AF757Pilot
Finally at SWA
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2002
- Posts
- 66
Delta recalling its furloughed pilots
250 were grounded as Iraq war erupted
Cincinnati Post 09/24/03
author: Alexander Coolidge
(Copyright 2002)
"Delta Air Lines Inc. is slowly recalling all the pilots it furloughed during a travel slowdown as war broke out in Iraq. The airline grounded about 250 Delta pilots in the spring, invoking the "force majeure" clause in its contract with the union that allows it to suspend work in extraordinary circumstances. The airline announced in late August it was recalling 45 pilots to resume flights starting Oct. 1 and said then it would recall the rest by the end of the year.
In a union memo to pilots this week, officials said Delta is recalling 45 pilots starting Nov. 1 and 160 pilots starting Dec. 1.
The Air Line Pilots Association has maintained that the airline abused the clause and should never have furloughed the pilots. "ALPA contends -- that any pilot furloughed as a result of the Iraq war is entitled to back pay to June 1, 2003," union spokesperson Karen Miller said in the memo. The union filed a grievance with the company this summer contesting the move, and a hearing is slated next month in Atlanta.
"We're very pleased they're calling them back to active status," said Miller, but she added only a handful would actually return to regularly flying planes. She said the rest will be on paid, but unassigned status.
Delta spokesman John Kennedy declined to discuss assignments to the recalled pilots.
In February, an arbitrator ordered Delta to stop furloughing employees based on economic hardships exasperated by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Delta has furloughed a total of 1,310 pilots since the beginning of 2002. About 100 of the 1,000 Delta pilots based in Cincinnati /Northern Kentucky International Airport have been put on unpaid leave.
Delta is nowhere near recalling the 1,060 other furloughed pilots, Miller said. Under a formula established in arbitration, Delta must begin recalling those pilots after three consecutive months where paid seat miles exceed levels during a similar period before the terrorist attacks. So far, paid seat miles at Delta have risen above pre-Sept. 11 levels in only one month -- last December."
250 were grounded as Iraq war erupted
Cincinnati Post 09/24/03
author: Alexander Coolidge
(Copyright 2002)
"Delta Air Lines Inc. is slowly recalling all the pilots it furloughed during a travel slowdown as war broke out in Iraq. The airline grounded about 250 Delta pilots in the spring, invoking the "force majeure" clause in its contract with the union that allows it to suspend work in extraordinary circumstances. The airline announced in late August it was recalling 45 pilots to resume flights starting Oct. 1 and said then it would recall the rest by the end of the year.
In a union memo to pilots this week, officials said Delta is recalling 45 pilots starting Nov. 1 and 160 pilots starting Dec. 1.
The Air Line Pilots Association has maintained that the airline abused the clause and should never have furloughed the pilots. "ALPA contends -- that any pilot furloughed as a result of the Iraq war is entitled to back pay to June 1, 2003," union spokesperson Karen Miller said in the memo. The union filed a grievance with the company this summer contesting the move, and a hearing is slated next month in Atlanta.
"We're very pleased they're calling them back to active status," said Miller, but she added only a handful would actually return to regularly flying planes. She said the rest will be on paid, but unassigned status.
Delta spokesman John Kennedy declined to discuss assignments to the recalled pilots.
In February, an arbitrator ordered Delta to stop furloughing employees based on economic hardships exasperated by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Delta has furloughed a total of 1,310 pilots since the beginning of 2002. About 100 of the 1,000 Delta pilots based in Cincinnati /Northern Kentucky International Airport have been put on unpaid leave.
Delta is nowhere near recalling the 1,060 other furloughed pilots, Miller said. Under a formula established in arbitration, Delta must begin recalling those pilots after three consecutive months where paid seat miles exceed levels during a similar period before the terrorist attacks. So far, paid seat miles at Delta have risen above pre-Sept. 11 levels in only one month -- last December."
