Originally Posted by Andy

What people need to think about on occasion is that these good times won't last forever. Let's talk 42% paycut. Is it a possibility in a future downturn? Absolutely. Even before any pay concessions.

For some, just reducing our flying hours down to contractual maximum while there are furloughees will be a healthy paycut. I'm hoping that those flying greater than 82 hours are familiar with Section 5-B-1-a-(1) of the contract. Personally, in spite of being a huge slacker, I fly more than 82 hrs on a regular basis because my wife's a workaholic and if I wasn't working, I'd just be getting in trouble. Throw in a couple of downgrades due to surpluses and one can quickly get to >42% paycut before any concessionary negotiations on the contract. Going from WB to NB alone is a >20% paycut.
How many are prepared for that? I banked ~60% of gross last year without trying, but I'd definitely notice the pay difference as a 72hr guppy FO and would cut expenses.

This economic expansion is getting way long in the tooth and will eventually end. When it does, passenger air traffic will decline and United will likely park a lot of our oldest equipment (777s, 756s) in order to adjust the fleet to reduced demand.