Grounded by Layoffs, Staying There by Choice

Airlines also are confronted with trying to lure furloughed pilots away from other aviation jobs. Some pilots are flying private jets for corporations or working for low-cost and regional carriers, which have not been as hard hit as their legacy counterparts. A growing number of laid-off pilots are hooking up with airlines in Asia, the Middle East and South America, where there are intense pilot shortages and the pay is often better than in the United States. Others joined the military.

Some, like Milind Limaye, simply left the business.

Limaye was laid off by American Airlines in 2003. He didn't see much of a future in waiting for a recall notice. So he went back to college and has just completed his first year of medical school.

"The industry was basically in shambles, so I decided to do something different," Limaye said. "I wouldn't go back. I only fly for pleasure now, but even that is difficult at four bucks a gallon for fuel."

Andrew Miller, a United pilot who was furloughed in early 2002, said losing his job steered him into a better situation. He has since become an executive at AXA Advisors LLC, a financial consulting firm.

On Monday, Miller got his recall notice in the mail. He said he was going to pass on this chance to return. He swears he will never go back, but he admits that he hasn't resigned or taken his name off the list.

He and industry observers say the true test of whether pilots abandon their old airlines will come when they get a final shot to return. Many pilots fulfilled their childhood dreams of working for a major airline by spending thousands of dollars on required training and education. Most spent years leapfrogging from regional and commuter carriers to the big leagues.

"It's sentimental," Miller said, describing how difficult it has been to withdraw his name because he knew he wanted to pilot jets since he was a youngster flying back and forth to visit divorced parents.

"A lot of this boils down to emotion," he said. "It's something I wanted to do for so long."

Randy Ott, the son of a Northwest Airlines pilot, was furloughed by United in 2003. He flew for a charter company and in South America, where pilots are "treated like royalty," he said. "It was like being a Pan Am pilot in the 1960s."

When he got a recall notice in December, he said, he agonized over the decision to return.

In the end, despite United's problems and a steep pay cut, Ott said he couldn't resist getting behind the controls of a 767.

"I've been a true-blue airline guy since Day One," he said. "I'm holding on that this gets better. This industry has always had its ups and downs."