Can airline pilots take a sabbatical?

thehobbit

thehobbit

Well-Known Member
Say you've spent the last 7 to 10 years flying at an airline and you are burnt out, can you leave for six months to a year and still keep your job?
 
Typically, yes! However, there could be certain stipulations on how you do it. All of which should be covered in the CBA.

Some examples are, but not all inclusive:
  • Do you accrue longevity?
  • Do you maintain your medical benefits?
  • What about travel benefits?
  • When must you return before being terminated?
  • etc......


I'm sure there are others on here who might have a more complete answer. But the short and sweet is, yes....leaves of absence do exist.
 
At some you can after so many years, but generally is subject to approval, staffing levels, etc.. At most airlines I believe the correct term for sabbatical is furlough.
 
Actually, a sabbatical would probably be a Leave Of Absence rather than a furlough. Furloughs don't typically have a scheduled end date.

We have wording in our contract for them but it is based on staffing levels so it probably would never be approved.
 
I'm on one now. It was made available thanks to a letter of aggreement between the airline and union but it still required specific approval (i.e. not just anyone could get it) and it was only made available for a very small time (3 months). As a rule of thumb, I would say you have to be at the right place at the right time to get one approved.
 
MikeD said:
So, if I need you for some C-123 or some UH-1 "contract" flying, you'd be able to work something out with your employer?
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Because I don't really know who flies for who around here, would regional pilots be able to take these sabbatical's?
 
t-cart said:
Because I don't really know who flies for who around here, would regional pilots be able to take these sabbatical's?
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A lot of regionals offer unpaid leaves of absences, but based on staffing needs. If the airline is furloughing, you can probably also get an unpaid leave. At expressjet the company must offer voluntary unpaid leaves before furloughing.
 
Are there guys who take these often? And if they do, do they do other flying on their VLOA or is that verboten?
 
ppragman said:
Are there guys who take these often? And if they do, do they do other flying on their VLOA or is that verboten?
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When PCL was offering them, you got the okay to do outside flying. You just had to keep PCL informed so if/when you came back, they could keep an eye on your 1000 hours for the year. To my knowledge, there haven't been any new VLOAs granted since about Sept or Oct. I've been getting scheduled trips up to three days in advance on my reserve days, broke guarantee last month, likely will break it this month, and I've been up against 30/7 since about mid-December. Feb looks like we're getting an additional 1400 block hours (MSP down, DTW and MEM up. DTW is WAY up, and so it "Other," which includes LGA and ATL for the -200). Don't think the VLOAs are gonna be offered any time soon around here.

Now, you CAN take personal leave, but that is gonna come down to the individual airline's CBA and how leave is handled. Different airlines handle longevity and seniority vastly different while on leave because of this. I know here, it takes an act of Congress to get a personal leave approved.
 
ppragman said:
Are there guys who take these often? And if they do, do they do other flying on their VLOA or is that verboten?
Click to expand...

We had about 100 guys at SkyWest take advantage in 2009. Some went back to school, some did some other flying, others traveled the world. I was hoping to be in a financial position to take the year off myself, but alas I had yet another joyful year of commuting to reserve.

Maybe during the next downturn ;)
 
We have the ability to take leaves.

It is a very painless process here. My entire FMLA set up took an email, a call from the CP about 5-10 minutes later. Done.

Compare that to the previous place, where I'm not sure if it would have been easier to wrestle a bunch of alligators or get the leave.
 
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