Story ID: 
CitationAir Recalls All of Its Furloughed Pilots
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: CitationAir said yesterday that it has asked all of its remaining 32 pilots on furlough to return to work.
Word Count: 186
CitationAir said yesterday that it has asked all of its remaining 32 pilots on furlough to return to work. The Greenwich, Conn.-based fractional provider placed 85 pilots on furlough in 2009 to right-size the business and be in line with customer demand during the economic recession, thereby cutting the company’s pilot force to 307 people. “CitationAir has made strides in the past couple of years not only to survive the recession, but to expand the business afterward,” company CEO Steve O’Neill said. “In doing so, CitationAir is the only company in the private jet marketplace to have offered a recall to 100 percent of its pilots after a furlough.” Since it started recalling pilots, 53 of the 85 furloughed pilots have returned to CitationAir, bringing the company’s pilot force to 334. This week’s recall could boost this number even higher, provided that those still on the list want to come back. Now that CitationAir has reached the end of the recall list, if any of the 32 pilots choose not to return within an undisclosed number of days they will relinquish their recall rights.