AerisArmis

An interesting question was asked the other day. The Co. shows 6 active 727s by May 2013. I'm not sure how many over 65 S/Os there are but there has to be 3 dozen or so (just a guess) and more going in the training letter. So how in the heck does the company manage the drawdown? If they only need 25 or 30, do they tell all the S/Os over that number to retire or take an unpaid leave of absence? What if later, some guy who would be in the top 5 decides he wants to take a 727 S/O slot, does he bump someone off the back? Or, do they just carry any and all till they retire the 727 all at once. FedEx has always provided the pilots reaching the mandatory retirement age an opportunity to go to the panel. I'm not sure they will tell someone "no" when there is a S/O junior to him on the seniority list occupying a slot. But then again, $$$ seems to trump everything these days. Just curious, no dog in the fight. If it's mentioned in the contract, I couldn't find it.

Busboy

Seems like a good question.

CBA:


Sec. 24.E.6. A pilot who has a legal restriction that prohibits him from flying in his current crew status shall be accommodated in another crew status, if any, from which he is not legally restricted consistent with his seniority and standing bid.

and

Sec. 2 Definitions 25. CREW STATUS

A specific crew seat, in a specific aircraft type (e.g., Captain A-300; First Officer MD-11).

Doesn't say anything about a seat being available.

Nitefrater

Dunno, but this is one cat fight I'd pay to watch.
Pass the popcorn, please.

JethroFDX

Might be something like this:

Star Wars - Old Men Lightsaber Duel - YouTube

AerisArmis

So if the guy can hold the seat and the company doesn't want to over man it.....they just have a one man excess bid from the 727 S/O to make space? Sounds reasonable.....unless you're the dude getting excessed.

Busboy

Found it.

CBA 23.A.2.c. A restricted pilot who cannot move to or be accommodated as a second officer from another crew position because his relative seniority is less than the current population of second officers or there are no second officer crew seats, shall be offered the opportunity to retire as provided in the Agreement. Following a pilot's rejection of the offer, the pilot shall be released from employment as provided in Section 22.B.1., and shall not be considered as having been furloughed in cases where the only crew status the pilot can occupy is second officer.

AerisArmis

Great work Bus! So, If you can hold it, you get it, even if that means the junior guy gets bumped off the back. If you can't hold it, you can roll the bones and not retire in the hope that a slot will become available before your wife strangles you for months of no paycheck? That about it?

Jetjok

The way I interpret the above, if someone whose turning 65 elects to go to the back seat of the 727, unless they are very junior to begin with, they will be accommodated, with no other crew movements, such as displacements, etc. To me that means that the S/O list will just continue to get longer, as the oldsters transition to the back seat. I could be wrong, in which case, someone please feel free (I know you will) to correct my misconceptions.

AA: where do you get your logic from? As well, didn't you read Busboy's post, especially the part that said: "Following a pilot's rejection of the offer, the pilot shall be released from employment as provided in Section 22.B.1., and shall not be considered as having been furloughed in cases where the only crew status the pilot can occupy is second officer.", because if you did, you'd realize that "released from employment", means just that; that you no longer have a job.

JJ

MaxKts

aren't those the result of using a condom?

AerisArmis

When the retirement age was 60, several pilots took a leave of absence vice retiring in the hope that the regulation would change. It did and they came back. LT who is #7 on the seniority list and is now a 727 S/O did that as well as MM, the subject of an interesting one hour documentary I've watched. They were both "released from employment" and not furloughed, but had the ability to come back because the didn't retire. If they offered it to guys turning 60, I would think they would be available to guys turning 65. I'm probably wrong, but that's my logic.