Commuter flying vs. Beliefs

[Movin' on up!]

Because of my religious beliefs, I don't work from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday, as it is my Sabbath. I heard that a pilot candidate for a major sued to have this same day off citing discrimination etc etc and I believe he won a judgement that would made the airline he applied to give him that the off. At the same time, he would have to work any other day, including any holidays and any schedule that did not infringe on his Sabbath. I also heard that the union agreed to give him this opportunity and the airline made an agreement giving limited number of pilot positions for people that have religious day issues. Does anybody out there know of any rules or companies that allow for this? I know some companies are "desperate" for crews, yet I don't want to put myself in any position where I would a problem with scheduling. Now....before anyone gets too uptight about this, I know my career in aviation has limited possiblities and all that. All I am looking for is info on this. Don't attack me personally for my beliefs (as I know some here are more than willing to take a shot at me) and just be open minded. Thanks in advanced for any responses and info.

 

[180ToTheMarker]

I have similar beliefs on Saturdays during football season

 

[Markm1811]

Religious Days off

Hi,

I remember an interview given at a hillel house by an UAL captain who had negotiated thru the union and the airline to accomodate him. He stated there was about 5-6 pilots who had joined him across the majors. Of course the best solution woudl be to try to work EL AL or another of the regionals over there. They love FAA type rated pilots.

Regards,
Mark

 

[Movin' on up!]

Ha ha. Good one! Hope you are not an Ohio State fan though. But seriuosly......

 

[mendacity]

I currently work for a regional and am in the same situation regarding the Sabbath. I simply bid for Fridays and Saturdays off -- it has taken about 11 months but I am finally able to hold those days off with no problem. I talked to my Rabbi in the months in which I had to work on Fridays/Saturday -- his suggestion was to create my own Shabbat no matter where I was. If I was in the air at sunset, I would say my own internal prayers and envision the lighting of the candles, Kiddush, etc. in my head as I watched the sun go down. If I was going to be in the hotel prior to sundown, I would also bring a travel candle set, wine, bread, yarmulke and torah with me -- I'd keep the TV off and simply do my reading and prayers in the hotel. It was not the ideal situation, but it still worked.

One of my favorite things from that time period was landing in Newark on Friday night and parking right next to the El Al aircraft that was parked for the Sabbath. It always reminded me of just how important my heritage is to me.

Hope this helps and feel free to send me a PM -- it's always nice to find another member of the tribe in the air.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

When I was employed by a large 135 carrier I recommended someone for an interview. He happened to be a 7th Day Adventist which shares the same Sabbath as Jews (sunset Friday - sunset Saturday, corrections welcomed if I screwed up). He asked me about time off for those beliefs being accomodated and I told him to not count on it. He had some computer skills in addition to flight quals and to my surprise the company worked out a deal where he both flew and did computer work, none of which took place during his time of religious observance. He later went to a regional and I've since lost track of him.

Personally I think anyone of faith needs to approach this career with eyes wide open and realize that they may be flying when they'd rather be in a place of worship. We all have times when we'd rather be somewhere else. Being of a certain religious persuasion does not entitle anyone to special treatment and it is patently unfair to expect your coworkers to work more Friday nights or weekends so you can attend a service. There are some good options though. When you have the seniority to bid for your favored days off you can do so. You can swap or trade shifts. You can do what I do sometimes when I want time off and bribe someone to pick up the shift. Those of you that know me and occupy the same seat feel free to pick up one of those Saturday locals with a $50 bonus. No it's not for any religious reason, just want to be home.

 

[Movin' on up!]

True. I have always known that I would have problems. I worked 135 for a while. Luckily, the people there were ardent footbal fans and much rather stay home and watch pro-football on Sundays. I picked up their trips on Sunday and they picked up mine on Saturday. It worked out great until the company went out of business. I know people have done it. Just want to know how.

 

[Sun Devil 2000]

Your Joking Right?

I dont know man.. thats like asking if Christians get all sundays, and Christmas off. Are you gonna want the high holy days off too? If so I would suggest that you look for another career. I knew when I chose to be a pilot that I shouldn't plan on being at home for any important holiday, or weekends for that matter. Now my wife and I truly cherish any holiday or weekend that I get to spend at home.

 

[Boris Badenov]

FDX: I don't think that Movin' On Up is suggesting that he is "entitled" to his sabbath off any more than I, as a Christian, am entitled to mine. He's just asking how to go about getting it. It sounds to me that in the case of the litigating pilot he mentioned, the judgement was that those of all faiths who were orthodox enough to take literally prohibitions against work were eligible for certain days off at the price of certain others. This seems emminently reasonable and fair to me, and not in any way favoring those of a particular faith.

MOU: I don't know the prohibitions of the Jewish faith well, but an observant Baptist friend of mine works for ExpressJet and has simply delayed his upgrade in order to bid around Sundays. If you're able to go a certain number of months as you described earlier, I don't see any reason to think that you couldn't bid around it. As to this "observant pool" of pilots, I've heard nothing of it at the regional level.

Best of Luck,
Boris

 

[wwcflyboy]

I'm a Seventh-day Adventist and have been flying in the regionals for 5 years now. As far as keeping the Sabbath, I attempt to bid my schedule around it as much as possible but there is no guarantee. Sometimes, if you're willing to fly a worse line, its pretty much a sure thing but when you first get started you're generally guaranteed to get what nobody else wants which means you'll be working quite a few Saturdays.

As far as an airline guaranteeing that you'll get time off, I'll be blunt, its not going to happen. If you really want a job at an airline, I wouldn't even bring the issue up. I hate to be discouraging but I'm trying to be as truthful as possible.

With my experience in aviation, with few exceptions, you'll always plan on working on a few Saturdays throughout your career. Even when I was working for Seventh-day Adventist corporation as a corporate pilot I had to work on Saturdays. It happens.

If you'd like to talk about it anymore, please feel free to pm me. Good luck to you in whatever you decide.