Furloughees Standby for Letter From Capt. Hogg

In the mail today received 1 page letter from Capt. Hogg about possible recalls in the near future. Unfortunately it came attached to 3 pages of information about a J4J "opportunity" at Republic. 7 captains and 4 F/Os at a Republic class on Nov 6th. The letter also included payrates ($57.39/hr for C/O, $35.90 for F/O - 75 hr guarantee), benefits, training pay (none for first 30 days), hotels (double occupancy in training), 2 year $15000 training contract (waived if recalled to USAir),etc. The letter also came with an updated J4J preference sheet (no longer included Midway airlines).

The interesting part of Hogg's letter was the following statement:

"...we will be sending letters to pilots in a seniority range that could possibly be eligible for recall. This notification letter will ask you of your intention to accept recall on either a Group II aircraft of the EMB190 aircraft. Once we have determined which pilots have expressed a desire to return to active status at US Airways, those pilots recalled will receive a recall package and training class assignment."

I see. Standby to standby for a letter.

If a pilot does not return this first letter (and therefore makes no preference) what will they do? The deadline for the Republic class, by the way, is midnight on Oct 17th.

As usual, the silence from the furlough administrator is deafening.
 
I got my letter today. I read it three times. I'm still not sure what it meant or what they wanted from me. The way I read it all it said was 'we might recall you, we might not'. They spent .63 cents plus the cost of producing this letter to say nothing.
 
Well, it IS the most info many of us have gotten in a long time. I think it just says they'll keep doing the same thing, sending out batches of "prepare to be offered recall soon" letters, after which you may be offered recall. Sounds like maybe they're gonna make the "prepare" letter more like a preference form to be returned? What if we don't want the initial offer but will consider one at a future point when we'd have a bit of seniority upon return? Is that possible still?
 
I'm still waiting to hear from pilot furloughees on this question:

After all these years, after all the crap you've taken from the company, after all the crap you've taken from your fellow ALPA members, after watching this train wreck of a company, and furthermore after receiving a letter like this:

Why in the world would any of you even consider coming back to this company?

Can anyone out there fill me in on your thought process?

pilot
 
I'm still waiting to hear from pilot furloughees on this question:

After all these years, after all the crap you've taken from the company, after all the crap you've taken from your fellow ALPA members, after watching this train wreck of a company, and furthermore after receiving a letter like this:

Why in the world would any of you even consider coming back to this company?

Can anyone out there fill me in on your thought process?

pilot


I need a job.
 
I need a job.

Before anyone bags on him, he is only doing what self interest dictates. People will complain about, "how will things ever get better when people are lining up to come back to these conditions?"

It's a good question but there is no answer or action on the horizon because ALPA is a screwed up union and buries it's head in the sand. It's biggest purpose is to keep the gravy train going. It's only redeeming value is in its Aeromedical work or Safety and those could easily be spun off into a non for profit at a fraction of the cost. As a collective bargaing agency, it's day is done. When times are really good, it will beg for scraps but when times are bad it will be dog eat dog. In this industry the famine always seams to be worse and last longer than the feast.


The only solution is a nantional seniority list. It would act as instrument to protect the group from the self interest of the individdual. That idea is what a union is all about, and in the airline industry which is highly comppetitive, it is the only thing to keep pilots from being their own worst enemy. Unfortunately their have always been the elephants and the ants and the haves and have nots. The Elpehants and Haves, have never been willing to give anything up to the ants and have nots and that myopic poin of view has been fostered by ALPA leadership and because of it everyone has suffered.

It's a sad situation because bad leadership has led to apathy and apathy keeps sending up people who are in it for themsleves instead of the profession. It's now a circular problem and unless there is a groundswell for change, the cycle will just keep repeating itself.
 
I need a job.

There are plenty of "jobs" out there man. You come back here and you are setting yourself up for more heartache and crap.

And when I say "jobs" I'm not talking about flying airplanes. Do yourself a huge favor and put this piece of crap company and union out of your mind. Move on to either a different flying job or something outside of flying.

LCC ain't worth it pal.

pilot
 
pilot,

Well for some of us the consideration is pretty much monetary. I will consider giving up my wonderful regional airline FO job for a very similar position QOL-wise with LCC because I will bank much more money over the course of the next 21 years (I expect 26 actually). I will make more money each payday and LCC provides a significantly increased contribution to my retirment vs. my current aviation job. I would rather stay at my current job to increase my QOL by avoiding a commute, but otherwise the work rules, trips, RONs, etc are probably extremely similar.

Despite what you may think not all of us have been able to find other jobs that are really that much better. I have searched for non-flying and corporate/charter flying positions. No luck finding anything worth pursing based on my needs/wants in a position. The flying jobs I've really wanted have not materialized. And, for personal reasons, I have chosen positions based almost solely on my short-term QOL and with the knowledge that I have a backup plan in recall to U. I'd just as soon not return, but my current situation may not allow me to retire, or put my kids through college, where a flying job with LCC actually would.

I am curious too, do you (still?)fly for LCC? If so, why? There is really not much difference between your decision to stay and ours to consider coming back. If not, good for you I guess. I'm open to specific suggestions on lucrative careers!
 
pilot,

Well for some of us the consideration is pretty much monetary. I will consider giving up my wonderful regional airline FO job for a very similar position QOL-wise with LCC because I will bank much more money over the course of the next 21 years (I expect 26 actually). I will make more money each payday and LCC provides a significantly increased contribution to my retirment vs. my current aviation job. I would rather stay at my current job to increase my QOL by avoiding a commute, but otherwise the work rules, trips, RONs, etc are probably extremely similar.

Despite what you may think not all of us have been able to find other jobs that are really that much better. I have searched for non-flying and corporate/charter flying positions. No luck finding anything worth pursing based on my needs/wants in a position. The flying jobs I've really wanted have not materialized. And, for personal reasons, I have chosen positions based almost solely on my short-term QOL and with the knowledge that I have a backup plan in recall to U. I'd just as soon not return, but my current situation may not allow me to retire, or put my kids through college, where a flying job with LCC actually would.

I am curious too, do you (still?)fly for LCC? If so, why? There is really not much difference between your decision to stay and ours to consider coming back. If not, good for you I guess. I'm open to specific suggestions on lucrative careers!


Options:

SWA
ALA
Fedex
UPS
JB
Cont

All hiring!!
 
Two careers. One at LCC with a sen # north of 100. That's why I don't quit.

Other career self made business (real estate stuff) started when BNF went belly up in 1982.

I'm telin ya to look outside aviation. With the intelligence and smarts it takes to fly the jets there are plenty of opportunities out there if you are willing to suck it up for a few years. Examples:

Auto sales: Start selling then eventually managing the dealership.

Franchises: Find the money (it's not impossible) and build the business into multi unit conglomerate.

Entreprenuership: Sevice businesses are all the rage. No on wants to do anything themselves anymore. Window cleaning, landscaping, you name it. Start the businesss, hire kids to do the work, built the clientele, hook up with builders, apartments, etc..... Get to work.

What I hear from most pilots is this: "Flying is all I know how to do." What they are truly saying is "Flying is all I want to do and I'll do it for less than I can make doing something outside of flying. See above examples.

Bottom line: If you love flying and don't want to work doing something else then by all means come back to LCC. But be advised you are going to be in for another screwing at the hands of your fellow pilots and company.

Pilot
 
Entreprenuership: Sevice businesses are all the rage. No on wants to do anything themselves anymore. Window cleaning, landscaping, you name it. Start the businesss, hire kids to do the work, built the clientele, hook up with builders, apartments, etc..... Get to work.

Pilot,

That's the path I took. It has been the best move I ever made. I have no intention of going back. I do like to keep up with what is going on still. Now if I were being recalled to your position on the seniority list I would have to give some serious thought to returning but I can promise that even then I would hire someone to keep my business going just in case. There are just to many pilots out there that either think that is all they can do or are willing to accept shameful wages and working conditions just so they can fly shiny jets.
 
That's my point. One reason (among many) our pay and work rules have gone to hell is because flying is such a big deal to so many folks. And they CHOOSE not to do other things. So be it. I make more money outside of flying simply because I was and continue to be willing to work my butt off. That's also why I was able to vote no, actually hell no, for all the givebacks and such.

Others chose not to prepare for when the morons ran us into the ground (does 320pilot ring a bell) and capitulated to mgt. to save their jobs. Fine. That's what they felt they had to do.

But you don't have to come back to LCC. I'm tellin you nothing here has changed. The management is still incompentent. The pilots (ALPA) are still screwing each other and the juniority is taking the brunt of the crap.

But not everyone has the same work ethic or self confidence as others. And some just think flying is the cats meow. If so, welcome back. Be ready for some more of what you had before you left. Including more furloughs if the need arises.

pilot