As I posted on another blog, be careful about the furlough thing. Yes, you do need a resignation letter of some sort. How to work that out is up to you and whomever. E.g. you might be furloughed from AA or somewhere but are flying at some stopgap place in the meantime. The stopgap place gives you the letter of rec., you're probably good to go.

BUT, word of warning. You will have a three year prorated bond. Say you get called back to work after one year. You will have to pony up around 24k, or as some do, what we call, a runner, and just take off. However, if your airline ever flies here and you are scheduled for that flight....well if you come to DXB there just might be a "committee" waiting for you on your departure to provide some free residency for a period of time.