That's a given. I would expect the company to try to find ways to avoid recalling furloughed pilots until 2016.

What bothers me is seeing the Union cooperating with those plans.

I take it you are a new hire. I'm a retired ABX pilot and was furloughed. First I'll say that with your attitude you'll be a prime candidate for chief pilot at ABX. Second is that calling the very people that helped get you the contract that you have, immature is pretty unbelievable and I'm wondering if you may have reservations about letting people know that side of you. Seniority is one of the few things pilots, furloughed or not can hang their hat on. Setting precedents on getting around that is a slippery slope for any Union to juggle. I hope you never have the frustration of being furloughed. Trust me, for some people it's a lot more frustrating than you have of maybe losing 6-10 slots in seniority. I truly loved working at ABX and we use to weed out guys like you and make them sleep out in the parking lot for an attitude check Unfortunately I'm sure we've stopped that practice. I'd ask you to apologize to wetpish but if you can't think of that without me asking, it would be futile. Fly safe .

Once again false information. The last call indicated no agreements
on contract pilots and a previous call said it was being looked at
only to schedule in recall classes for a very short transition. 90-
120 days? The union is negotiating and advancing ideas that will generate recalls. Retirements and the MOU come to mind.
I know everyone wants as many people who want to return to
Have that opportunity.

Actually, no, I am not a new hire. My date of hire places me in the category of being part of what Wetpish has termed “the senior greed contingent” although my only crime is that I was hired more than 20 years ago. Look, I really do sympathize with everyone who has had the misfortune to have been furloughed from this company. I know that with only a few exceptions, everyone hired on when we were Airborne Express and the prospects of a long career with a great company seemed assured. I can certainly understand the frustration and even bitterness when everything went south. Although no comparison with the hardships of being laid off, I have watched my career stagnate over the last few years as we went from massive hiring to no growth and finally to drastic shrinkage. Most of the circumstances causing this were external and were not even considered when all but a few of us were hired. I blame a lot of things for that but, and especially now, I do not blame the ABX EXCO. Despite what you think, they are not actively working against the return of the furloughed pilots. On the contrary, over the past few years they have put forth and your senior greed contingent has accepted measures to try to keep as many members as possible employed. These have included pay cuts, reduction in vacation and increase in work days to name a few. The early retirement package was put out for the same reason, to try to save jobs. I think they have done an outstanding job in keeping the number of active pilots we have. Which leads me to the beef with Wetpish’s comments. I do not begrudge him voting no on any union proposal. This is a democracy and we all have the right to vote as we wish. But to make the statement that his choices to vote will be based on what he thinks is worse for the senior pilot group strikes me as being petulant and nonprofessional and frankly offends me. I really am sorry for the circumstances that put Wetpish and everyone else affected by the furloughs in their individual situation. I wish it were otherwise. But stop accusing the senior pilot group from being the axis of evil. Most of us are on your side.

"But stop accusing the senior pilot group from being the axis of evil. Most of us are on your side."

I think that is a slight exaggeration, I remember senior and other guys bidding "open flying" as if there was no tomorrow with guys still on the street. A coordinated effort (of course not officially sanctioned by the union), but done anyway, could have just could have saved a few guys on the bottom.

Regarding the “contract pilot scheme:”

ABX currently has about 30 planes, plus or minus. Their business model is to use about half of those planes for long-term contracts with DHL, which provide stability, but thin profit margins. The other half of the fleet is used for short-term or ad hoc agreements which pay high profit margins, but are characterized by high volatility.

The short-term or ad hoc customers are willing to a premium price for the flexibility they need. In order to supply the aircraft and crew for the short-term agreements, ABX must have adequate planes, spare parts, mechanics, managers and pilots. They already have the planes. To ensure they have adequate pilots, the company managers and planners need to make sure they have enough pilots. The ideal situation for Hete and company would be to have a pool of temporary pilots who could be called in when Hete needs them and sent home during the slower periods. Fortunately, the union contract prohibits Hete from hiring “temp pilots.”

So now, Hete and the ABX EXCO have come up with this plan to offer early retirements to senior pilots with an option to come back as “contract pilots.” It’s a wonderful deal for Rick Z’s buddies who would get to take early retirement but still get to work when they want to. In government they call it “double dipping.”

The problem I have with it is that it could permit ABX to forego recalls that would otherwise be required.

The Union will say they are doing this to try to bring furloughed pilots back to work. That is absurd! They will sell it a “transition” plan that will allow the company to react to opportunities quickly and secure new work. That is absurd! The only entities that will benefit are Hete and his stockholders and the double dippers (who might include Rick Z.).

Every time ABX has a temporary surge in pilot need, they will just say “we are trying to get a new contract and need to react quickly to secure the job so we need to hire contract pilots.” If the “contract pilot” option is not available, the company will have to establish a staffing level that will allow them the flexibility to pursue their high profit margin, short-term deals.

If I have any opportunity to vote on anything that involves allowing “contract pilots,” I will definitely vote NO.

+1 All we've gotten from this Union is lip service and not even much of that. I don't know what MOU he's talking about but it must not have done any good. I'll still vote NO for anything that the greedy betrayers wants. What do I have to lose at this point?

I've moved on to a much better life than ABX. I would have accepted the $10,000 seniority buyout now if the Union hadn't renigged on their promise to only allow the buyout if it was offered to furloughed pilots as well. All my seniority number means to me now is the opportunity to vote on contract proposals for a little more than a year. really don't care about the $10,000 but I hate what the current leadership has done to the ABX pilot group.

I will vote NO for any bogus crap this EXCO tries to peddle unless it involves REAL efforts to represent ALL pilots on the seniority list.

You don't know about the MOU ???? Now I know your not a ABX
Pilot or based on your past posts you have an entirely different
agenda that is designed to stir the pot for your own entertainment.

Good Day gentlemen or ladies

I will vote NO as well, unless I get the 10 Grand everyone else seems to be getting. Yes, in this case my vote is up for sale, and please don't call me a lady.