Originally Posted by
JoePatroni
The first indication was NOT firing every single Friend of Fred "test pilot" before they furloughed one guy after 9/11. Those guys did not do ONE thing that could not have been done by a line pilot EXCEPT willingly go here, there, and everywhere at the drop of a hat (sometimes sitting for days) with zero complaints.
I remember pulling into LAX and two guys in street clothes were waiting in the jetway to ferrry the airplane somewhere. When I asked them who they were, they said they were part of the test pilot department and wouldn't even make eye contact. Total BS as guys were literally being furloughed that week.
Don't even get me started about those over sixty scumbags that wormed their way back on to the seniority list at their original seniority, Leo B was one of the ring leaders.....kharma's a ****h isn't she Leo?
Those test pilots had seniority numbers. I agree the pilots over 60 should have been gone but I’d rather have test pilots on the list than not. Today, at the merged airline we adopted the UAL practice of having a large test pilot group that is not on the seniority list. Not sure how that happened pre merger as the UAL MEC was pretty tough. Maybe it was the bankruptcy that forced this practice? It certainly is not manpower positive (like FO instructors) yet here we are, today living with it.