Originally Posted by
Gone Flying
why by fleet? If the airline is a global airline they should be able to require all their pilots fly globally. If I am a 220 CA would I be able to be displaced out of my seat because someone senior turned 65. what if they are junior to me? That would be a major change to how seniority runs things at my airline. What if all of a sudden we start flying the 220 to the Caribbean, then what for those 65 year old pilots?
Federal law prohibits age discrimination (a federal specifying 65 or 67 is by definition not discrimination, since it's the law).
Such a prohibition, clearly and by long precedent, requires reasonable accommodation.
Accomodation would obviously include allowing them to bid a domestic only fleet. It would also include allowing them to bid a mostly domestic fleet and then bid-avoid international.
Now if their seniority can't hold any of that, then it might complicated... is the airline obligated to honor their bid and pay them to not fly? Can the airline park them without pay at all if they can't bid a domestic fleet? Can the airline drop no pay any international trips they do bid for? That depends mostly on CBA interpretation I suspect, and CBA's weren't written to account for this so I suspect various interpretations and lawsuits.
This is why congress *should* add some specific language, but of course they don't listen to me and if the ship hasn't already sailed, the mooring lines are off now.
But I'm confident that "I'm a global airline so I'm going to fire all 65+" will not hold up in court given existing laws and precedent.
I assume the battle line will be drawn here...
Airlines: Bid what you can hold, and we'll pay you to fly trips you can legally fly. We'll drop the rest, and cancel your benefits if your credit is too low.
Boomers: Per the CBA, I want to bid anything I can hold, and then get paid if the airline displaces me.