Is your airline "military friendly?"

[MarineGrunt]

I am wondering how most airlines are regarding guard/reserve guys and taking time off for AFTPs, make up drills, deployments, etc. I am most curious about Pinnacle since I will be interviewing soon and may need some extra days at the guard to help supplement the first year pay, but welcome input for other airlines as well.

Thanks in advance...

 

[srjorion]

By law companies must give you the time off. Keep in mind you will still lose pay for the trips you drop, but the company cannot deny you time off to drill.

I have never heard of any companies that have given guys a hard time over mil leave. If they do then they are opening themselves up for some bad times.

 

[MarineGrunt]

From what I understand, for active duty orders and UTAs, by law they have to give you the time off, but for other cases such as AFTPs, man days, trips, etc, they are not required to. I'm just wondering how cooperative certain companies are with giving you time off for the "extra" stuff.

I'm just getting into the guard/civillian flying deal, so I'm trying to get a hang of the rules...

 

[srjorion]

OK, I'm no legal expert and haven't read the laws, but from what I understand any mil leave you submit is not really a request. It is a notification that you will not be available that day due to military duty. If your company doesn't like it they can request, in writing, that you not drill on the specific days requested, but it is a request that your Commanding Officer can shoot down.

Now, having said that, I wouldn't worry about telling your company exactly what you are doing when you drill. It's none of their business whether or not you are doing an AFTP or something else. Just put in the mil leave request and if there is a conflict notify your command.

Don't abuse the system though. If you say you are drilling, then you had better be drilling. Schedules change and cancellations happen at the last minute, but don't say you are drilling on a day to get the day off to go fishing.

 

[Visceral]

I'm confident none of the schedulers/crew planners at the regionals know the difference between an AFTP and a UTA. I barely do myself. The more generic you can make the email from your sqdn, the better...i.e. Lt Sam Sheppard is required for military duty from 1-10 May. We appreciate your support. All the schedulers seem to want is an email with dates and they're happy. It probably should come from a .mil address also.

 

[PurpleChimp]

They are required to give you the time off, period. AFTP's, UTA's, whatever. Like srjorion said, DO NOT lie about what you are doing. There is an AF Reserve chaplain being court-martialled as we speak for saying he was put on military orders and actually went to S. America on a religious retreat. It's a can of worms you don't want opened.

 

[Purple Promisee]

They must grant you leave to perform voluntary or involuntary duty. The limit is that you only get five cumulative years of "voluntary" mil leave; however, "Involuntary" for purposes of the law (USERRA) is not the same as the military's definition, e.g. activation for training is on an "voluntary" set of orders, but it does not toll your five year limit. Also, your rights under the law cannot be waived through a CBA or as a condition of employment.

That being said, it's probably not a subject to brag about in an interview, nor abuse once on the line.

OBTW your employer is required to notify you of your USERRA rights, most airlines do this by hanging "your rights under USERRA" posters in their crew rooms.

 

[Tweetdrvr]

http://www.esgr.org/members2/faq.asp

 

[pkober]

The only people I have seen get in any kind of trouble about mil leave are people who abuse it. The old last minute mill leave on Christmas. What sucks is that when guys screw around with mil it hurts the rest of us who are legit. The point is don't mess around.

When I take military I always try and give my notification before the next months bids are finalized, this way crew staffing can make any adjustments. Even though they can't fire you for military they can find other reasons while on probation.

During your first year use as much mil leave as possible just be careful and don't put a target on your back.

CLAMBAKE

 

[Slim]

Based upon experience ending four years ago, it's better to go through your chief pilot instead of crew scheduling. Few crew schedulers are aware regs/laws/contractual obligations with respect to military leave. They will, however, do what the chief pilot tells them to do. I met one scheduler in my old battalion who knew the requirements. A chief pilot usually deals with several pilots who are in the Guard/Reserve. Thus, the chief pilot is more intimately aware of what the company's obligation is to their military reserve employees.

Several years ago, scheduling called trying to junior man me into a trip later that day, and it was the first day of my drill weekend. I answered the phone knowing I could say no and they couldn't do a thing about it. They did put me on hold while they called the CP's office to verify I was drilling that weekend. Once that was confirmed, they said thanks and have a good weekend!

Good luck...fly safe!