Originally Posted by
ramalama
I'm plagiarizing "Pipe" but it bears repeating in this discussion:
Furlough mitigation is a fallacy that has haunted pilot group after pilot group. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FURLOUGH MITIGATION!!!! (with the exception of early retirement options) Do not be manipulated by false hope. If Allegiant or any other airline is bleeding, they will not be retaining anyone they don't absolutely have to (pilot or otherwise) even if they take a $1/yr salary. When you're bleeding, you try to stop the bleeding. Management isn't looking for an acceptable rate of sustained bleeding that aligns with the Core 4 principles, they are headed to the ER to amputate. Furlough mitigation is a deep well of false hope and misleading promises that are used to sabotage contracts. Don't be a sucker.
Ummmm... are you not familiar with what Spirit was able to do with their robust EIL/VIL participation (their version of an ETO). They not only mitigated furloughs, they completely avoided furloughs because the VOLUNTARY participation was so high by the senior pilots.
You're an idiot if you don't think VOLUNTARY leaves can mitigate furloughs. Do some research. Talk to pilots at NK, AS or B6.
If you're misconstruing VOLUNTARY participation with forced concessions, then I would agree with you. Taking involuntary concessions, or forced leaves out of seniority order is not the right approach IMO (not sure any airline has gone down this road). But voluntary leaves like an ETO that are tied to furlough mitigation absolutely work to reduce furloughs. Literally every single major airline and their pilots have agreed to a furlough mitigation package. F9 and NK had no early out options, just voluntary leaves to reduce furloughs of the most junior pilots. That is a no brainer. NK agreed to 50 hours; F9 agreed to 35 hours. There is seriously no reason why we couldn't have the same VOLUNTARY option to take an ETO.