American to furlough as many as 175 pilots
 

... who said the economic crisis is over!

ATW Daily News

Nobody I know.

What is being said is that the trend is upward, not down as before. There's a long way to go to full recovery yet.

Are they not in negotiations ?

Yeah, American is still in negotiations and will be for the foreseeable future.

But this furlough is not just due the recent fourth quarter loss, but possibly in response to an American Eagle arbitration judgment.

Recently an arbitrator decided that when American recalled furloughed TWA pilots (in 2007), that American Eagle pilots with AA seniority numbers should have been moved up first. His justification? TWA pilots who had been furloughed before attending American integration training were "new-hires" and therefore triggered American Eagle flow-ups to American. Never mind that the TWA pilots in question had started employment with TWA in 1988.

The announced furlough will re-furlough TWA pilots up to the AA staple point - April 1989 hires - of which I am included.

My tale of woe: Hired by TWA 1989, MD80 Captain in 2000, TWA bought by American in 2001, furloughed 2003, recalled 2008 and possibly re-furloughed 2010.:ok:

Another contributing factor is the lack of retirements at American. The Age 65 retirement change has slowed down retirements dramatically. That coupled with the stock market decrease has kept AA pilots from retiring.

And since American never went through bankruptcy, the "A" and "B" plans are still intact and American never saw the massive retirements that UA, DL, NW, and CO had when everyone who could, took their lump-sum distributions and retired.

So last I heard, American had over 300 Age 60 + pilots still flying, with over 70 of them in the St. Louis domicile alone. These former TWA pilots are trying to recover from the looting of our original retirement fund by corporate raider - Carl Icahn.

Back to job hunting!

Anybody need a MD80 F/O with B747/757/767 type ratings?

Didn't think so.

Qatar Airways, emirates, etihad, gulf air, fly dubai, jazeera, saudi arabian.

Thanks! Those are great suggestions. I appreciate it.:ok:

Dave

Sorry to hear it Dave. A number of our xTWA guys took the AA recall. Others are still waiting. All really good guys.

DDdave,


Sorry to hear that and wish you the best of luck , with your experience you should find a slot, especially if you are willing to live elsewhere.

AA is shooting themselves in the foot...again.
I normally position to the middle east once a month, and 'usually' it was AA thru ORD to several European destinations.
Opps...greatly reduced flights...now my business goes to DL/AF/LH.
Business class.

What a sorry excuse for an industry we are all in.

Good luck to all who are facing uncertain times, again.

yes ... what's going on? It seems all the Major are not able to build revenues?

United merges with Continental
 

That's what I've heard ... and do you think there wont be more furlough?:}

It's hard to escape the conclusion that there are too many airline seats chasing too few passengers.

On the other hand, I commute overseas once a month and every flight, EVERY flight, is full.

Load factors
 

Actually last message from American showed our highest load factor ever - over 80%.

The problem is the yields, with business cutting back, business class passengers are few and far between. So the US airlines tack on baggage fees, fuel surcharges, etc., to make up for the loss of revenue.

But the flights are full.

Dave

Effectiveness & Efficiency
 

It looks like in the attempt to chase passengers the Major forgot how to make money! And the low cost policy seems a winning strategy! Interesting, really interesting especially for pilots looking for a job!:ugh:

yeah, big loss! it's all smoke & mirrors. :yuk:

...Yet AMR finished the year with $1.3 Billion more in its pockets and 300 Million less in debt.

How can you pay down your house, have more money; and tell me you LOST money??

accounting tricks of the rich and famous.....

Whether or not the arbitrator forces the flow thru AE pilots immediately is unknown... the furloughs are the typical hostages/pawns in our contract negotiations.

KC135777

Good news! If the airline is considering furloughs then the industry is about to boom. The always get it 180 degrees wrong so be prepared for pilot shortages very soon.

All the flights I fly on are full too. But still the managers cry "Yields" and claim to be making no profit. Well that means their yield-management is lacking. They aren't doing their jobs properly. Bring back Jaun Trippe!

The problem with yield management in a downturn is it doesn't really work if your competitors don't play ball too.

They may be paper loses, but eventually you have to pay for those paper loses. Layoffs in this industry is why I spent my off time working on my MA/Phd.

BS