Dave Bushy at Jetblue

[General Lee]

JetBlue Announces New Vice President of Flight Operations --Captain Bushy to Oversee Pilot and Crew Services Functions--
Tuesday December 23, 1:29 pm ET


NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 23, 2003--JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU - News) today named Captain Dave Bushy, Vice President, Flight Operations. Capt. Bushy fills a vacancy created by the promotion of Al Spain to Senior Vice President, Operations.
Capt. Bushy joins JetBlue after a 24-year career with Delta Air Lines, where he started in 1979 as a Boeing 727 Second Officer, and held numerous management positions during his tenure at Delta, most recently as the company's Senior Vice President, Flight Operations.

"We're thrilled to have Dave join the JetBlue family," said Dave Barger, JetBlue's President and COO. "Dave is the perfect choice to lead the more than 750 JetBlue pilots as we continue to grow our Airbus A320 fleet and as we look forward to the delivery of our first EMBRAER 190 in 2005."

Capt. Bushy served as an Officer in the U.S. Army from 1974-1977, after earning his BA from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. He began his commercial aviation career in 1978 with Pilgrim Airlines in Groton, CT, before joining Delta in 1979. Capt. Bushy returned to college and earned his MS in Industrial Relations from the University of New Haven in 1986, while serving as a pilot for Delta.

Capt. Bushy, a New England native, will be relocating to the New York area to work at JetBlue's Forest Hills headquarters location.

JetBlue is a low-fare, low-cost passenger airline, which provides high-quality customer service. JetBlue operates a fleet of 53 new Airbus A320. The airline recently placed an order for 100 EMBRAER 190 aircraft with options for an additional 100. The first EMBRAER 190 is scheduled to be delivered in mid 2005. All JetBlue aircraft feature roomy all-leather seats each equipped with free live satellite television, offering up to 24 channels of DIRECTV® Programming at every seat.(a)

Based out of New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, JetBlue currently operates 200 flights a day and serves 21 destinations in 10 states and Puerto Rico and plans to commence service in January from Boston to Orlando, Tampa and Ft Lauderdale, FL, LA/Long Beach, CA, and Denver, CO. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and a Saturday night stay is never required. For more information, schedules and fares, please visit www.jetblue.com or call JetBlue reservations at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583). This press release, as well as past press releases, can be found on www.jetblue.com.




He was our VP of Flt Ops during 9-11. He was very good and protected the pilots. I believe he also instituted a new program for buying "heating oil futures" instead of regular oil barrels for fuel hedging and that actually saved Delta big bucks. ( that is what I heard, and I am not a financial guru---take that for what it is worth) I think he just retired as a 767 Capt in ATL, and now he will go to "the dark side"----just joking. He is a good man.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Blue Dude]

Thx, General. I was just wondering... who is this guy? Nice to know he has a good rep.

 

[tbkane]

He sat at our table during new hire "formal dinner". Both he and his wife were very nice, he was liked by the pilots and seemed to be on our side. He is a true asset to JB.

On the other hand I sure hope that with Leo, Dave etc all leaving, that this is not a case of the rats being the first off the ship, allowing us to go down by ourselves without the lifeboats.

 

[FDJ2]

I think Dave is an alright guy, he got us box lunch crew meals. MMmmmm, delicious

 

[jetblue320]

Having never met the man it would be rude and certainly unjust to form an opinion either way at this juncture but I am curious why a man with such a star studded past at DL would even consider coming to JB. Was he retired? If so, maybe that explains it. The press release stated "after" a 24 year career so it sounds that way.
His background certainly sounds impressive and I am sure he will do an awesome job. However, I didn't know we needed a VP of Operations, much less hire one off the street as opposed to somebody with a little Blue Blood already in them.

How's that saying go General? We'll see, it'll be interesting?

Merry Christmas All.

 

[B190Captain]

Having never met the man it would be rude and certainly unjust to form an opinion either way at this juncture but I am curious why a man with such a star studded past at DL would even consider coming to JB. Was he retired? If so, maybe that explains it. The press release stated "after" a 24 year career so it sounds that way.
His background certainly sounds impressive and I am sure he will do an awesome job. However, I didn't know we needed a VP of Operations, much less hire one off the street as opposed to somebody with a little Blue Blood already in them.

How's that saying go General? We'll see, it'll be interesting?

Merry Christmas All.

Good point.

 

[tbkane]

He did retire.

 

[Vortilon]

You guys are lucky to have Bushy coming to your company. He truly has a very idealistic, romantic view of what a pilots and airlines should be like. He's a true leader in every sense of the word and he'll do a lot for the pilots of Jetblue. There will always be naysayers, after all...he's in management. But he's one of the best I've seen.

Merry Christmas!

 

[jetblue320]

You guys are lucky to have Bushy coming to your company. He truly has a very idealistic, romantic view of what a pilots and airlines should be like. He's a true leader in every sense of the word and he'll do a lot for the pilots of Jetblue. There will always be naysayers, after all...he's in management. But he's one of the best I've seen.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for the info guys. Please don't misunderstand my query. I am NOT a naysayer. I have a lot of faith in management, especially the Management Team at JBU and their judgement. I just don't have blind faith, that's all!

Thanks again for the answers and Merry Christmas.

 

[AlbieF15]

One thing Neeleman tried to do when he started JetBlue was start with a clean slate and a bevy of talent from other sources.

Al Spain was a Continental guy for years. Ann Rhodes (HR...or "people dept" as they call it) came from Southwest. I'm sure other higher ups had backgrounds at other carriers.

Grabbing someone with talent from OUTSIDE your organization helps keep a fresh perspective on new and better ways to improve. I wouldn't worry about JB becoming "just another" airline because they hired from outside. Conversely, like any organization, I'd be concerned if they ONLY hired from within.

Besides, the Delta of the 1980s (remember the employees bought the plane?) was a heck of a great place to work. I had the fortune of meeting a few great DAL captains back then (and working for one who took over an FBO where I was a CFI). I think the "spirit of Delta" made an impression on both the employees and the public back then. If Bushy was any part of that success, JetBlue will be glad to have him.

 

[FlyComAirJets]

Dave "Bumpseat" Bushy was the courageous VP of Flight Operations who abruptly cancelled jumpseat privelages on Delta the very first day of our strike. He said it was his decision.

Real man of courage and integrity.

 

[Skank]

I knew we could make this into a food fight if we tried hard enough. Good show old boy!

 

[General Lee]

Sorry, just got back from a quick 3 day. Dave is from the NE---he was the Chief Pilot of the old BOS base (before it was closed). I have heard other interesting stories about him. This one sounds crazy but I did hear it---supposedly after 9-11 Leo got nervous and wanted to furlough all of the junior guys on each piece of equipment (not by seniority order) to save immediate money. Dave Bushy told him NO. Now I know that sounds like someone doesn't understand how seniority works---but that is the "tale" I heard. I also heard that he once handflew a 727 from ATL to MCI the whole way. (probably not that tough--but you are going pretty darn fast.....) Whether or not these are totally true, I do think he actually cared about the pilots and he obviously wants to continue making some good money (he retired with atleast $1 mil lump sum I believe plus monthly payouts)---and he was good at what he did. I think he was "forced to resign" after he had that spat with Leo---so that is probably why he didn't stay at Delta. After he resigned his post he upgraded to 767 Capt and flew that for a couple years to help his final average earnings for his retirement. I think you will like him. "WE SHALL SEE." Yes, he knows a lot about Delta and how we work, but we also know a lot about him and his techniques.

Bye Bye--General Lee

PS--I just read something on the Dalpa net that reminded me of something else. He also apparently helped the company sue 56 of our pilots during our C2K contract negotiations---for saying things about "not flying overtime during the slow contract negotiations." Hmmmmm. Enjoy.

 

[de Pez]

Hand flew ATL to MCI? Wow!

Bet all my fellow fighter bros who have flown 10-15 hours from East coast to Saudi/Kuwait or from Japan to West coast without a rest room break, auto pilot, while flying formation and refueling 8-20 times would be waaaay impressed with that level of airmanship. That 727 at .82 mach is a fast, twitchy beast to manage for 2 hours.

Contributed to the fund yet, General?

 

[AlbieF15]

Oops..Dpez...sign out next time!

Well...got so into writing a post at the AOC I didn't realize previous bro didn't sign out...so above post is mine. Sorry Dpez. I'll repost in case you need to delete.

FYI...if you use a public computer for flight.info you need to log off...otherwise your user name pops up if you don't clear the cookies.

Here's MY take....

Hand flew ATL to MCI? Wow!

Bet all my fellow fighter bros who have flown 10-15 hours from East coast to Saudi/Kuwait or from Japan to West coast without a rest room break, auto pilot, while flying formation and refueling 8-20 times would be waaaay impressed with that level of airmanship. That 727 at .82 mach is a fast, twitchy beast to manage for 2 hours.

Contributed to the fund yet, General?

 

[FlyComAirJets]

Let's see, this guy puts in 24 years at dear old Delta and then bolts with a seven figure bag of Delta cash for the arch competition but he "cares" about the Delta pilots?!?!

Excuse me while I go toss some Christmas cookies.

OK, I feel much better now. I am sure it will come as a great consolation to the thousand or so furloughees that his new job at Jetblue will expedite their return to the cockpit at DAL Yeah, right.

With guys like that "on our side," who needs enemies?

 

[Eagleflip]

Sooo...give me a break. You mean to tell me that a fellow can't retire and move on to another job?

You mean that one who works at a company for X number of years is somehow disloyal for joining another company after retirement?

You mean that one who earns his retirement package is no longer eligible for further employment, at a competitor or otherwise?

As for the loss of jumpseat privilige, I'd bet that there is just a bit more to the story than the side presented.

Fortunately, FlyComairJets, I do not have to take your grudging word for it. I'll wait to meet the man and hear his thoughts before I decide what kind of person he is.

 

[G4G5]

I met him at DAL new hire.

My father worked with him when he we NYC Chief Pilot.

Like ma ma always said, "when you don't have something nice to say, come sit by me"

I would not be so hard on Comair................................

 

[rjcap]

As for the loss of jumpseat privilige, I'd bet that there is just a bit more to the story than the side presented.

If there is I would love to hear it !

A man's actions speak louder then his words.

 

[FlyComAirJets]

"You mean that one who works at a company for X number of years is somehow disloyal for joining another company after retirement?"

Yup, and Jetblue isn't just another company, along with Airtran, they represent Delta's most significant LCC competition. What do you think Song is all about?

I suppose he has a right to work anywhere he pleases. Apparently he did not sign a no compete clause or anything like that, but after stuffing his pockets and then going over to Jetblue it seems seedy at best.

Tell that to those facing a furlough of indeterminate length. Merry Christmas!

Oh, and by the way, one day into the strike, ole Bumpseat stated on the company pilot hotline 1-800-DAL-FLYY, that he had made his decision to deny jumpseats to the Comair pilots trying to get home. His decision, get it?