Originally Posted by
Rottweiler
FWIW - my friend just resigned his seniority number at UAL to remain a CRJ captain at Skywest.
I never thought I'd see the day in my career where a pilot would choose a regional over a major. That says volumes about UAL.
Rott
Perhaps it does say something about UAL, but, maybe not.
Pilots began getting furloughed 6 years ago. That's a long time. Were people "waiting by the phone" for their furlough to end? No way, they have gone on and made completely different lives for themselves. If a someone has a good QOL, makes a good living, doesn't commute, whether its a flying job or not...it's completely understandable that they wouldn't want to leave. To me, it is no different than the Captain's I flew with at SkyWest years ago who weren't looking for other jobs, even with the hiring boom. They were simply happy with their lives, and saw no reason to dump it to start all over again.
I see the decision to come back to UAL after furlough is more a statement on the satisfaction of the new life they have built for themselves, rather than a statement on United, or any other airline.
Fact of the matter is, that by far, most of the pilots furloughed by United have returned or will return. There still may be some others who won't come back after LOA's have ended, but nevertheless, most are coming back.
**"Resigned, Retired or Deceased 274 12.6%"
**From UAL furlough coordinator