Ok, before everybody gets all up in arms about this, let's get a few things straight:
Lynx OPERATIONS shutting down does not mean the pilots are gone.
This may be another airline getting shut down and yes, it's an airline that was bought by RAH, but it does not, in any way, parallel the Midwest pilots situation.
Everybody follow me so far? No? Read above again until you understand and are calm, then continue:
The only thing the two pilot groups have in common is their certificate and aircraft will be gone. There were no Lynx furloughs on the date of acquisition, so the active Lynx pilots on the date of acquisition are considered active pilots in the integration process. The Midwest pilots lost their entire certificate before the finalization of integration, so they have nothing to fly UNTIL finalization. A sad situation, yes. A reflection of the entire industry and where it's headed? I don't know, I just see this as the worst of the industry right now. Moving along...the integration will be complete in May, so the Lynx pilots should have an integrated seniority number by the end of May.
Got it up to this point? Now comes the part that nobody wants to hear, but really should be the part that everybody should be complaining about if they insist on complaining:
If any particular Lynx pilot has not gotten their integrated seniority number and actively trained in their new position when their position at Lynx goes away by Spring through Labor day, they will be furloughed to a position on the furlough list that is above those pilots who were furloughed BEFORE the date of airline acquisition.
You see, there are two lists in an integration. There are "active" pilots and there are "furloughed" pilots. Both lists get shuffled in an integration but are never shuffled together. All the while, they can be recalled to a position that they can hold at any time, in order of seniority. What they can be recalled to is dependent completely on what their current seniority number is.
For example, I was furloughed from RAH (Chautauqua) in September 2008, before any of the acquisitions. I was about 65 from recall. Before the integration is complete, I can only be recalled to RAH and RAH can only recall pilots on this list (unless a letter of agreement is reached that RAH can recall other pilots- which has not happened). If I don't get recalled by the completion of integration, I will be recalled with the rest of the pilots (Midwest, Frontier and Lynx) who were furloughed before acquisition. I could be much farther down the list, in other words. Every pre-acquisition furloughee will likely get stapled. So, anybody furloughed AFTER acquisition will obtain a seniority number HIGHER than the other furloughs. Now if I get called back before the integration is complete, I will still get "stapled" seniority-wise. The effects of that will be seen as other furloughs get called back to a higher company seniority than me. What this means to the Lynx pilots is they will be called back before any pre-acquisition furlough.
I want to clarify that typically, there isn't a "dump and flush" at the completion of an integration. For example, the fact that I will be stapled as a furlough will not lead to me being furloughed again just because my integration seniority is not high enough to be active.
I hope I sufficiently explained that and some of you now know what you should actually be mad about.
