to get to the interview and then pray it never comes down to actually doing it. Can't say I blame the airlines. If they pick someone off the street, they may get lucky and get a lifer for a maximum return on their training dollar.

Funny thing is this: the airline from which I was furloughed (as well as most airlines I imagine) liked to see pilots chase a flying job, ANY flying job, just to show their dedication. I was ready to give the good soldier answer, "Why, yes, I'll make personal sacrifices because it's worth it in the long haul to do something I love" a year and a half ago, but now that the rubber meets the road, it's different.

Am I willing to be away from my wife and three month old son, defer school loans, sell our house (take a loss), sell a car (take a loss), plus take a small annual loan from mom and dad just so I can wear stripes on my shoulders? Don't know. Perhaps I'll work for a non-airline business, enjoy being a normal father/husband for a few years, and wait for UAL to call.

Not bitter, just contemplating that 30 years from now I might value spending this time with my family more than another 2000 hours of flight time. When I'm on my deathbed (okay, so hopefully that's more than 30 yrs off) I'd rather have a strong family around me than a logbook full of flight time. If I can have both (and it looks like I might if/when United becomes profitable again), than wahoo, I'm a lucky guy. But if I have to choose, then my career will lose every time.

W8N
 

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