Originally Posted by
Herkflyr
That was before any hand-outs from Uncle Sugar (to be fair it was the ridiculous government lockdowns that were a huge part of this industry going into free fall).
We have been uniquely insulated from this economically crushing pandemic. To see a more real world example of economics in action, look no further than 9/11. We had hired all the way up to the summer of 2001, stopped hiring late summer, the tragic events of 9/11 happened, and we furloughed as soon as November. Those guys didn't return for over five years, and that was repeated throughout the industry.
Absent all the CARES Act $$ we would have thousands furloughed, as would every pax carrier.
To paraphrase your own question, "does anyone really believe that absent money from the feds, we WOULDN'T have tons of pilots on the street?"
Delta cannot even staff the planes now with no furloughs..If they had furloughed, I can't even imagine how many more flights would have canceled due to no crew. So yes, I think the threat of a furlough was all for show. They were trying to get concessions knowing no furloughs were really coming.