Happy New Year.
New President - finally we can rid ourselves of the clown that is George W. Bush.
And well. . .yeah, it's been a pretty quiet front here over at ASA. History has been made, and I'm part of it.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines has determined that they do not need the services of the 80 most junior pilots on the seniority list. In an effort to stream line costs and reduce overhead the company is furloughing those 80 pilots. From the top, I'm 41 spots down.
I have very little faith that any good will come from this within the next year and potentially two or three years.
Now is an opportunity for me to seek out other aviation ventures, raise a son, grow a family, and complete my undergraduate degree in Political Science which will hopefully set me up for law school at some point in my adult life.
The tough pill to swallow is now the realization that when a recall comes, at least if it is a year to three years down the road returning right back to short call reserve and the prospect of sitting reserve for another two years due to the lack of any sufficient movement and being at the back side of a hiring wave that will eventually leave me high and dry before I'm 30 years old. I have some very strict goals that must be met for me to be 100% professionally satisfied with my aviation career. In this time of disappointment, those strict goals are slowly eroding and any optimistic view of my future is quickly evaporating.
Cheers to all the other unemployed professional pilots out there right now. All I really wanted for 2009 was only one W2 form for my 2009 Taxes. Guess that's out. I expect to have three, if not four. 1 from ASA, 1 from Unemployment Insurance, 1 from Job A, and 1 from Job B.
