Flight Options Furloughs Pilots

Flight Options vice president of flight operations Bob Tyler last month announced 63 more pilot furloughs “due to reduced demand due to the ongoing national recession.” The furloughs affected “13 Beechjet PICs, 11 Beechjet SICs, 28 Hawker SICs and 11 Citation X SICs,” according to a letter by Tyler to the pilot group. This latest reduction is in addition to the more than 100 pilots furloughed in late November. “The economics require that we reduce an additional number of aircraft that we fly daily,” Tyler wrote. “This reduction of aircraft means we need fewer pilots and fewer support employees for now.” Furloughs were done, working with the pilot union, in inverse order of seniority.