Best of luck to all who will be hurt in this furlough. To the downgrades, I feel your pain. Even the cargo haulers are realigning (mgt word for: downgrading) many pilots.

 

Does TSA allow you to keep your seniority while working at a different airline? Or when you get hired you have to take yourself out of the "waiting list"?

 

I believe you keep your seniority, but some airlines like skywest want you to give up your seniority from another airline once you get hired by them.

 

I dont know if Skywest does that actually. I was on a United jumpseat one day and the FO was furloughed after 9/11 and spent a few years at Skywest waiting to come back. May be a different policy now though.

 

the best part is no one in scheduling thinks that we'll have enough fo's or ca's to cover everything next month.

 

I really hope that nobody is picking up open time...

 

That's absolutely incorrect. SkyWest allows you to keep it. I know this because I actually work for them.

 

An airline cannot "FORCE" you to give up anything at another company. They have NO business interfering with your relationship with your other company and cannot force the other company to DENY you your seniority rights.

Besides, the company you are leaving can choose to ignore any "resignation" letter that a new outfit tells you to send. They are not bound by any obligation to your new employer.

Your best bet is to talk to your present employer and get confirmation (preferably in writing) about what your rights are if and when you want to come back. This agreement is NONE of your new employer's business and they are not entitled to interfere with such an agreement between you and your old boss. DON'T let them tell you otherwise.

 

This is generally correct, and I'm with you 100% philosophically, however...

There is no federal law that I am aware of (unless the recent integration bill had language to this effect), so you might end up are relying on the courts.

In the past it was common for a hiring airline to require that you sign a letter giving up your seniority from the furlough airline...the hiring airline would then mail the letter for you

Some mainline folks sued someone and won, which set a precedent so that fewer airlines will try to do that now. But a few might still require it, because it doesn't cost them anything. The lawsuit in question was against the furlough airline (which ended up taking the pilots back), not the hiring airline. The point of law was that the resignation had been under duress, and was not valid.

What is fair and right is one thing, but if you actually resign your seniority at a furlough airline you might need a lawyer to get it back. Something to keep in mind.

 

This is correct. Also, in a union shop ANY organizing effort will be assumed to be the union's responsibility whether the union or a rogue group of pilots actually did it...they actually have an obligation to stop illegal actions. Otherwise the courts will nail them (AA vs APA).