Coming Back

[dogpile]

I am hearing so many conflicting stories – I wanted to get your opinion.

I am a pilot, hired in December of 1985, and have been military leave for 3 years. Although I have a great job in the military, it too has its disadvantages. It does not compare to what I remember at the airline. Keep in mind that I went out when things were quite bad – ‘2002.

Anyway, I am up for a re-up for another 3-years. What is it like out there?

I guess my question is -- what would you do?

Thanks

Dog

 

[BoeingBoy]

It's certainly not my place to tell you what you should do, but just some thoughts.....

One thing you can say for the military - you can pretty well plan on what the next 10 or more years will hold as far as advancement, pay, etc, goes. Depending on what you fly, you may be able to plan on going to some "undisclosed locations" where you may be shot at during the course of those next 10 or so years. Presumably you're half-way or more to a 20 year retirement (and with little likihood that the retirement will be handed over to the PBGC during bankruptcy). And you can probably plan on flying less the longer you stay in the military.

If you come back, the pay will be roughly 1/3 less than when you left (nearly 1/2 less if you were here for the final two months of "parity plus 1%). The pension will be a lot less than you were expecting when you left. You'll be at work more hours to get your time in - a lot more in those months that the pay cap is 90 or 95 hours and they flex it another 5 hours on top of that. If you'll be on reserve, plan on being basically an "indentured servant".

Of course, as the contracts (HP & US) are merged some things may improve. Right now, though, there's no way of knowing what might change for the better or what (perish the thought) might change for the worse.

Likewise for merging the seniority lists. Right now there's no way of knowing where you'll be on the combined list, what fences will be erected, etc.

About the only concrete thing I can offer is to look up what you could hold on the latest bid. Drop me a PM with your particulars and I'll be glad to do that. Of course, it could change on the next bid.

If there's anyone around your hire date that you can talk to, they'll be able to provide more specific info. But drop me a line and I'll do what I can.

Jim

 

[smorzando]

I am hearing so many conflicting stories – I wanted to get your opinion.

I am a pilot, hired in December of 1985, and have been military leave for 3 years. Although I have a great job in the military, it too has its disadvantages. It does not compare to what I remember at the airline. Keep in mind that I went out when things were quite bad – ‘2002.

Anyway, I am up for a re-up for another 3-years. What is it like out there?

I guess my question is -- what would you do?

Thanks

Dog

With all due respect I would make sure you are not suffering a mild form of depression causing your thought process to cloud up. Unless you read or heard nothing of the airline industry since you left it, the decision is a no brainier. The government is just a little more stable than some young CEO with dollar signs between his ears making his decisions which adversity affect many.

Where will you be 10 years from now staying where you are versus going back to insanity where wages, benefits and pensions are corporate America’s to do with whatever they want thanks to a twisted court system paid off by corporate America.