kwri10s

Just have to say that sending that FCIF was either a clever way to try to entice guys to take MIL leave or just plain inept. Why send me an email telling me you will approve a liberal policy, but then not publish the liberal policy. All O said was a repeat of the current policy. You can have 90 days but then it's up to the CP. If you really wanted someone to take a look at a PLOA he should have given a blanket two year approval in the FCIF. Why anyone would take a PLOA since they would be giving up years of service for retirement is a mystery to me any way.

I guess I could see the between the lines mil request making sense, sort of. Maybe they can't come out and recommend guys take mil leave to help out the fellows, so advertising PLOA hoping we understood that to mean ALL leaves kind of makes sense. But he should have just come right out and said "if you have the opportunity to take a long tour mil leave, we would be appreciative. In fact, it would help us out so much we will not cancel your credit card, will not cancel your shipping discount, won't remove you from on-line VIPs access, won't remove you from CASS, won't make it completely unpleasant to jumpseat on FDX, or any of the other pi$$ant things that happen when you take long tour mil leave."

If they really wanted some of the young guys to take some long mil leave, come right out and say that they will approve MIL leave for guys that get ART jobs. Now that might fix the 200 overage all by it's lonesome. Young guys can go get a higher paying ART gig, and keep their FDX seniority and get mil leave credit for retirement. Other airlines allow this so why not throw it out for consideration?

LivingInMEM

I think it is clear to everyone else that is what I was talking about - but you had to be Mr Correct on this one, didn't you. To qoute the contract "the Company will make a one-time cash payment of restricted signing bonus to the VEBA equal to $25,000. Wow, look, it said VEBA!

Laughing_Jakal

It was not clear to me..... In the vernacular, especially used by the MEC, VEBA was used to describe one aspect of the program, and HCRA was the other.

Perhaps I ought to re-evaluate my critical reading skills....you are in-fact an informed individual, yet when I first read your post, I thought you were a moron. My fault entirely.

kronan

Mil leave is for mil jobs. There is no USERRA protection for an ART position. And, while I certainly don't know the answer for every airline, I do know that AA will not approve mil leave for an ART position. Doesn't mean that the CP can't approve a PLOA for a dude heading to an ART slot, but, it's an entirely different ball of wax.

Guys on ML still get a B fund contribution as if they had worked a full month.

kwri10s

Not exactly correct. While the ART job itself might not qualify, the military duty you do while an ART does qualify. USERRA does not require you to be on continuous military duty in order to be on military leave. USERRA is only concerned with re-employment rights. If the company would guarantee you that they were fine with you taking continuous mil leave while you are performing the mil duties required by the ART position then they are in essence letting you take mil leave for an ART job. The point was that there are ways to entice guys to take leaves of absence but PLOA was the dumbest way to go about starting the process.

Knots2you

This is not the first time there has been an economic crisis that the company has had to deal with. I have seen several in the past here, and Fedex has always weathered the storm quite nicely. Never been a furlough in 35 years. I don't recall every having a reduction in BLG. And there is a reason for this, and it's called the volunteer/draft system. At least that is what whey explained to us in B.I. way back when. I have heard numbers in the past that we operate at 15% to 20% undermanned, and compensate for that shortfall with the volunteer system. It allows the system to be flexible and go with the flow of constantly changing economic conditions. The flights always get manned properly with the willing pilots who wish to make some extra money on their off days. The worst I have seen is the times when we are all flying a basic schedule, with no overtime. And those times didn't last very long either.

I keep looking for a reason for all the doom and gloom rhetoric lately. Why is this time any different from the other downturns in the ecomomy. The only visible variable in the equation, this time, is the need for the company to properly man the HKG FDA, and it looks like the only way to get a pilot (f/o, in this case), to go there, is to put a gun to his head and force him to go, or else face some serious backsliding, excess to the panel, or furlough.

I can only wonder, if, just before the last bid closed, the numbers were showing unfilled HKG slots still? Hmmmmm? Maybe time to cancel the bid, and put out more suggestions and subtle hints, about BLG reduction and furlough. Then bid again and see if more take the bait. Any bets on how fast things improve when those pesky unfilled seats get taken?

Of course, it's beyond me why they can't fill those seats. The LOA is SUCH a good deal! But that's another thread........film at 11

USMCFDX

Really? Seems pretty smart to me, what does this cost the company? That's right not a single penny.

Now my opinion on how many take it? Probably less than ten.

MX727

A handful have taken it already. They knew it wasn't going to be huge, but as USMCFDX points out, it's easy and free.

We'll probably know about what else is being considered after next Tuesday.

koz2000

What's next Tuesday?

Busboy

That's the day after next Monday and before next Wednesday....But, that's not important right now.