Furlough rumors always come up at this time of year. I'll take the "wait and see" approach and am building the furlough fund.

Several balls are in the air:
+ 2013's economy likely to be beat Fox News' predictions
+ Possibility of used airplanes and arrival of used renewal jets
+ Contract 2012's Section 1 language

- We are overstaffed
- Company shows no signs of interest in fixing the deficit in our Air France / KLM agreement
- ALPA shows little interest in pushing the matter (and in fairness is limited by the measurement window from taking substantial action)
- ALPA is allowing other pilot groups to cut deals with Delta management without our knowledge or involvement
- The period of "constructive engagement" seems to be over, at least from management's viewpoint. We were left out of the room on Virgin and Pinnacle. That's around $3 billion all in. Extrapolating from that, there would be no reason for management to give ALPA bad news, until it was contractually required. Things like sick calls and disability claims increase (at most airlines) during periods of furlough and labor unrest. Management does not like sick calls, so might as well maintain the happy talk as long as possible (and hopefully forever).