Originally Posted by
Viper25
As someone who adjusts my schedule with mil leave and actually does military duty on those days, I’m afraid of the “one person poops their pants and now we all have to wear diapers” consequence. Who knows what second order effects and FOM policy changes could come about.
I hear this argument thrown out there from time to time.
But this seems directionally accurate. Abuse, if it even exists, is probably minuscule.
Besides, Delta knows this will be a thing when they hire military pilots who don't have full military retirement pension status.
1. Military pilots are a known and sought after quantity.
2. If they share their time with the military for 5-7 years finishing up pension-status obligations part time with the reserves, at the end of it, Delta has them 100% for the remainder of their civilian-only careers. This is almost 3 decades worth of DAL only time.
3. In the interm, Delta gets their services at least 70% of the time.
It's Big-D's choice, they're happy with it. Delta used to famously hire primarily from the military. I suspect they would again if the pilot pipeline ever allows that kind of pickiness again.
I very much doubt MIL leave abuse is anywhere near as extensive as sick leave abuse, which doesn't end and probably gets worse over time, not better.