Originally Posted by
Pro2nd
Per the last flight ops town hall, PC now stated they are as of now targeting a 30 percent reduction in pilot "staffing". He clarified this in the live Q+A at the end. He said the 30 percent is based on "active line pilots, currently 11,800 minus retirements between now and summer 2021". By my math there is approximately 400 pilots to retire in that period per Unitedseniority.com. That comes to 11,400(.30)=3,420 furloughs without any additional mitigation. This is a huge number and very unfortunate. I am included in this number as well. They seem to be planning on shrinking to profitability.
"Without further mitigation" is the key. They can market a mitigation plan (aka concession) by claiming to reduce furloughs by thousands and we'll think we got a good deal! I'm a pretty reasonable person and am willing to objectively consider options, but I think they are over playing their hand here. Now is the time to be bold and 'press to test'! Call their bluff and simply shrug while saying "a contract is a contract - do your job and manage the airline". I understand that this sounds cavalier coming from a guy with very little risk of furlough, but they've eroded my patience & reasonableness with their 30% axe. They have highly paid analysts and powerful computers but everything seems to add up to a nice round 30%? No calculus - just subtraction.