UPS suspends pilot furlough plan

[firstthird]

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030306/transport_ups_furloughs_1.html

Reuters
UPS says suspends pilot furlough plan
Thursday March 6, 10:21 am ET


LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 6 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS - News), the world's largest package shipper, said on Thursday it suspended plans to furlough up to 100 pilots this year because enough pilots have voluntarily agreed to leave the company or take leaves of absence.

The company last month said it might need to furlough pilots because newer UPS planes require only two crew members instead of three. UPS said it had been expecting to furlough 19 pilots by the end of March.

UPS said 36 pilots offered to voluntarily leave the company or take a leave of absence, while another 56 are on active military duty. These numbers were sufficient for the company to suspend the furlough program, according to Rick Barr, the company's airline operations manager.

UPS shares traded Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) at $55.89, down 17 cents. They closed one year ago at $59.38.

 

[propilot150]

Well , i guess its a sort of good thing. Im glad to hear that some are willing to sacrafice their jobs so it can stay alive , but in the event what happens if it doesnt work ? then they end up laying off more then they had planned at first ? ( im just thinking out loud excuse me ) Take Care
Captain Landry

 

[firstthird]

From the outside looking in, it looks more like the company tried some hardline union busting kind of stuff, got a way worse reaction than anticipated and then backed off. any UPS pilots care to comment?

 

[BrownTailGuy]

Unionbusting 101 is all it was. We are in contract negotiations and they are trying to scare us.

We have been shortstaffed for years.

Bottom line is; We stopped picking up extra flying and the company was having service failures. Because of this combined with 70+ military callups the company backtracked and suspended the furloughs.

 

[jergar999]

Will this furlough keep its seniority number, and be called back to furlough before other furloughs take place?

 

[BrownTailGuy]

jergar,

I don't understand your question. As of Thursday there are no furloughs coming here at UPS for the forseeable future.

Fly safe

 

[Xfr8dog]

can you explain what voluntary leave is compared to furlough? does it just mean youre out of work without a recall number? um that doesnt make much sense either... whats the benifit for those guys exactly?

 

[BrownTailGuy]

It was an opportunity to leave the company for a minimum of 6 months. I would think the only people interested are those expecting children or maybe ones that would like ot get away from the BS for a while. Very few took this option