Furloughed, how does it work?

[katbuad]

Okay, I'm going to show my newby, never been here done that, lack of knowledge.

How does furloughing work? How is it addressed to emplyoees? Does it come in the mail? Email? Something else? Does the company/union make any kind of payments to the employee, ie insurance or other? Is the furloughed employee elgibable for unemployment, cobra? After they are furloughed, can they go fly for someone else and not lose their place in line on a recall? Someone else being flight school, independent flight instructor, or another airline. Durning furlough are they expected to, in some way, keep in touch with the company/union? When recall happens, how is it addressed to the employee, phone call, email, letter? Do they go back with their senority and/or years of service still attached? Do they have to be retrained? What if they haven't flown, at all, since they were furloughed? Is it up the employee to bring the ratings back to current or does the company make sure they have what they need? Are they expected to stay current on their equipment? (I have no idea how anyone could expect that. We don't just have jets sitting around for rent at the local airport.)

Hubby and I have talked about some of this. But he has never been furloughed, so he doesn't really know some of it either. Anything anybody can think of also that might be informative would be greatly appreciated. I know I asked a lot of questions, but I am sure that I didn't get them all!

[roz]

Good questions. Some are general and some are company specific.

The method of delivery varies by company--usually, there is a letter even if the news was delivered verbally. Sometimes the union asks those remaining to chip in to cover COBRA payments for those who are furloughed. That's an individual initiative. Furloughed staff are eligible for unemployment benefits and COBRA. Depending on the state and county, there may be money for retraining programs.

Keeping in touch while out is company specific. Some unions set up a special site for those who are furloughed as they no longer have access to the active employee site. But some don't.

Recall is also done by letter even if there are verbal notices. You never lose your seniority number while on furlough. But the contract dictates whether or not you continue to accrue seniority. When DH was furloughed after 9/11, he did. But not every contract calls for that.

When they get recalled they have to go back to training--that is the company's responsibility.

In terms of employment elsewhere, some companies make you resign your seniority number at the company that furloughed you. Others don't care. I've also heard of companies that furloughed pilots tossing the resignation letters so that pilots actually could accept recall (despite the fact that the company that hired them while on furlough required that they resign from their former employer).

It's good to know where you stand--so it's great to be asking questions!

[katbuad]

Thanks Roz, apperciate the information.

Got one more question, though I can already guess the answer. . .does the employee or family get to keep any of the flight benefits?

[roz]

Again, that depends on the company. When DH was furloughed they got to keep them to the end of the year.

[amelia]

I don't know how it is for everyone, but this is how it worked for my DH back in 2005.

My DH had heard rumors about it first. Then about a week later, he found out for sure about his furlough through a press release. Then, a few days later, he got some company memo about it. I don't remember how soon after he memo he got the offical letter. We still have it and it was addressed Dec 24th...nice. But we got it in Jan sometime I think. But, he said it was a mistake that he found out he was getting furloughed through the press release. He was supposed to get some company memo first (not the offical letter though). When he found out about the furlough, he was told his furlough date was for March 1...which was 2 months down the road. Then about a week before that...they pushed it back to March 15.

He was elegable for unemployment and Cobra. But, I did cobra through my job since I had to leave my job so we could move.

His company let the pilots take vacation before they got furloughed, or else they would pay out the vacation time after the furlough. DH decided he wanted the money, so he worked up until his furlough so he could get his vacation time paid out to him. But, his best friend left 2 weeks early and was on vacation the last 2 weeks before his furlough date. As for his insurance, he lost it after he got furloughed. But, we had his flight benefits for about 2 or 3 months after he got furloughed. Besides the money for vacation and the time he flew, he got no other money....that I can remember. But, while he was furloughed, his old company was still paying into his 401K. Kinda crazy we though.

My DH went to Skywest after his furlough. He had to sign a piece of paper saying he gave up his recall rights....but not all airlines make you do that. DH was told by a friend that his old airline was just throwing away those pieces of paper. So, my DH was still in line to be recalled. He actually did get recalled too. He was notified about it through a letter. It was about 3 months after he got furloughed...but he didn't take it.

From what I understand about being recalled, he would have gone back with his 4years still under his belt. He said that if he got recalled now (if the company was still in business) he would go back as an 8th year FO (this is the 4 years he was there and then the 3+ years since his furlough). But this was just his old airline....he said all airline are different and may not do it the same way. His old airline recalled pilots back from most Sr. on down. On the first round of recalls you could either take it or leave it. If you didn't take it, you could get recalled again later. The second time through the recall list, you had to take the recall or you could pass it up basically not longer be with the company. I'm pretty sure once they came back to the company they had to be retrained. To what extent...I don't know.

I'm not sure if my DH was expected to keep in touch with his union/company. I know he kept them updated on our phone #'s and address.

Those are all the questions I can answer. If your DH has any other questions, feel free to have him PM me and I'll have my DH answer them. As I said, every company is different, but my DH can give him some sort of insight of what he went through/learned from when he was furloughed a little over 3 years ago.

[Mrs.Alchemist]

Originally Posted by katbuad

Thanks Roz, apperciate the information.

Got one more question, though I can already guess the answer. . .does the employee or family get to keep any of the flight benefits?

In our case, no...

My Hubby just got furloughed from TSA, and they said that we keep the flight benefits with TSA only for 60 days... Thank you very much, TSA doesn't fly west of Denver, so it's completely useless to us!

[pilot j's wife]

As another avaition family newly furloughed, this thread is quite helpful.

I wonder about our flight benefits too - guess we should plan a trip real soon!!