Originally Posted by
Denny Crane
Management has to have decided that offering an early out is cheaper than furloughing. They also have to have decided that most, if not all, positions vacated at the top of the list will not be replaced.
There may be training going on because of an early out but it wont be much.
One of the reasons that pilots are never offered an early out is that someone has to fly the widebody airplanes and whomever does is going to be paid the same thing since we are on a twelve year payscale. So whether they are 60 or 48, the same cost is still there. Now, if the positions just disappear, the company can see the advantage to offering an early out vs a furlough. The advantage to us at the moment is, hopefully, no displacements and in the future, if we ever start expanding again, faster upgrades. Hopefully this will happen but I'm not holding my breath.
Either way, if the company is offering this with no strings attached, I say go for it and see how many will take it!!!! What have we got to loose?
Denny
Correct. Like we have had AE's with no backfill. Consider this like an MD with no top fill. The positions will just disappear. What's depressing now is looking around the outlying tarmac's in ATL and seeing all those 757's & 767's parked. Don't mind the RJ's sitting though. Hopefully the guys will take a serious look at the package and not make the same mistake some DAL guys did and not take it. Afterwards they realized that they are now working for free since their retirement evaporated and they subtract what they turned down. When the buyout is factored in (when the amounts are released), will guys do this job for half-pay for their last few years. There were still a handful a month retiring, now maybe a few more may come off the fence.