Ha, we have a long way to go! I hope our entire class comes back, including the guy who invented the "rubber band" and i also hear he invented "salsa" ... awesome...

 

Legal ramifications?

You're joking right?

You have as good of a chance of winning a lawsuit because you bypass and are terminated as I do of ever getting recalled.

 

2/24/08. you were in that last class ya?

 

I'm serious! I'm an airline pilot. My pay, QOL of life etc is affected by seniority. I was laid off and found a job which I had to sign a contract to achieve. Now Comair calls me back and I have to break a contract to go to Comair. What? Was I not supposed to work and just wait for Comair to hopefully recall me? Now they say they need me and I say wait 8 months. I asked for a voluntary before an involuntary but the JFK chief at the time says no, that cost me one job. Now come back and break a contract or don't come back and get fired thus possibly costing me 35 years of pay at the profession I have chosen. Comair laid me off and now they might fire me because I won't break a contract. I'd be really interested to see how the left wing state of NY and a sneaky Manhattan law firm would handle this. I'm not sure what the laws are but it sounds like I/we might have a case. I'll start sniffing around the issue as I'm really interested in if the law is on our side on this. Remember when the company tried to take our pilot shop balance out of our paycheck? Someone in the KY gov. got that straightened out right quick. Too bad our management is so mean spirited as to deliberately try and screw us. Way to motivate the team guys. And hey ALPA, a little help here...I've already written you guys once on this last year, no response. The only person that even speaks to us furloughed guys is Perrizo. BTW, thanks for everything you've done for us Mike, all of us appreciate your help. Seriously, man. Thanks.

 

Sorry about your dilemma, but I think you have zero recourse.

Comair didn't force you to sign a contract with a new company, that was your choice.

 

Sorry to hear that
How far down the furlough list are you?

 

4Runner, let me give my piece of mind.
First of all, I'm reluctant to give "legal" advice to anyone who's only had 3 posts in here. Please don't take it personally.
Second, the furlough section in the contract is very specific.
Third and last, anything -again anything- is this country is debatable, litigable, and never set on stone, specially if you have on your side the "left wing state of NY and a sneaky Manhattan law firm". Just remember this, Comair/Delta can afford a much, much "sneakier Manhattan law firm" than you ever will.
Hope this helps and have a good day.

 

Correct for involuntary furloughs.

Partially correct for voluntary furloughs.

Voluntary furloughs cannot be forced to return to the circus Comair has become over the last five or six years, for any reason, for one year from date of furlough. In other words, if Delta woke up next week and decided they wanted to increase the amount of flying Comair was doing by enough to warrant recalling all presently furloughed pilots, voluntary furloughs would still have the option to say "no thanks" without recourse until September 1 of this year.

After September 1, voluntary furloughs still have the ability to say "no thanks" unlimited times (for four more years) until every pilot junior to them has been recalled. They also continue to accrue longevity while enjoying the option to develop other, more rewarding, uses for their time.

Congratulations to all who get the letter, and want to return. Hopefully this recall lasts longer than the annual summer increase in flying and you won't find yourself furloughed again in the fall.

For those wishing for a voluntary bypass option, keep in mind that the last round of furloughs recalled didn't need significant retraining before returning to the line. As a result, the company, with a pressing need for more pilots due to lack of ability to plan, was not willing to potentially see half of their available "current and qualified" furloughed pilots bypass recall. Had that occurred, they'd have been forced to dip into the January 2009 furloughs, who would have been more expensive to retrain.

This latest recall will likely consist of a large number of furloughs from more than a year ago. As a result, the company may be more willing to allow recall bypasses. On the other hand, Management at Comair has a well documented history of doing things out of spite, so this may be reason enough to expect them to refuse bypass opportunities again.

Keep in mind we're dealing with a Management who won't even honor the agreement they said would make us "competitive" during bankruptcy. Their definition of "competitive" must include shrinking to half of pre-bankruptcy size.

 

...you forgot the wheel, pencil, turbine engine, ketchup and the little plactic thingys on the end of shoe-laces. (Been very busy with Health care reform, I hear...)

I think Comic-Air will keep us short staffed until contract openers and then use staffing as a weapon. More stick than carrot...Just my opinion

 

You won't give me "legal" advice? I wasn't asking you for legal advice. You guys are just laying down and accepting an unacceptable status quo with this "well, the company says...or that's the rules". Whatever, I thought this was a strong, united, don't take s@#t pilot group that had the cajones to go on strike for what's right. NY state has been giving me unemployment assistance because Comair furloughed me. Now, this same company will fire me because I can't show up when they snap their fingers??? What I'm saying is that I'm going to look into what our rights are as employees. This isn't right if the company does this. We've been talking about this for over a year. Let's figure this out!