Furlough Bypass
From the MEC Update:
"Furlough Bypass Reminder
Furloughed pilots who have bypassed recall must be sure to monitor when their 10-year limit for maintaining recall rights expires, per Section 7-F of the UPA. Pilots planning to re-enter the recall process may specify a preferred class from the available dates announced by the Company but must commit to that date at least thirty days before the class.
7-F Seniority
A Pilot shall maintain his relative position on the Seniority List for all time on furlough and recall bypass provided that the continuous period of furlough and recall bypass shall not exceed ten (10) years. Once such a continuous period exceeds ten (10) years, a Pilot shall forfeit all recall rights and his name shall be removed from the Seniority List. Pilots shall receive longevity credit for all time spent on furlough.
If you are approaching the 10-year limit and wish to return, you may want to consider re-entering the recall process because there is no guarantee on when future classes will be announced."
A little over 200 folks are still out on bypass, the first 25 or so have their Bypass rights expire in Sep 2018. The final folks have theirs expire in late 2019.
Based on conversations with folks in hiring and the planned aircraft delivery schedule, the current plan is pretty much similar for the first 8 months of 2018 as it was to what we did in 2017, then the fall and winter of 2018-2019 will be big to deal with the arrival of the 787-10s, the rest of the 319s, and a whole bunch of Maxs, that are apparently coming to be on line by the summer of 2019.
Yes I know, the Long Range Planning committee meets twice a day, but if the first 9 months of 2018 look at all like the first 9 months of 2017, that means that the first folks with Bypass rights expiring would need to get into a class soon. Another year with a summer shutdown of training and the first Fall class being in October or later, would mean those most junior folks on furlough could be locked out sometime in early Spring. (have to give at least 30 days notice before a class)
I know there have been forum discussions around developing a return policy that would allow a return extension of some sort if the pilot notified the company of their desire to return before a certain date (say by the 9 year 9 month mark for example) and then the company doesn't have a class before the 10 yr date, but based on the communication from ALPA, it doesn't appear as though that is the current plan.
So, if you or your buddy is out on Bypass, it appears as though they will have to make the move (or not) fairly quickly.