That statement is pure craziness!! The no-furlough clause in the '07 contract saved a ton of jobs my friend, do some research. The company wanted to furlough double the numbers that they were allowed. It's not by pure coincidence that the company furloughed back to the first pilot hired after the contract was signed... A good no-furlough clause is something that must be included with high priority in the next negotiations. If you work at ASA you should know that the company will run the company around contract language that is meant for circumstances that are out of the companies control. Just ask anyone about ready reserve, short call conversion's, reduced rest, minimum day's off, etc... There must be black and white language about furlough protection in the next contract or the company could and very well could furlough and recall at will based on block hours and whether it would be cost effective or not.

Anyone who say's the no-furlough clause is worthless needs to wake up and smell the coffee... Before you hit the quote button, YES I know there are way's around the no-furlough clause. They could just do it and face the consequences later on (especially if it is still worth it financially), they could claim bankruptcy, etc... But the current clause has already locked the company from doing more furlough's in recent past, and limiting how the pilots are treated. And isn't that what contracts are all about in the first place?