They didn’t in DFW

Seems like if they’re going to offer furlough mitigation leave of more than 1 month, they’d need to offer them soon. That could at least save a few jobs!

Although i wish that that could save some jobs, I find a very big and simple fallacy. Extendend VILs bring ZERO saving when compared to short term (less than 12 months) furloughs. By letting you take a 3,6,12 months VIL or getting furloughed less than 12, the only EXTRA training NK would have to provide would be for landing currency. If they can choose to get you that landing currency sim after 6 months by paying you 50 hours or zero hours I am pretty sure they would take the latter...

bingo - single fleet type costs nothing to furlough.....key point

Except a furlough would be guys on first year pay. Where VIL you’d attract a lot of guys and gals on the higher pay rates. For example one captain taking a 50 hr VIL is the same savings (maybe more) as completely furloughing a first year guy.

It’s only a number to them.... Remember who we’re dealing with here; a management group who insisted during negotiations that they didn’t want to pay us to do nothing....

Thats a good point, but probably a very hard math for you and I to figure out. Even for them because they would not certainly know how many of the senior guys would take them, except based on the historical data of these last months.
anyways crossing fingers here

Two reasons:

1. The current VILs are month to month. It’s only enough time to take a break from work. SWA is offering up to five years I think. If a VIL of something longer than a couple months comes out it gets people to really think about long term life decisions like starting a business without going to zero income and healthcare, or going back to school, or living in an RV for a year and showing your kids the country’s natural wonders. Something that could completely change the the person they become.

2. For those happy with the month to month VIL they took some time off perhaps already and based on July the company had kind of telegraphed that things were coming back so by the time the deadline for August VILs happened they probably figured the break was enough and time to get back to work. Now that path seems a bit more rocky so those folks may be more likely to bid VIL again especially since fall is typically the slowest period of the year anyway. Not to mention school being in question in many states.

An ALV reduction is probably a little easier to calculate. Furloughing the bottom 500 on the list and downgrading 250 captains until summer 2021 would save the company about $40 million. Dropping the ALV to the minimum guarantee would save the company about the same amount without all the WARN requirements and training churn this coming Spring.

I don’t see the company offering any (or many) long term VIL lines. The only reason they are right now is because they took the Cares money so they can’t furlough. Once that restriction is lifted it’s more cost effective to furlough.