Just to describe two examples of guys who are laid off (furloughed): One of our former FOs was a passenger today, enroute to Carswell AFB, via DFW. Luckily, he was already with the Marine Reserves (KC-130) before he lost his job. He just came back from Iraq-his reserve squadron was sent there for at least a month (he got to visit some of Saddam's mass graves...). But he receives a full-time paycheck and flies fairly often. And so, regarding a decent paycheck and flying currency on multi-engine turbine planes, he is one of the luckier ones. Don't forget that he could be sent back to Iraq (Afghanistan?).
A laid-off (original) American pilot stayed in our hotel last night. He has a job with a company which integrates (wide LAN?)simulator training between various military bases around the US for 'combat scenarios'. But I don't know about his salary.
These guys are some of the luckier ones who I've run into.........they have no idea when they could be recalled to work, but it could take years for many of them. We are talking about at least several thousand pilots who were current in multi-turbine equipment, all of whom had from a few thousand hours to maybe 13,000-16,000 hours in various turbofans (MD-80/A-320 thru B-757 etc). Type ratings sometimes mean little when you are in your 50s and must stay in the US to look for work without outside job experience.
Do people from overseas even comprehend the terrible situation here?
In stark contrast, FEDEX and Southwest have never furloughed pilots.