This really has me scratching my head. If I were a furloughed pilot I would take the ~$1000 and run, especially knowing that in two years I'd be history to the company anyway. However...

Why is the company spending this money that they don't have to, if in two years or so I would lose recall rights anyway? Someone suggested that the company is paying this to inoculate themselves from a possible age discrimination lawsuit, but I would venture that most (if not all) of the 51 furloughs that were offered the buyout were less than 40 years of age or if not, already had other jobs.

From an age discrimination lawsuit standpoint, this strategy has never been used (to my knowledge) with a labor group such as pilots, where starting over really means "starting over." Also, how many 57 year old pilots is American Eagle hiring these days?