They were shipping STL captains out to RIC to sit hotel reserve 'cause of the downgrades, but all the MIA flying is done out of the st. louis base...

don't forget a divorce!!!!

I know the upcoming ALPA outing was probably planned way out in advance, and is appreciated, but pretty ironic it fell on this week.

ALPA: You just got furloughed, what are you going to do now?

Furloughed guy: "I'm Fuggin going to Six Flags, Btch! WOOoo"


God bless, you guys.

THAT"S FUNNY!!!!:D

For the 45 gettig furloughed, what is the DOH range- is it people hired in the last couple months or a year? Just wondering

Im sure it has already been said but Comair is hiring 50 pilots a month right now. We would love to have any TSA furloughed guys(or any TSA guys for that matter) come over. Send me a PM and I will gladly forward your resume to our HR staff.

Will they be required to show up with a backpack, IPOD, and spiked hair?

Funny thing is i I saw this the other day........ on an A320 captain :rolleyes: ps he had cool raybans too

I believe it was from January/February class of this year was the most senior guys so only a couple of months.

West Coast based Q400 guy.

You forgot "been divorced" on your Airline Pilot Checklist

Once was enough.....

Guys are getting juniored and they furlough. that is how you celebrate your 25th aniversary. classic

25 years of Excellence.

I really hope you guys aren't on the streets too long, it could be a blessing in disguise. I left a decent seniority number in January and haven't looked back.

wow, furlough notice by phone?!? TSA is really turning into the likes of a bad gf..... at least in 2006 they had the decency to do it in person......Bah.....still sucks for you guys.....

As others have said though, most (me included) from the 2006 group went on to MUCH greener pastures. This could be a good thing in disguise. Keep your head up, find some options and good luck.

And as for the numbers, I heard in 2006 there were 60 of us overall affected, and I think it was 10 or less that went back. Half of my TSA class and the class before me ended up at XJT. TSA will likely be hiring again by September/October ...... Mark my words.

What is leading to these furloughs? Are you guys parking planes or something? And not to open a can of worms here, but isn't the MIA flying additional flying for you guys? Where will they get the staffing?

No, I don't think MIA is much additional. I believe its only a few round trips a day, and we've had some stl stuff reduced. And why are we furloughing??? Who knows...I guess they've been junioring quite a bit the last few weeks. Makes sense huh?

The most senior guy furloughed was a January hire. I'm kinda stuck because I commute from ONT and am still low time. I gave thought to getting a normal job to pay off debt and riding it out until I get the call. Unless Colgan on the Q is a possibility.

I was one of the 45 called yesterday. They're saying this furlough might take up to a year. Already been talking to my classmates and others in later classes, pretty much everybody is not planning on coming back if this lasts more than a few months. Oddly enough some are happy about the furloughs because they got the multi time needed for Skywest. I think Skywest will be pretty competitive the next few months if it isn't already.

the mia is a little more but I thought there was supposed to be more united flying over the summer also. many are saying it is because of contract negotioations also

Well, it took longer than I expected...

That's really too bad. best of luck to you all.

Best of luck, hope you all recover quickly.

We are already canceling flights due to lack of crew (CAs). I wonder how bad it will be in July. $5 says this comes back to bite us.

their such morons! i'm a downgraded captain flying in the right seat. day two of my four day, my captain gets pulled off our pairing for a "re-route" to richmond because we are short on captain. they cancel the flight we were supposed to do. do you know how frustrating that is? i know the union can't say or advertise not to pick up open time, but we need to send these idiots a message. i really hope for the sake of the whole pilot group that nobody picks up open time. of course this will lead to lots of JAing, but atleast then they'll have to pay us premium. this is ridiculous.

Yes, CAs, FOs don't pickup open time.

Open time? We have open time? Thats odd... ever since i heard an announcement of downgrades, my memory has been slipping, and i can't seem to recall how to open FLICA and pick any of it up...oh shucks, i guess i'll just let scheduling do as they wish to me...let them build me an efficient schedule, as opposed to building one myself.

it's funny how as a negotiating tactic, the company can furlough and downgrade, but the pilot group can't slow down and not pick up open time because that's illegal.

YAY RLA!!!!

Not illegal according to RLA, unless TSA in contract talks. If in talks, no one (including company) are allowed to change "status quo".

we've been in contract talks for about 2 years already.

let's just say we have negative reserve coverage in Richmond and we downgraded 11 captains in each domicile

You can not be forced to pick up VOLUNTARY overtime. It does not matter what the statistical staus quo was, or is. You are free to obtain a side job instead of working open time, or your financial situation may have changed and you no longer need to work as much open time.

Guys, fly the contract. Nothing more, nothing less.

You'd think they learned their lesson in 2006. Apparently two years is a little too long for these morons.

Hope it bites 'em where it hurts...

The RLA problem comes in when the union organizes an effort to not perform voluntary overtime. Individuals can do as they please, but the collective bargaining unit can't organize an effort against the status quo.

I'll have to remember that when I get the f-call. :D

Open time? You're kidding me. Hell, most of the time I don't even get to fly what's on my schedule..

Agreed to a point. The union can not "ORGANIZE" a JOB ACTION. That being said, there is nothing that says a union can not email, snail mail, or communicate with their members reminding them that open time is volutary. This in fact happens fairly often.

The company knows that when push comes to shove, if it ever ended up in front of a judge, the primary issues are such that the company can not win. But, they can make the union spend a ton of money defending against a claim.

Not entirely correct...

In the past, unions have been held legally liable for ANY "job action"...whether it is a strike, slowdown, sick-out, work-to-rules, etc. APA ended up owing AA managemnet millions over something like this :eek:

Basically, any change in established labor behavior which negatively impacts manegement and can be shown to have been organized in any fashion, by anyone, will be blamed on the union.

Basically the union is held responsible for not only not instigating illegal actions, but also for PREVENTING them.

A union could get off the hook if it can show that it did not instigate the action, and tried to stop it (by warning members). But it is almost guilty until proven innocent in these cases because it is assumed that it DOES control it's members actions in any labor context.

This is why unions are generally down on unofficial actions.

Now if everbody just decides not to pick up open time, that's great as long as the company can't dig up an email campaign, or other organizing effort. Even a posting on APC or FI would count as organization.

This is your United States Railway Labor Act in action...

Umm, what airline were we talking 'bout again? I can think of three in the same situation.