There is a fact that I think the few remaining hiring airlines don't realize:
In the past, US Air's management had the policy of ignoring resignation notices they received from furloughed pilots. If a furloughed pilot got hired elsewhere, and tendered a resignation to US Air, the resignation was simply thrown away.
Today, however, US Airways' management has publicly stated that they will honor resignation notices from furloughed pilots.
In October 2001, US Airways' VP of Flight Operations, Greg Gibson, sent a letter to all pilots stating that US Airways' policy on this matter had changed.
The company's lawyers have informed the company that discarding or otherwise ignoring a resignation notice would be considered destruction of pilot records. This would be considered a violation of the Pilot Records Improvement Act (PRIA).
Consequently, henceforth US Airways will remove from the seniority list the name of any pilot who tenders a letter of resignation.
Southwest, FedEx and any other hiring airline need to know this fact, so that they will not fear to interview and hire us poor US Airways furloughees!
Likewise, all US Airways' furloughees need to be aware of this, so as to make informed decisions.
Spread the word.