acl65pilot

My guess is that this will go to arbitration and they will be out.

Guess we will all find out after the JPWA ratification window closes.

slowplay

Is there a new application window, or will only the original 115 be allowed to participate?

Gone is good, for both sides...

Superpilot92

should be a new window and anyone not allowed should be able to reapply. 51 people this round are gone by the end of the month.

sailingfun

Perhaps a senior NWA pilot can comment on why only 115 applied for the program. We have been hearing over and over again that a huge number were ready to leave. It seems like there would have been a lot more applications. Does NWA offer a lump sum on their retirement? If no then what are the advantages of staying if you planned on leaving in the next year or so?

newKnow

I'm not that senior, but keep in mind that thoase who were eligible had to decide -- in a matter of weeks -- if they were going to have their last flight sometime in August. Combine that with the factors like:

1. A lot of those guys have a couple of thousand hours of sick time.
2. Almost all have 15 hours of negative bank to fly back. (Not sure if the PERP dealt with that)
3. PERP is a rolling offer that will be extended every month, at least until the end of the year.

I would probably wait, too.

More telling about the PERP awards is that they gave none to -400 or 330 captains, which tells me that they are anticipating being short in those positions in the near term. Ie. new staffing requirements.

New K Now

Carl Spackler

First of all, they offered no PERPS to 747-400 or A330 Captains. That was a surprise. Second is the huge hit in early retirement medical coverage. If you leave early, family coverage costs $1,900 per month. I definitely think that unwelcome surprise has made some folks pause.

There is no lump sum offer for our retirement. The only lump sum is the 5 months of pay for PERPing out.

I still believe a lot of folks will want to PERP out, but that medical coverage cost really needs to change. We ought to be incentivising senior folks to leave, not punishing them for leaving.

Carl

DAL4EVER

Welcome to the new world of working through retirement. This is no different than the plight regarding medical benefits faced by non-airline soon to be retirees like my parents. While I agree it should be less, as a younger pilot in my upper 30s who has subsidized the senior pilots for 12 years I don't feel like paying anymore through reduced wages so they can have lower health care. The fact is that if you're retiring, the kids have left the house and you enjoyed the most lucrative career seen by airline pilots. You are going out with a pension, a paid for house, and years of making top dollar that should have been invested.

It should be no surprise that health care costs have risen. $1900 for a family seems incredibly high to me but is that for a family of five or you and your wife? However, what is a realistic amount? $500/month. If so, that's $1400 per pilot per month that will need to come from somewhere. I would rather put that in my pocket so I can save for a retirement funded by me or pay off a house, or simply make back the 50% paycut taken over the past three years.

sailingfun

The A330/747-400 issue is probably the result of the new work rules. There will have to be a lot more Captains on the 400 and some additional on the 330 if the rumors are true about the 330 picking up some of the ER over 12 flying.

acl65pilot

Not all of it. Some of it. Most of the 330's do not have the range needed if they carry full payload.
From the boys over on VA. Ave they will see a lot of South America, Western Europe and a few other places, but there is a place for the ER for some time to come.

Superpilot92

Combine that with the fact that the company probably feels alot of those guys on the 330 and 400 will retire on their own and not have to pay them the 5 months pay. Those guys are the more senior and typically the older guys that have alot of incentives to leave prior to DCC even without the PERP.

My guess is we see more guys put their papers in early next month. Via the PERP Q&A there were a number of guys that said they were leaving even if they didnt get the perp. One of the popular questions was when should i submit so i get my paperwork in before DCC. We'll see.