I wonder if such a situation may entice those who are retirement eligible, and social security eligible, to look closely at how much marginal income they are actually making by continuing to plumb.

At 48 credit hrs a month, even at max scale SO wages, I can't imagine that many "high 5" averages are really growing.

...but don't forget the additional 2% multiplier for each year--- yes!!... but how much is one giving up in retirement and SS?

What's the marginal benefit for continuing to work nights/sit 15 days of reserve for those past 60/65?

It's clearly much less at 48 hrs vs 68 hrs.

...and the life expectancy clock is still ticking away (...shhh, quiet, you can hear it --- it actually gets louder)

If the SO Avg BLGs fall that low, perhaps it's an "early retirement incentive" in disguise.

Your scenario depends on living in domicile. If you don't, you're choices are to be severely underemployed or to quit and get another job. Definitely between a rock and a hard place.

BTW, good luck with home construction, McDonalds, or anything else this time around.

PIPE

But at only 48hrs a month it will take 14 months to burn up that 686hr sick bank. Throw in 5 weeks of vacation (5 more months without working) and then you earn more sick time and vacation for the extra years you stick around so you have to stay longer to burn that up. All this with only turning a wheel when you feel like it.

Wouldn't you do all this for the opportunity to spend time with your buds and get free travel anywhere you want to go?

990, what I was trying to say, and I guess I worded it poorly, is that in this situation, (maybe my opinion only, I've got no idea what others really feel), we should think of our seniority list as being horizontal rather than vertical.
In unity,
fbh

I'm with FBH and I am loosing my left seat but will do it if that mean that everyone keeps there job!

FBH, good to talk to you again.

None of this is setting up for a "sharing of the pain". Once the manning is "right", the BLG's will go up -- all except for the obvious one - 27S. At that point, all "sharing" will cease. Per ALPA policy, all concern for the hostages will cease at that point as well, because the top 90%+ will feel the thumbscrews loosen.

Yeah, a small percentage are sharing through the loss of a seat that they held "out of seniority" as well (I'm one of those), but it's a drop in the bucket. I expect the MEC will get pretty quiet after this excess is final. The only battle left will be furlough prevention, and try as I might, I don't see our leverage. We will have lost on 4.a.2.b, FDA LOA, retirement incentives, 777 pay, etc. The final HKG slots will be filled by offering guys at the bottom a choice between HKG and MCD (McDonalds) as their domicile of choice.

Game, set, match.

All I can say is that I hope memories don't get short between now and Oct 2010. Just remember -- they've done whatever they darn well pleased throughout this whole goatrope.

PIPE

At any other airline a $100 million quarterly profit would be applauded. No other airline (other than UPS) would even dare to utter any of this stuff under their breath after a $100 million dollar quarter -- but we're getting rolled like a drunk street bum. We gotta wake up guys.

PIPE

Read todays NC E Mail. I must say strong stance on our part.

P.S. I now know why DW bid the 777.

I agree.
fbh

Pipe, sad to say, but I agree with your assessment. The whole thing stinks!
fbh