I guess I'm what Ramrod calls a CBA bully. Not sure I fit the description of bully, but whatever. I'll do my best to just reference what you said and how it actually pertains to our contract.

Our contract does not regulate what type of training a recall furloughee receives; that would be the FARs and the FOTM (flt ops training manual). What both say is, after 24 months, a returning pilot is to receive a "full" training cycle (indoc, etc.). So your 36 months reference holds no water.

As for those that may return inside of 24 months: the training dept. will provide a shortened syllabus training program. It has in the past included about 4 sessions in the simulator, with several PT sessions in a mock-up beforehand. This has proven sufficient for other returning furloughs, as I am unaware of any washouts of any returning pilot within the last year.

The big question concerning training is this: Why on earth would Spirit management want to set someone up to fail? Wouldn't it cost more to bring in a replacement for that person? Think about it...the airline has already had that person on property before, so the guesswork (both personality and ability) has been covered already.

Not sure what you receive at United, but we are all in possession of a pretty decent powerpoint A/V program that does a nice job with the Airbus' systems. We ALL have it- even those currently out on furlough. IMHO, if you watch that through 2 or 3 times, you've got a good handle on what our IPs expect out of your systems knowledge. As for the sim: Is your Airbus really that hard to fly at United? Really?