Originally Posted by
CurtissRobin
This is my first post so here goes … I have been furloughed three times in my airline career. The first one was for thirty days. The second one was for seven months. I don’t know how long the third one was for because I got a new job in the interim. Each time I was notified by a “Mailgram”, and each Mailgram I received gave me exactly two weeks notice. That was the advantage of the Mailgram; the company knew what day it would be delivered.
Each time I was furloughed, I moved back into my old bedroom, my mother started cooking for me again and I drove my parent’s cars. I was very lucky. I was also young with no wife, no kids, no mortgage, and I never gave health insurance any thought.
A much different picture could be painted today of the pilots on the south end of our seniority list. I doubt the vast majority are interested in extending their adolescence like I did. They have wives, kids, mortgages, etc. They have had their parents move back in with them rather than vice versa.
They are also an extremely qualified bunch. I have flown with several of them. There are Chief Flight Instructors, Chief Pilots, Squadron Leaders, Platoon Leaders, lots of hours and lots of airlines. There might even be a Space Shuttle landing. A few have already gone and others are thinking about going back on active duty. They are also our friends and colleagues.
There are some advantages of having a reduced amount of flying each month. The schedules are generally better, especially for commuters. More time with the wife and kids, more time to visit my parents. Now, I do the cooking because my mother really can’t do much anymore, and she used to be a great cook. I keep getting health insurance, vacation time, catering. My son is really excited about learning to fix our old cars, and I have more time to visit my daughter who is out of state in college.
FedEx, UPS, and e-mail pretty much rendered the Mailgram obsolete and it was discontinued by Western Union a couple of years ago. I don’t think I will really miss them though.
Great post CR. As a former bottom lister myself I understand all that you speak of. All 3 of mine came via Registered Mail if I recall. 2 got canceled when the union that represented me agreed to meet again about a 5% pay cut. Myself and 200 of my fellow aviators were nothing more than hostages taken by a company that used furlough threats to try and get out of a 5% pay raise the pilots had coming to them as per the contract we were under. The problem in their eyes was that the company was losing money and didn't want to pay even though they didn't give anything not required by the contract when they made record profits. No sharing the wealth, just sharing the pain. Sound familiar? I told the union not to give in as I would rather be let go and come back to a company that didn't use blackmail as a negotiating tool. So, since we truly were surplus and we were all on the bottom in the 727 S/O seat and easy to let go, it came to be after 2 false alarm letters that they finally cut me loose. Then the CEO took a million dollar bonus for putting 200 pilots and their families on the street, all making less than $30k a year. As I walked I was told by every pilot I flew with that they would make sure I got back and thanks for taking this bullet for the group. ALPA paid our Cobra and then provided insurance for us while we were out from a voluntary active pilot contribution. They even had funds you could borrow from interest free if you needed it. That kind of support was great.
The real support I and others needed though was for those that remained to just fly their line and not any extra so we would be back sooner. The longer we remained out, the more of a factor we would be in the next contract talks. The company in question actually went to a little used overtime system that paid 200% and didn't count against your monthly bank. It worked so well they were able to drop another 300 pilots on to the street and ALPA said they couldn't do anything about it. Of course the worst offenders were Captains so the dues money they got from all that OT was a lot more than the paltry sum they got from a 32K a year member. Either way it sucked and I felt screwed by both th company and the pilot group. I hope this group will do better if we ever get to a furlough and you can bet I will. The end of the story is I ended up here and didn't go back to the other place when I had the chance, a decision that makes me look smart now, but one that Captains I flew with used to berate me over! The truth is I won't know until I die whether it was the right call or not but I digress. Bottom line, for anyone on the list and not just the bottom 600, is you need to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
My point here is most of us will do what we have to to prevent a furlough including taking an hours cut in the way the contract describes in 4a2b. Right now, IMO and those in charge of our union, we are not there yet so what the company has done is nothing more than a way to stop abiding by one part of the contract (buy ups to 68 hrs costing 1 mill a month) by the misapplication of a clause meant to really mitigate an impending furlough. If we get there I trust we will all be willing to take that cut to help our fellow pilots out. What were not willing to do is allow the company to drop our hours below contract established mins anytime they use the word furlough in a letter. Most on the bottom of the list would do well to ignore many rumors and innuendo posted here and just be ready for the worst. I still don't see a furlough anytime soon unless the economy tanks more and we start parking planes. Thanks for sharing your thoughts CR. I am sure there are many who feel the same way..