Airlines Not Hurt By Increased Reserve Pilot Call-Ups
Thursday January 27, 5:08 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) --The U.S. military has helped airlines more than it has hurt them by calling up reserve pilots since the Sept. 11 attacks, industry and Pentagon officials say. Increased use of reserve pilots - many of whom fly in their civilian lives as well - has created scheduling headaches and the occasional personnel crunch for the airlines. But the call-ups provide extra training and work for furloughed pilots. The military also takes up slack by chartering flights to transport troops and supplies.
Vice Adm. John Cotton, Chief of Navy Reserve, said the Pentagon is actively looking for ways to lessen the strain on employers whose workers get mobilized. For example, the service has started to consider regional impact so that areas aren't hit disproportionately, he said in an interview this week.
For instance, Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) scrambled after about two dozen pilots were mobilized from a unit near its Phoenix hub, Cotton said. Also, a Texas hospital chain was recently hit hard when a large group of nurses were called up at once.
"What we have to do is work with business on when is the best time for these people to go," said Cotton, a pilot with both military and civilian flight experience. He is currently on a leave of absence from American Airlines, part of AMR Corp. (AMR).
Airlines get a big boost from the Pentagon via the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which uses civilian jets to supplement military airlift. International flights this year are expected to cost $1.9 billion. In January, the fleet will move 83,000 troops, up from 40,000 in the same month a year ago. Air Mobility Command spokesman Mark Voorhis said the increase stems from this month's Iraqi elections, as well as troop rotations and a program that sends deployed personnel on short visits home.
Hard data on pilot call-ups are hard to come by. The reserves only recently began systematically compiling civilian occupation data. Even when such data is available, it is usually incomplete because so many pilots fly reserve missions on their days off instead of a wholescale shift to military duty.
The Air Force currently has 186 pilots mobilized, said Air Force Reserve spokeswoman Col. Audrey Bahler. But that number doesn't include the contributions of part-time reservists, who perform the majority of reserve duties. "We count on most of our missions being flown by volunteers," Bahler said. " They'll go fly their mission and then they'll go back and do their civilian jobs, and then in a couple of weeks they'll volunteer to fly another mission."
Delta Air Lines (DAL) says military needs haven't bitten into its bottom line. Only a few hundred of its pilots and mechanics are active in the reserves, even though many more have military experience, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black. "We haven't seen any kind of an operational impact from the temporary loss of the employees," Black said. "We do everything we can to work with them."
Delta has about 8,100 pilots total. Right now, about 900 are on the furlough list, Black said. Advocates for reservists say the military could do more to draw from furlough lists instead of actively employed pilots.
For example, "if there's another F-16 driver that's in a squadron that's been furloughed somewhere, just substitute that pilot," said Ret. Maj. Gen. Bobby Hollingsworth, a retired U.S. Marine Corps pilot who now leads the Defense Department's committee on Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. Hollingsworth said the Defense Department and the airlines have worked together to minimize the industry's burden.
One small change with a big impact was a switch to mid-month mobilization. Previously, the military announced call-ups at the top of the month, the same time that the airlines finalized their schedule.
Also, airlines can save money if the Navy or Air Force gives more notice for when mobilized pilots will return to civilian life and need to renew their civilian flight qualifications. That way airlines won't have to start paying pilots to sit around waiting for a training slot, Hollingsworth said. "The earlier notice that their services can give them as to when they're coming back, the quicker they can get them into their training schedule," he said.
Vice Adm. Cotton says the Pentagon needs to accept that reserve personnel will make family and employer their top two priorities. Military service comes third, despite a sincere commitment to the armed forces.
Call-ups that last 45 days or less are much easier for employers to work around, he said. Also, the military should look at ways to improve health benefits for mobilized service members' families, who may not live near a military hospital but need government-funded health insurance while their spouse or parent is deployed. Paying the private sector to continue benefits may make sense in these cases, he said. "It also would probably save the government some money."
Cotton warned that the Pentagon's need for reserves hasn't slackened, as combat operations continue in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other missions, like tsunami relief, arise. Many Navy reservists have not yet been tapped, but they're not off the hook.
.... "Be ready. You're going to get called," Cotton said.
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NOTE: I AM NOT A SPOKESMAN FOR ANY AIRLINE NOR ALPA ... ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN AND ANY POSTS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES ARE ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR ORIGINAL AUTHORS ... A4s
Thursday January 27, 5:08 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) --The U.S. military has helped airlines more than it has hurt them by calling up reserve pilots since the Sept. 11 attacks, industry and Pentagon officials say. Increased use of reserve pilots - many of whom fly in their civilian lives as well - has created scheduling headaches and the occasional personnel crunch for the airlines. But the call-ups provide extra training and work for furloughed pilots. The military also takes up slack by chartering flights to transport troops and supplies.
Vice Adm. John Cotton, Chief of Navy Reserve, said the Pentagon is actively looking for ways to lessen the strain on employers whose workers get mobilized. For example, the service has started to consider regional impact so that areas aren't hit disproportionately, he said in an interview this week.
For instance, Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) scrambled after about two dozen pilots were mobilized from a unit near its Phoenix hub, Cotton said. Also, a Texas hospital chain was recently hit hard when a large group of nurses were called up at once.
"What we have to do is work with business on when is the best time for these people to go," said Cotton, a pilot with both military and civilian flight experience. He is currently on a leave of absence from American Airlines, part of AMR Corp. (AMR).
Airlines get a big boost from the Pentagon via the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which uses civilian jets to supplement military airlift. International flights this year are expected to cost $1.9 billion. In January, the fleet will move 83,000 troops, up from 40,000 in the same month a year ago. Air Mobility Command spokesman Mark Voorhis said the increase stems from this month's Iraqi elections, as well as troop rotations and a program that sends deployed personnel on short visits home.
Hard data on pilot call-ups are hard to come by. The reserves only recently began systematically compiling civilian occupation data. Even when such data is available, it is usually incomplete because so many pilots fly reserve missions on their days off instead of a wholescale shift to military duty.
The Air Force currently has 186 pilots mobilized, said Air Force Reserve spokeswoman Col. Audrey Bahler. But that number doesn't include the contributions of part-time reservists, who perform the majority of reserve duties. "We count on most of our missions being flown by volunteers," Bahler said. " They'll go fly their mission and then they'll go back and do their civilian jobs, and then in a couple of weeks they'll volunteer to fly another mission."
Delta Air Lines (DAL) says military needs haven't bitten into its bottom line. Only a few hundred of its pilots and mechanics are active in the reserves, even though many more have military experience, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black. "We haven't seen any kind of an operational impact from the temporary loss of the employees," Black said. "We do everything we can to work with them."
Delta has about 8,100 pilots total. Right now, about 900 are on the furlough list, Black said. Advocates for reservists say the military could do more to draw from furlough lists instead of actively employed pilots.
For example, "if there's another F-16 driver that's in a squadron that's been furloughed somewhere, just substitute that pilot," said Ret. Maj. Gen. Bobby Hollingsworth, a retired U.S. Marine Corps pilot who now leads the Defense Department's committee on Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. Hollingsworth said the Defense Department and the airlines have worked together to minimize the industry's burden.
One small change with a big impact was a switch to mid-month mobilization. Previously, the military announced call-ups at the top of the month, the same time that the airlines finalized their schedule.
Also, airlines can save money if the Navy or Air Force gives more notice for when mobilized pilots will return to civilian life and need to renew their civilian flight qualifications. That way airlines won't have to start paying pilots to sit around waiting for a training slot, Hollingsworth said. "The earlier notice that their services can give them as to when they're coming back, the quicker they can get them into their training schedule," he said.
Vice Adm. Cotton says the Pentagon needs to accept that reserve personnel will make family and employer their top two priorities. Military service comes third, despite a sincere commitment to the armed forces.
Call-ups that last 45 days or less are much easier for employers to work around, he said. Also, the military should look at ways to improve health benefits for mobilized service members' families, who may not live near a military hospital but need government-funded health insurance while their spouse or parent is deployed. Paying the private sector to continue benefits may make sense in these cases, he said. "It also would probably save the government some money."
Cotton warned that the Pentagon's need for reserves hasn't slackened, as combat operations continue in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other missions, like tsunami relief, arise. Many Navy reservists have not yet been tapped, but they're not off the hook.
.... "Be ready. You're going to get called," Cotton said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: I AM NOT A SPOKESMAN FOR ANY AIRLINE NOR ALPA ... ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN AND ANY POSTS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES ARE ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR ORIGINAL AUTHORS ... A4s
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