UAL contract question - LTD
 

Can a UAL guy please help me out? I'm a CAL guy who just got offered a furlough recall and I have a few questions.

One of my options is to take a 3 year furlough leave of absence (FLA), which lets me maintain seniority, but not accrue longevity. More importantly, it appears that our current POS contract doesn't permit us to maintain any long term disability (LTD) coverage while on FLA. I've heard that it's next to impossible to get reinstated into LTD once your coverage expires for any reason.

Does UAL's current contract address this? Are your furlough bypass folks eligible to get re-instated into LTD upon returning to work?

Thanks,
Justin

I'm not UAL or CAL, but I don't know of any airline that provides disability coverage to pilots on a leave of absence. Having said that, when those pilots return, presuming they come back with their first class medical, they generally automatically regain eligibility so that they would be covered should a future disability occur.

I remember looking this up when I returned from furlough the first time and found LTD was re-instated with all of the other benefits.

Not sure if a bypass would change anything. We may be talking apples and oranges with contracts and policies, nor am I a R&I expert, just giving you a quick answer from my own experience.



KC

I don't expect to receive any coverage while I'm gone, but it would be nice to know whether or not I'll be eligible to get reinstated once I return. My understanding is that the only possible way I can maintain LTD is if I either accept my recall now, or take no more than 2 years of military leave and pay both my premiums and the company's premiums for the 2 year period.

I've heard nightmares about people trying to get reinstated and having to go through some crazy proof of eligibility process in which the insurer ultimately claims that you're un-insurable because you had a head cold 5 years ago and statistics show that people who had a head cold are 0.000000000000000001% more likely to die from pneumonia when they're 103 years old.

I can only speak for how it works at DAL: Come back active, you're eligible. Period. I suspect UAL is very similar.

Hello Justin,

Just out of curiosity; did they give you a training date for the recall and what number are you on the list of recalls?

Just trying to get a picture of where they are on the list of recalls. Thanks.

J.....

I have heard the same thing that you are eluding to as far as letting your LTD lapse, then coming back to work/resurrecting it.

I have heard two different pilots talk about doing that between furloughs following the 9/11 wave. Both of them got it back, but it was far from simple to do. They were scrutinized heavily in the re-application process.....and it was not fun as they expressed.

I guess LTD coverage is that LAST thing you want to let lapse in the insurance arena....if you have, rest assured there are pilots who got it back, but it was an arduous task to say the least as they expressed.

Good luck brother.