Originally Posted by
LoneStar32
So lets say hypothetically furlough do happen for some reason how would it work? Straight off the bottom seniority, with Jr. CAs going back to FOs with FO pay?
There is really no point in talking about it because it WON’T happen. That is a bold statement that I would normally never make, but the numbers speak for themselves...
Feb 2020 block hours vs 2019
AA 28,459 (2020) vs 26,116 (2019)... 8.9% increase YOY
DL 15,152 (2020) vs 10,197 (2019)... 48.59% increase YOY
UA 21,730 (2020) vs 20,538 (2019)... 5.8% increase YOY
Total 65,341 (2020) vs 56,851 (2019)... +8,490 Hr or a 14.93% Increase for Feb 2020 vs Feb 2019.
So we have seen a total of a 5% decrease to United... We are still .8% higher than last year using Feb numbers which is a slow month typically. Even if we lost some DL and AA block hours, the additional DL frames will still drive the DL side up overall. What we will see is a drop in aircraft useage compared to what we have been averaging the last year. I’m ok with that.
***To put this into perspective, our seniority list has grown by 42 people since February 2019. We have added 17 aircraft to the fleet and have increased block hours by at least 8,500hrs. Our staffing levels have been stretched thin because of this. All this reduction has given us is less opportunity for 200% flying and the ability to go back to actually adjusting our schedules like we could in early 2019.***
Our CEO has specifically said they are not canceling or throttling back hiring at all. It's still full steam ahead because we still have 13 planes that will need to be staffed between now and July. We also have to start hiring for new deliveries next year unless those are replacement planes, which I doubt they are.