The F word

An Alaska Airlines Executive VP has dropped the strong hint that coupled with capacity reductions for the fall schedule and for '09 that personnel reductions will be necessary and that no department or employee group will be immune. Apparently starting with a 5% percent reduction in Management starting on September 1st (how will we ever survive without them?).

Whether this is a negotiating ploy waits to be determined. The pilot contract has been open since the spring of last year and talks recently have gone nowhere as big ticket items (pay, retirement, medical, scope protections, etc.) are still in play with both sides far apart. The NMB has recently assigned a mediator to facilitate further discussions.

Our contract has several provisions to help spread out the flying to try and stave off furloughs, and discussions must be made on this specific issue. The last time furlough notices arrived to those affected was just in time for Christmas (back in the early 90's) - that was a negotiating ploy (do you think any of those guys have a lot of love or loyalty for the Company?).

The Company however remains in total control of their operation - from which routes they fly (or don't), what airplanes they order (or park), where staff is based (or closed), who gets hired, and when they need to scale back (including furloughs).

It'll cost the Company a lot of money to furlough since many folks need to be retrained for their new positions (Junior Captains downgrading to FO's, forced moves that the Company must pay, etc.) and it takes time.

It might also be more cost effective to offer an incentive for senior pilots to retire early as they make the most money, take the most vacation days, and are the ones who're generally out on sick leave most often. The Junior FO's who may be furloughed are a relative bargain and it'd be wise to try to retain them if at all possible.

So the decision to furlough is not to be taken lightly, as it is generally not for the short term. Let's hope that the right decisions are made by those competent enough to fully understand the consequences.