When will the furloughs stop?

Since I started at my airline the following regionals have furloughed (in no particular order):

Air Wisconsin

Horizon

American Eagle

Expressjet

Republic

ASA

Comair

Trans-States

PSA

Mesa

and soon to be Mesaba.

Very long list when just two years ago they were ALL hiring like gangbusters. The only major regional not to furlough is Skywest (although rumors are all around that they will...and it will be big).

ASA just announced more furloughs today. One of my friends from ATP is among the most recent furloughs. I feel bad for him. The furloughs at ASA now go back to November 2007 hire dates. I was hired by my airline just one month prior....barely.

I really thought we had reached the bottom. Guess not. I know my airline is hurting since furloughing. Daily there have been few if any reserve pilots available. Today there are ZERO Captains available for me to fly with today or tomorrow. The Captain sitting airport standby with me was called out 2 hours into our shift. Word from scheduling is there hasn't been a day since the furlough that they haven't had to junior man or extend a pilot. Junior manning is best defined here. Extending happens when a pilot holding a line is given another turn at the end of his assigned schedule. The extension could be just a turn or an overnight. If they happen to have the next day off they are paid junior man pay for that day. Sounds great, but what if they had an important dinner with the family or had planned to attend their 7 year old's play?

I hope things improve soon. Although I loathe sitting airport standby, I am happy to have a job. I have one friend that has been furloughed twice in the course of her career that started in early 2008. Ouch.

Something died via my windshield last week. Whatever it was died before I sat down...honest. It was that way before we even left the gate! Yep. I think. Hmmmm.....

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