Pilot7576,

Shaggy, like me was in the bottom 300 of the seniority list when the company announced furloughs a few years ago. I'd say we got jerked around pretty good, and the actual 109 that got booted to the curb were totally thrown under the bus, and backed over a few times by the company.

Speaking for me personally, I didn't appreciate having a furlough hung over my head for a good three years by the company, when they knew darn well what they were going to do all along. There was no communication from the company for planning purposes, concerning exactly how many, or when the furloughs would stop, or when recalls would begin.

It sucks living month to month not knowing if you're going to have a job at the end of the month. You can't plan anything in your life. You don't buy a new car, and you sure as heck don't buy a home or any other big purchase. All I did during that time was save money, waiting for something to happen. I considered it a form of mental torture, which I'm sure the airline management loved.

For the 109 that were actually furloughed, some of these guys moved their families up to ANC and bought homes. These are the very same guys that the company told to bugger off, and that they were on their own...furloughed in ANC, with no way to move back to the lower 48, and seek employment. If that isn't messing with someone, I don't know what is.

During the furlough, all we heard was that the company didn't exactly know when they were being recalled, and then when the final pilots were recalled, not a week later the company announced that they were hiring 40 new pilots. To me, this is indicative of A.) A company HR that doesn't have a clue what they are doing, and can't predict staffing goals a whole week in advance...or B.) A vindictive company that kept furloughed pilots out on the street until the very last second to make a statement. Who knows, maybe it's a combination of A and B?

When I was hired here in 2007, I thought that the pilots from the class of '88 were some crazy, bitter old guys, that did nothing but complain about the company 24/7. After the entire furlough fiasco, I've learned that those guys were spot on about the company, and how they value us (pilots) as employees.