That's my question too bro. I think it should be DOH through 12/21/12. In our case that would be 5 years. We may be on furlough, but for a lot of other things we are still considered employed because we have a SN#. That may not do anything for longevity but I think it should be considered towards years of service.

Maybe this will help some of you furloughed guys:

Q. Who may be eligible for the voluntary Early-Out Program?

A. The voluntary Early-Out Program is available to scale (Crew Schedulers, Crew scheduling
Coordinators, Avionic Technicians, Dispatchers and Lead Dispatchers) and contract
employees (IAM, ALPA, IBT). Eligible employees who are active, on furlough or government
(military) leave must have at least five (5) years of continuous service (from the most recent
date of hire) as of December 31, 2012.
Eligible employees currently on an approved leave of absence (excluding government leave
and furlough) who were on an active status on or after January 1, 2011 may be eligible to
participate.
Merit-eligible employees (non-contract, non-scale) are not eligible for this program, with the

exception of Maintenance Inspectors.

Q. I don’t know my EPIC login or password, what do I need to do?

A. Contact the IT Service Center at 1.866.906.3960 or via email at [email protected].

Thanks to MP, got the answer. Completed years of service is DOH through date of separation (buyout). So for guys hired in 2007, it will be 8-10 weeks of pay depending on separation date.

The flight benefits are: yield fare S3CR

For the life of me, I can't figure how management signed off on a windfall to furloughs who would never be on property again anyway.

Not to get anyone's hopes up, but perhaps the "gloom and doom" isn't quite so gloomy and doomy over the long run?

The eligibility list shows everyone through employee number 29413 (with just a couple of exceptions) eligible.

The travel bennies last for a period of time equal to your YOS. It's yield fare s3cr, but it is on ALL DCI carriers as well as mainline. No Buddy passes, no confirmed for less fares or zed fares.

Why would they do it?

-finite end to your travel benefits
-if they ever do rehire, everyone will be at first yr pay vs 5+ yr pay
-if a merger, no baggage of xxx # of furloughed pilots to deal with

as well as numerous other reasons...all not good for those that stay...

Enjoy your windfall.

And thank your union!

My question is, why wouldn't we take it? Ive been on furlough since 2008 as well and am eligible for the early out. Are there any advantages to not taking the early out? The only advantage I see for not taking it is flight benefits.

‪The Best of Ben Jabituya / Short Circuit‬‏ - YouTube

Watch 1:40 through 1:53. Pretty much sums up your options.

Lose one year of flight passes S3CR, but gain it back, plus 4 years at yield rate (1/2 of buddy pass fare) at same S3CR. CR=Constant Rejection - So basically Farmer Ted's goat herd gets on board before you anyway. It's a windfall.

Unless...Delta is doing with Comair what NWA did with Mesaba. Then, we'd be giving them carte blanche to hire at first year pay after the giant a** whoopin' ceases.

Part of me wonders if Delta actually wants to hang on to one wholly owned subsidiary and this is all to do with contract negotiations and the upcoming impact from new time/duty limitations.

I'm speculating 100%. Working elsewhere and am VERY out of touch with what is really going on at Shrinkair.

how does a year of service equate to half of the max of 20 weeks payout?

Because it is calculated from your DOH until the physical buyout date sometime next year. For the 55 folks who are furloughed and eligible, that will equal 4-5 years of service... even if most of it was on furlough. It's a huge win.... and I'm taking it!

My only remaining question deals with sick time and vacation. I just looked myself up and I see about 115hrs sick time and about 110hrs of vacation. I'm pretty sure most of that has accrued while on furlough (but I don't really know), how will that be handled?... It shows I have it, so I guess we'll get paid for it.