Originally Posted by
LAX Pilot
That's actually nor correct. EVERY furloughed United pilot in history was called back. Even the furloughs after 9/11 got called back.
Guess what, they are coming back NOW!
You are correct that for a few of them they will have some ZERO dollar paycheck years, but the top 400 in the UAL seniority list were all furloughed and they all had a great career after a short furlough because of the widebody flying United had and currently has.
But I'd be willing to bet that absent the merger, more UAL pilots would have been widebody Captains that CAL pilots who were active. That can be shown statistically and proven and furloughees ARE on the seniority list (which is what is being integrated) and they also have a career expectation.
They also have longevity, some more and some less.
Absent the merger, UAL would cease to exist in its old form. If you disagree, then you need to prove collusion on the part of both management sides to right size the airlines, which the arbitrator won't consider or concede to. The furloughs are coming back because of the merger, not because UAL emerged from its stubborn position of waiting for the industry to resume flying old widebodies domestically again, with Titlon hanging his thumb off the side of the road to anyone who would give him a ride to retirement.
Integrated, stapled...it'll all work out...in the end the main deal is everyone will get placed on the list and then we can get this behind us. For the most part, given attrition, retirements, growth, widebody fleet replacement...anyone on property will probably wiggle 2-3% either way from where they are relatively on their respective current list, save for maybe a few at the top and then we can move along. The key with putting these together is that everyone is treated fairly...you may not like everything, but the key again is fairness. Historical record and trend data usually sets the definition of fairness.