New LOAs being offered...
 

Just heard...3 of them. Coming down the pipe any moment now. Standby...

Base blast I got from LAX had an attached LOA but said JetBlue on it. Did you just copy and paste their LOA and is that our actual LOA?

It's out. Check your emails...its from APA. I think this will really help us. 3 different tiers of Leaves of Absence being offered..including one paid at 55 hours.

The most interesting and unique one..is the Voluntary Permanent Leave of Absence. Basically an early retirement offer for pilots aged 62 to 64.

This is great news. On a side note, I know Kirby and a few others have said that they are cutting their pay 100% and even other mansgments pay by 50%. Has Parker cut his pay at all?

If I was eligible I would have already said yes to the early out. That medical being included is huge.

I haven't heard anything about that..but doesn't mean it isn't being discussed.

But these LOAs just breathed a huge gust of life into this pilot group. The fact that there are 3 tiers including one for those pilots close to retirement is huge. My take is that many will jump on this..and in 3 to 6 months this whole corona situation will have settled down anyway.

First good news in a couple of weeks.

Isn't he paid in stock?

yes which is why every time someone says they want a BK they are talking nonsense. They may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but with the exposure he and his buddies have NO WAY they want a BK.

Care to share.

So one is an Early Retirement LOA, one is a 55hr no fly line, what is the third LOA? Can you post them?

To summarize:

Pilots pay protected for COVID-19 quarantines for duration. Includes self-quarantines for sick family member. Sick bank restored for COVID-19 diagnosis.

1. Voluntary unpaid Leave of Absense, retain all benefits and accrue Length of Service, up to 12 months.

2. Voluntary Short-Term LoA, paid 55 credited hours, 1/3/6 months long, retain all benefits, 401k/profit sharing eligible, required to maintain currency but that’s it.

3. Voluntary Permanent LoA, age 62+ paid 50 hours until age 65, retain all benefits and 401k, etc as above, remaining sick deposited into HSA.

Looks like a helluva job by APA and AA.

If you are an AA pilot the LOA should be really easy to find...but the gist of the 3rd is just an unpaid LOA in which you accrue LOS and retain benefits at active employee rates.

Third one is an extended unpaid leave up to 1 year, with no requirement to stay current.

short term is either 1,3, or 6 months. Must maintain currency. Paid 55 hrs, with all bennies.

permanent is 50 hrs till 65, all bennies, sick time goes to a HRA at a discounted rate. CANNOT come back to flying EVER. 62+ years old to apply

Amazing when the company shows intention to negotiate!

Good job APA.LOA-20-001 has two primary provisions: Pay Protection for pilots impacted by COVID-19, and incentivized Voluntary Leaves of Absence. I encourage everyone to read the full text of the LOA, but here is a 30,000-foot view of the agreement.

Pay Protection:

• Pilots who are placed in quarantine based on concerns related to COVID-19 or who are diagnosed with COVID-19 will be pay protected during the duration of the evaluation, treatment, or quarantine.
• Pay protection also applies to pilots who self-quarantine due to a family member being diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Pilots who call in sick and are subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19 will have their sick time restored to their bank and will be pay protected.

Voluntary Leaves of Absence:

Three different voluntary Leaves of Absence will be offered. The special voluntary leaves are designed to reduce temporary pilot overages caused by current circumstances.

• Voluntary Extended Leaves of Absence (“VELOA”): A VELOA will be an unpaid leave; however, the pilot will continue to accrue Length of Service (LOS), will continue to have access to employee benefits at active pilot rates, and will retain travel privileges similar to an Active pilot. These leaves may be up to 12 months in duration.
• Voluntary Short-Term Leaves of Absence (“VSTLOA”): Pilots who take a VSTLOA will be paid 55 credited hours for the duration of the leave. Leaves will be 1, 3, or 6 months long. The pilot will continue to accrue sick and vacation, be eligible for all benefits at the same rates as active pilots, and retain travel benefits. Pay for the 55 hours will be eligible for 401(k) contributions and profit-sharing calculations. Pilots on a VSTLOA will be required to maintain currency but will have no other flying obligations.
• Voluntary Permanent Leave of Absence (“VPLOA”): Pilots between the ages of 62 and 65 will be eligible for a VPLOA. VPLOA pilots will be paid 50 hours per month until age 65. VPLOA pilots are eligible for all benefits at the same rates as active pilots, and retain travel benefits. Pay for the 50 hours will be eligible for 401(k) contributions and profit-sharing calculations. At retirement, the balance of the pilot’s sick bank will be deposited into a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) at 40% of the pilot’s applicable hourly rate. A VPLOA pilot will remain in this leave until retirement. This leave is permanent and cannot be changed by either the pilot or the Company.

On a related note, I know the possibility of a furlough is on many of your minds. I can tell you that at this point, the likelihood of a furlough has not been suggested by either side. If that changes, we will let you know immediately. One of the main objectives of the LOA ratified today is to mitigate that threat. At this point, it is too early to tell if we are headed down that path, but understand that stopping and reversing the training machinery would be incredibly costly and time-consuming. It is in our mutual interest to avoid reductions by way of furlough.

Furthermore, the airline industry is very different from what it was just before 9/11. Domestic load factors have increased from an average of 60% in 1990, to 69% in 2001, to 85% in 2019. International loads have risen from 67%, to 72%, to 84% over the same timeframe. The point is that the world travels by air far more than in the past, and the industry has become more efficient, so those loads are likely to return after the pandemic has passed (hopefully sooner rather than later). Additionally, furloughed pilots would require five or more weeks to requalify in their aircraft, greatly reducing the ability of American Airlines to resume normal service when the demand inevitably ramps back up.

Know that while we finally have the basic protections necessary for a professional pilot to operate in a fast-evolving public health emergency, your union leadership will continue to operate “all hands on deck” until this crisis has passed, and we will continue updating you daily for as long as the situation remains critical.

Am I missing something? Has the company agreed to this?

yes, and yes.

The LOA was written from the company (KS) to the union (EF)... so yes?

Still no e-mail. Has this been sent out to the unwashed masses yet?

Late last night.

I think this is good news but worry about the costs the corporation takes on and how it will impact its future. I estimate this will cost about $2b to pay just the retirees assuming 4,000 take it over three years. This is a large cost that won't allow the company to adequately compete against the ULCC's whom I fear will gain a substantial foothold after this. Spirit is by far my largest worry.

I guess what I'm saying is, I worry AA will become what US Airways was...a slowly dying carrier not able to compete due to overburdened costs.

I'm not trying to be negative but I think it's also important to take a bigger picture.

Huh. Maybe I've already been furloughed! Should probably head back to the drinking thread on the United board. ;)

In all seriousness, this is good news.

Has UA announced furloughs?

Sorry, it was a joke. I'm at AA. One of their guys started a 'what are you drinking' thread, and I was posting over there last week.

The reason I asked I heard rumors that not enough pilots took the 50-hour-stay-at-home option.

The COVID pay protection may as well be written in toilet paper. It's nearly impossible to get diagnosed with at this point.

4000 is wayyy too high of an estimate. The company would never offer that many. I doubt they would even offer half that.

So for the 55 hr guys, is currency going to be maintained in the sim?

Yes, this is great work by everyone involved, but as mentioned above, what happens when they don't get enough takers. I know what I'd do if I were a 62 yo not sure if I wanted to go to 65, but what about everyone else banking on the next guy volunteering for the 55hr deal?

You think 4,000 will take the early retirement LOA???!!! I wish I shared your optimism when it comes to that, but I think too many guys/gals that age are in a panic to get every last dollar they can before retirement. I hope its a huge number but I would be thrilled with anything over 500....did you take into account the savings of not paying out sick time in lost production, or the savings of not paying these guys 80hr lines (avg) at top of pay scale through the end of their careers, lots of other stuff to consider so that $2B number of yours is very fluid I think. As always furloughing off the top is huge savings compared to doing it on the bottom...and yes during any recession or the beginning of economic recovery LCCs have always grown, this is nothing new and therefore somewhat preparable...but I really don't know anything, I am just a line pilot, no sarcasm, just my opinions.

I am wondering about this, too. Can you call scheduling/flight standards and pick up a trip to maintain currency?

Numbers (cost) are like statistics. You can turn them around as much as you want, usually to management's advantage (bonus). Question here is what kind of deal the airlines can make with the government and banks.

I'm definitely bidding for the 55 month one. I can't imagine who wouldn't.

Yeah you're right, I really wasn't thinking lol.

they haven’t been specifically offered. (Second round)

Yep, if they get a lifeline we might be ok. I dunno. Really absolutely no way to tell how this is gonna end up.

If you bothered to read the LOA, it clearly answers that question...

Read the LOA...

No. Landing sims required, though it would have been smarter to let you pick up one turn every third month than putting additional burden on training.

That being said, if that's the only "slip up" in this product, given the time pressure they were under, it still gets an A+ in my book. Very comprehensive, very well thought out. Definitely a well executed strike while the iron was hot.

you’ve assumed X amount of pilots take it but haven’t accounted that the company will only offer Y amount of slots.

Hopefully it is enough, but the year long LOA suggests that they already know that they'll end up with a group who'll need long term training when they come back. Obviously they want to pick some off the top of the list to minimize multiple layers of displacements. Still, it feels like only the first step in an overall reduction...

The initial 50 hour option went pretty senior at United. They came out a day or two ago saying that more unpaid leaves and 50 hr lines would be offered for April. Now that we’ve announced a 50% reduction, it’s anyone’s guess as to what happens next.