More Furloughs @ US Air

[CoopDog]

Let me get out my trusty calculator....

'03 furloughs - 15 years

Next week's furloughs - 13 years

Some career expectation, huh? Dave may just furlough the whole airline before it's all over.

 

[sailor]

"MAX PAY TO THE LAST DAY"

You have to be careful what you ask for

 

[FearlessFreep]

I am very dismayed to hear of these further furloughs especially going back so far.

One question I do have is how much time do these people that have been at USAirways over 15 years have before they have to retire?

Is it possible that there would be recalls sooner because of the loss of the un-furloughed pilots just through retirement attrition?

Would it not be more prudent to set up early retirement incentives instead of cutting the bottom end of the company out? Paying all those senior salaries cannot be as cheap as keeping some of the less senior people. If the company made some sweet deals and individuals took advantage of it voluntarily more people may not be so stung by this quagmire.

I wish the best for all of us!

 

[KC-10 Driver]

It really does break my heart to hear of more furloughs at my former airline.

US Airways is a class operation, with some fantastic employees flying some great equipment. I really enjoyed my time there. Unfortunately, the company has not been well-managed and is in an awful place in the industry.

I've been non-revving on US Airways a lot lately, and despite the turmoil, those folks continue to do a great job.

My sympathies are with the guys/gals who are soon to be on the street, especially since the job market is in the pits right now. I realize that I've been very lucky to be able to keep working thanks to the military, and now JetBlue.

All of you still unemployed, or soon to be unemployed, you have my best wishes. Good luck.

 

[typhoonpilot]

To answer Fearless Freep:

"One question I do have is how much time do these people that have been at USAirways over 15 years have before they have to retire?"

Good question. It runs the gamut from 1 year to 23 years. USAirways retirement numbers are pretty small until 2006, when it picks up to around 250 per year for the next ten years. Hopefully guys will go early, but you can't count on that.

"Is it possible that there would be recalls sooner because of the loss of the un-furloughed pilots just through retirement attrition?"

It didn't work that way last time and I doubt it will this time until 2006 when the numbers start becoming more substantial. This, of course, assumes USAirways still exists in 2006.

"Would it not be more prudent to set up early retirement incentives instead of cutting the bottom end of the company out? Paying all those senior salaries cannot be as cheap as keeping some of the less senior people. If the company made some sweet deals and individuals took advantage of it voluntarily more people may not be so stung by this quagmire."

The retirement fund is badly under-funded. This has been looked at, but it can't be done at the current funding levels. There is no way the company has any money to offer incentives. They have been offering voluntary leaves that include insurance and longevity accrual. Only 8 or 9 pilots took them last time. That did, in fact, save 8 or 9 pilots, for a few months anyway.

As a former 7 year 3 month furloughee I can say with confidence that neither USAirways, ALPA, or the active pilots will do anything for you during your time on furlough.

Lest someone flame me for that last comment, my ALPA brothers did start paying for medical insurance during the last few years of the last furlough and they are paying for it for the furloughed pilots now. Unfortunately the MEC just came out with an 18 month limit on the medical insurance payments.

Typhoonpilot

 

[G4G5]

WHile a bankruptys allows a company to reorganize and lower its costs. It also requires a return to profitability. As of today U was still $300+ million away from this goal, this is after the announced furloughs.

Their are two big problems facing USAir

The obvious first one is, the economy. If you went BK two years ago(a la TWA) you would have a much simpler time proving an abitlity to return to profitability(higher yeilds available). In todays economy Seigle has his back against the wall. The only good thing I see coming out of this is a slim and trim U. If he can pull it off U will be set up for the long haul and once the economy turns they should be in a very good position(low costs). But that's a very big IF.......

The not so obvious second one is United. If UAL is forced to declare BK, then U will get lost in the shuffle. All of the creditors will be way to busy with UAL to deal with things like Seigle wanting to lower lease payments on 9-767 for the second time. Right now he is the only one they are dealing with, in a month or two their answer will be,"park them and call us when you want to pay our price, we're too concerned with UAL's fleet". He needs to pull this off quickly.