Question from pilot who left a regional on MLOA, asking "what if I get hired at a major". Wants to know how to get his regional airlines 3% match on 401K.

DRA = Dinky Regional Airline, MAL = Major Airline.

Q: How will my make-up contributions and the employer matches be computed?

A: The company will need to compute how much you would have earned from DRA for each month between October 2008 and September 2016 (your active duty period), and then your make-up contribution will be 3% of that amount. You have a lot at stake here, so you need to check the company’s math very carefully.


At a unionized airline like DRA or MAL, there is a pilot seniority roster based on date of hire. Let us say that Mary Smith is one spot above you on the roster and Bob Jones is one spot below you. Smith and Jones were among your classmates at the DRA rookie pilot class in 2007. They remained employed by DRA during the time that you were on active duty, from 2008 to 2016.
When you went on active duty in October 2008 you were on furlough status at DRA. When were Smith and Jones recalled from furlough? It is reasonable to conclude that you would have been recalled from furlough on that same date.
At a unionized airline, each pilot bids on a schedule each month, to cover the following month. The senior pilots normally get what they bid for, and the junior pilots (with little seniority) get what is left. Seniority also governs selection of aircraft type—pilots in larger aircraft get a greater hourly rate of pay than those flying smaller aircraft. And seniority often governs the timing for moving from the right seat (first officer) to the left seat (captain), with a substantial increase in pay.
For each month between October 2008 and September 2016, we can determine how many hours Smith and Jones flew and what their hourly rate of pay was. If you had remained at DRA instead of going on active duty, your hourly pay and number of hours worked would have been the same as that of Smith and Jones. Thus, we can come up with a very accurate estimate of how much you would have earned on a month-to-month basis during the entire eight years of your active duty period.