Originally Posted by rickair7777

I'm actually with slaphappy on this one (for the first and probably last time ever).

87 vs. 75 hours does not affect me personally, just so that's clear. I always drop to mins or lower for military and/or QOL anyway.

I do NOT believe that senior pilots (especially CA's with real lives and real bills) should have to live a 75-hour life on the off chance that the company might want to furlough some FOs someday.

You have to understand there is a risk of getting only 75 hours (ie reserve), but I'm not going to ask folks who routinely credit over 100 by creative bidding to drop down to 75 voluntarily. What if your neighbor got layed off from his job...if he knocked on your door and asked for you to sign over 25% of your paycheck to him for the duration, what would you say?

It is probably in the overall best interest of a regional pilot group to furlough rather than make drastic cuts in line credit.

The senior pilots are actually the ones who are in a harder spot...they are WAY past V1 and cannot just quit to go make more money. They have few options, they have to live on what they get handed and may not have a lot of flexibility to work side jobs.

The junior FOs are not really going to be harmed by furlough...they can make as much or more money working at a variety of odd jobs. Nobody works as a regional FO to make money, they do it to hold their place in line for upgrade. And if line reductions or furloughs are being debated, there is no upgrade progression anyway...might as well be home every night as opposed to commuting to domicile to sit reserve and not fly.

If some furloughed FOs make the same money at outside jobs, and the remaining pilots get to keep their income level up, it's a win for everyone.

I only see it this way because regional pay is so pitiful...if the average furloughed FO were going to take a pay cut, I'd be OK with reduced lines.