Nothing is ever a sure thing! We can only hope for the best. Just because your company is doing great/poorly now, does not mean that in 5 years it will still be so. Look at the legacies! All were top of the game a few years ago but now its quite the opposite. Same can be said for all of the LCC’s including SWA. What happens if Herb leaves SWA? We all take a gamble.
When I got hired at my previous regional, Air Wisconsin and Comair were the best regionals out there with the best QOL. 5 years later its not so anymore. Last year, NetJets sucked, but now it’s a great place to be. Same with the LCC's. Who would of thought of taking a job at Airtran 5 years ago? People would have been on this very message board telling you that you are f$%$#ing crazy but if you had, you would be a captain on a 717 or 737 right now pulling in $140k. I fought hard to get in here, waiting patiently for my PIC. But I was looking hard at Airtran 4 years ago, when not many people were interested.
Dont let the current state of the industry dictate where you go. Because it will not always be that way, that’s the only guarantee. If Buffet sells Netjets, the QOL could go downhill really fast at NJA and if Herb Kelleher leaves SWA, life might go down hill really fast for them too. What if United buys CAL or vice versa? CAL sounds like a great place to work but a lot of people will soon be furloughed if that happens. Jetblue sounds like a good company, and I have lots of friends there and they love it. But its not where I want to be. Im at Airtran and I love it. Don’t get me wrong, Jetblue has a great product. The IFE is the wave of the future, and if they didn’t have that, then we honestly wouldn’t hear that much about them. They would just be another LCC. Frontier is now starting to add seatback televisions to their fleet and so is Westjet, and I think eventually all airlines will. Then what will separate JetBlue from everyone else? Not Much. Airtran also has IFE although there is no picture attached. We have XM satellite radio and the passengers love it! Over 100 channels of News, Sports and Music, Im sure eventually we will add seatback television as well. But probably wait for the technology to get cheaper, and lighter.
As far as Jetblue, sure it’s a quick upgrade….. for now…. But if something were to happen and they stopped hiring could you live on the ERJ FO pay indefinitely? Same could happen at Airtran, but I know I could live just fine on the FO pay. I have no illusions about this industry. I know I made the choice that was right for me... and honestly, I am less worried about my future at Airtran hitting the crapper than I was my future at my old regional. Airtran will be around for a long long time.
I guess in summary its a gamble. There are no sure things even though something looks like a sure thing right now. My vote is to go with the job that will keep you close to home. i.e. no commute. That will be the thing that matters most in the end. Time spent watching your kids grow up, and hanging out with your wife.
