I was thinking that working as a substitute teacher would be a fairly decent alternative during a possible furlough. The government pays your salary albeit a relatively crappy salary, you can work part-time and then get a teaching accreditadation and roll over to full-time if the furlough seems to be an extended one. My experience teaching as a CFI would be a plus. And it seemed that during the 9/11 furlough era, the teaching profession at least in the SF Bay Area was fairly resistant to the economic times.

But today, I realized that a load of teachers are getting laid off in SoCal and more layoffs are about to happen in NorCal.

I have just turned 23 and am getting my 121 dispatch ticket added on, but it seems there are a lot more pilot jobs than dispatch jobs, and in a furlough those jobs would also become scarce.

I guess the best option in the case of a furlough would be to get a CFI job at a nearby FBO or academy as the place where I originally instructed is way the hell on the other side of the country. But like SkyHigh said "It seems to me that when a furlough or lay off happens nearly half do not find another flying job."

I think the best bet is a part-time federal government job from which the possibility remains of going full-time.