UAL announces another recall class- 21 Aug

[Andy]

UAL has announced a 21 Aug recall class of approximately 20. They are currently anticipating recall classes in Sep and Oct. After those recall classes, plans are to continue recalling in early 2007.
The 21 Aug recall class was all 737s; based out of IAD and (mostly) ORD.

Bob Neal, who is handling recalls at UAL, sent out 56 recall letters. That puts the junior man to receive a recall letter at approximately seniority #8020, hired on 4/3/00. There are a total of 8915 pilots on the June 2005 seniority list (due to be updated soon).
Based on historic data, it will likely take around 100 recalls to get 20 in class. If the Sep and Oct classes have the same number of recall slots, my best guess is that the junior man recalled in Oct will be around seniority #8264, a 6/18/00 hire.
As UAL gets deeper into the recalls, I'd expect an increased percentage of bypasses. This will probably be offset to a degree by previous bypassers accepting recall.

 

[festus]

Great News!

 

[Flip Conroy]

Great News!

Which part? That they are recalling or that it takes about 100 calls to fill 20 positions and the bypasses are increasing because no one wants to go back to that craphole?

 

[32LT10]

Which part? That they are recalling or that it takes about 100 calls to fill 20 positions and the bypasses are increasing because no one wants to go back to that craphole?

Another genuis appears. You have to use some logic so you might miss the gist of how this process works. The first pass through the list the recalled pilot may bypass. This allows those pilots to wait until enough people junior to them come back to allow those senior furloughed pilots to come back when they hold a line. Novel right? Waiting until you can be off reserve to return to flying? Now as they get farther down the list many of these pilots have been off the property for several years, do you think a few of them may have careers in other fields and or other carriers that would make it less desirable for them to return? Some have more seniority at another carrier now than they had when they were furloughed from UAL.

I would suspect that if this "craphole" was hiring you would be sending in a resume with and polishing your wingtips and cleaning your 2-for one suit with your striped tie just for a chance to work at this "craphole".

 

[A350]

Good news for the UAL folks....

I see 32LT is a little touchy when someone tells him his airline isn't so "desirable" anymore.

As usual, he can dish it out, but when he has to eat a little himself, he doesn't like it much.

A350

 

[clickclickboom]

irony

Another genuis appears. You have to use some logic so you might miss the gist of how this process works. The first pass through the list the recalled pilot may bypass. This allows those pilots to wait until enough people junior to them come back to allow those senior furloughed pilots to come back when they hold a line. Novel right? Waiting until you can be off reserve to return to flying? Now as they get farther down the list many of these pilots have been off the property for several years, do you think a few of them may have careers in other fields and or other carriers that would make it less desirable for them to return? Some have more seniority at another carrier now than they had when they were furloughed from UAL.

I would suspect that if this "craphole" was hiring you would be sending in a resume with and polishing your wingtips and cleaning your 2-for one suit with your striped tie just for a chance to work at this "craphole".

LT I dont normally read united threads but a friend of mine is coming up on recall soon. I find it quite amusing that someone spews out the same crap here that you do on the B6 threads and all your feathers are ruffled over it.

You dont need to reply but if you are gonna dish it out you should be able to take it.. Let me add that unlike you and jp4user bashing b6 I really do hope that your company grows, prospers, and that all united pilots can secure a good future for themselves in this unique economy..

 

[GogglesPisano]

Good God. Can't we just congratulate these guys and leave it at that? I have a feeling a lot of guys at LCC's/cargo airlines will return to UAL when it's their last chance to go back.

 

[Andy]

Good God. Can't we just congratulate these guys and leave it at that? I have a feeling a lot of guys at LCC's/cargo airlines will return to UAL when it's their last chance to go back.

Goggles, no big thing. I've gotten used to people taking shots at United; every once in a while I'll fire back, but most of the time it's not worth the effort.
I probably should've given the historic breakdown:
20% accept recall
20% accept recall and go on military leave of absence. United allows you to be on mil leave for up to six years. This is the route that I plan on taking so that I can avoid fllying the 737/A320; the work rules suck on the narrowbody fleet.
25% accept recall and go on leave of absence (this is for people who signed employment contracts that committed them to other employers for a period of time). The leave of absence can be a very short period of time (I've heard of a 2 month LOA) up to 2 years.
35% bypass. It's still on the way to the bottom of the list, so you can bypass. Some of the furloughees who chose to bypass have returned to United; they wanted to get a bit of seniority before returning. Once they get to you in reverse seniority order, you must either accept or resign.

All above numbers are very approximate and are from data that I read more than a month ago, so the percentages are probably off by a bit.

How's World treating you? Still considering United? It looks like my previous estimates were too high; I think that United is moving very conservatively in recalling pilots due to high fuel prices and economic uncertainty. United is short pilots this summer; even with zero block hour growth, they'll have to recall a significant number of pilots just to offset retirements. UAL has 240 pilots retiring in 2006 and 266 retiring in 2007. Based on the retirements, UAL will have to recall at least an additional 180 or so pilots between the Oct class and May 2007 to break even.
Unless United reduces block hours next summer, I can see them recalling 40-50 per month starting in Jan through May 07. If they decide to increase block hours, they will have to be much more aggressive in recalls. But that would be preceded by United increasing the number of PIs (pilot instructors) at TK (training center in Denver).

 

[32LT10]

It looks like my previous estimates were too high; I think that United is moving very conservatively in recalling pilots due to high fuel prices and economic uncertainty. United is short pilots this summer; even with zero block hour growth, they'll have to recall a significant number of pilots just to offset retirements.

Andy according to someone at WHQ that I know, they are hedging bets on the age 65 issue resolution. While it is not a done deal they are concerned about it changing and the implications on staffing.

We did have flying growth this year for the first time since 9/11. Block hours are up, but we are still understaffed in select seats and fleets.

 

[Andy]

Andy according to someone at WHQ that I know, they are hedging bets on the age 65 issue resolution. While it is not a done deal they are concerned about it changing and the implications on staffing.

Yeah, I'll buy that. We'll know after November if it's a go or not. I don't expect it to pass this time around.