640 More Early Retirements & 2,935 Paid LV
 

Bid out. Awarded April 9

Paid early outs: 640
Paid leaves 55hour/month: 2,935

That is impressive! Nice work guys/gals. Hoping we can work something up over here at UAL that is somewhat similar.

Are these 640 early retirements in addition to the 600ish already announced? Or is that the total number?

616 took the 1st rd of early outs...they are looking for an addition 640 to take them now...we will see, but i have a feeling they will fall short of this number seeing how, i think, 620 bid for it in the 1st rd....I still dont know if that was only 63 and 64 yr olds only in the 1st rd. It is open to anyone 62 or older, so maybe there will be alot of 62 yr olds who jump on it too, we will see....

Additional

62 years old by JUNE 01 now... what a time to be too young! Mr October.

They’re going to need to lower the age or up the money.

you could do worse than blasting to the top of the list for 3 years

Could lower the age to 50 and reduce the hours to something low and you would get takers.

Are the May pairings going to be published before the bid closes? Would be nice to see what the flying is like to help determine if you want to stay home or not.

I would not want to be an unsecured creditor of American Airlines for the next 15 years.

It might not be smart to be an unsecured creditor of AA for a portion of the next three......

They can set it up to where your name stays on the list, and money doesn't stop until your name is furloughed. I'am sure many would rather that the a "guarantee".

Anyone who is 62-63 would be foolish not to take the early retirement. They will get what amounts to a pension for 3 years and could go and do something else and make way more money total that what they would by staying. It would be a no brainer for me.

Particularly a junior widebody CA who will likely get displaced to Group 2 CA. Retire now at 50 hours Group 4 CA pay or work your butt off at Group 2 CA pay for just a couple grand more than you would have made retired

lots of idiots in the this company

It's not just limited to this company...

The difference between 76 hours of G2 pay and 50 hours of G4 pay is just shy of $50K/year. The junior G4 captain is likely to be a senior G2 captain, so they won’t be sitting reserve, unless it’s by choice, and will make more than 76 hours.

i really doubt many will take this round of VPLOA’s

I hate to say it, but I think unfortunately it is getting less. I don't remember last time I flew with a guy who believed the mother ship is in CB cells. I don't think we even have a flat-earther in our group!

What's happening to this place?

Agreed. The vast majority of 62+ pilots who are going to take the VPLOA already took it. The company will need to open it up to 61 and down if they want more takers going forward.

...because there will be so much hiring going on the next three years, with respect to them doing something else, I don’t think so.

Not to mention there will be huge numbers of younger guys on the streets.

Two out of my three tenants have not paid rent, the economy is going to suck for a while.

That means anyone in that situation who doesn’t take the VPLOA will essentially be working for the next several years for “just shy of $50k/year.” That is absurd. The difference between not working at all and working full time is less than 50k, and people are not taking the VPLOA??

I personally am glad they are not offering them at other major airlines as I think they are too expensive and I’d rather see the money spread around the pilot group, but know that there are thousands of pilots at United and Delta that are envious of your VPLOA package.

This will recover quickly by end of summer. There will be opportunities. Besides, there are many other opportunities other than just a mainline pilot. Cargo, corporate, teaching, or any other type of business they may have a skill for. So again, anyone 62 should take it without hesitation.

55 and up ... I’m outa here

what makes you say that?

Exhibit A:

the guy that wants everyone to take a pay cut to get his early leave up to 70 hours.

Can't believe that dude. Then again, sure I cam.

While I have been bearish on AA for a while, I’m generally a glass half full type of guy, and I wouldn’t go that far. This might or even probably will recover quickly, but I wouldn’t speak in definitive terms, and certainly wouldn’t make any financial plans on that basis.

so you would basically work your ass off (gr2 is much more of a grind than group 4) for 60k/year. The first $240,000 in earnings would be working for free.

Let me put it in this perspective for the VPLOA:

What company will pay you roughly $180,000 a year for 3 years, plus 16% of that into your retirement, full medical/ dental, and all other benefits to sit at home and not work?

Who in this world wouldn’t love that and not think twice about jumping all over it?

I'd take it. But I'm not making greater than $300k/yr, have 3 ex-wives, a houseboat, and two mortgages.

Just saying everybody's position is different. I can only wish I was in a position to make such a decision.

Maybe the person who has seen their career set back by gulf war's 1 and 2, the furloughs in the 90's, 9/11, age 65, the recession in the 2000's. Depending on what airline they came from, multiple furloughs, and bankruptcies, loss of their pension's, 16+ Years in the right seat, all while earning less than our G2 fo's make now, even in the left seat of a narrow body.

A G4 captain on short call or a G2 captain who holds a line will make over $100K more than the VPLOA pays. Thats a little more than just beer money.

I'm not in a position to have to make that decision, but I would never question anyone's decision to take it, or not. Not everyone here has had a golden career. There are some guys in their 50's, that may be staring down their third furlough.

Nothing offered here at Delta like AA is seeing. Good for you guys.

oh, I agree. I thought you were referring to the guys who were 62 and abovenot taking the leave.

Well said.

kinda thought you were going to say 3rd wife for a second

Ask the Delta guys how that worked for them post 9/11.

Everyone I knew regretted taking it.

Lots of positive assumptions there. If we don’t see a rebound those figures are way off. APA will be forced to lower the hours and company will lower MMAX. Both those happen which is likely no way you make 100k more. Absolutely no way. Math doesn’t work out. Think we’re back to normal in a year? 2-3? Probably more like 5+. Seems like a gamble to be working and open yourself and your family to a greater risk over pennies. However we never claimed pilots to be smart with financial decisions. Their egos get in the way 9 times out of 10.

That is the big question, when. I read yesterday that the US railroads carried the highest amount of passenger miles in 1920. That's only two years after the end of WW1 and less than two years after the end of the Spanish flu. Lots of unknown here.

link

Vploa
 

I would like to see AA open up VPLOA to those 55+. Keep the terms the same (3 year deal), but allow anyone over 55 to take it.