JB files with NMB for representation

[linepilot]

You have four kinds of pilots at blue


1.The new or newish guys that were treated real bad at their last regional or three. Same argument everytime: Alpa did nothing for me, we got screwed, we got whipsawed, our mec was a joke etc etc etc.. Their fee for departure fixed revenue stagnation for the last decade truly sucked. ( PS they are by far the best pilots i have flown with here ) They represent about 20% of our ranks. I find they are 50% hard yes votes

2.The special few they used to be called BOB's ( Band of Blue ) Originally about 150 names that wanted to keep jetblue union free and were outspoken. Many are embarrassed to have their names on that list for eternity because after experiencing the DR debacle for the last decade the large majority of them are yes votes now. Some have remained and been elected to special projects or sold themselves down the river advocating against their fellow pilots. They represent about 3%

3.The completely inept with 3 feet of wool over their eyes. The " I just fly my trip and go home " guys that could be flying through the gates of hell and not know any better. These people defy all rational logic because they wouldnt dare drive their car without insurance or think of drinking that milk that just expired but they will happily accept verbally promised protections from revolving door management that openly verbalizes their responsibility to the shareholders and against the crewmwmber while instituting qol, pay, and work rule take aways without notice through email. BUT we have a no furlough clause..... But i get full pay until 65 !!!! Ya sure you do until your landing currency lapses see what happens them..

These represent in my opinion 1-2%

4.Then you have the vast majority of pilots here The majority that has seen " The sausage being made " and is done with promises of improvements that end up being concessions while the management team and bod enrichen themselves tenfold. These are pilots that love jetblue and want long term success but demand that we are given fair compensation and work rules indicative of a professional pilot. We have been fooled for years and now is the time for us to protect what little we have left and work towards a restoration of what we have continually lost over the years. These pilots come from all backgrounds.

We are the 75% here but thats not good enough!!

Ask the hard questions demand facts take management talking points to your OC members and seek the truth THE WHOLE TRUTH and most importanly make your own decision.

In my opinion an In house will NEVER work JUST AS ANY FEDEX PILOT !! ASK Airtran !! Dont fall for a desperate last minute attempt by mgmt to inject and fund " THEIR IN HOUSE " .

We can do this !! But we need to be 90% strong to send the right message,, 75, 80% no thanks I want 90%!!

Lets face it nobody " Likes " unions I know i didnt when i came here but reality has changed what I feel we all face here at blue. Junior pilots here should in my opinion be the most unified in this drive.

Joel and his special bod members would love to take some of his leasing company returns and create a guaranteed revenue regional airline.. How many million in career earning could that cost us? Dont think that could happen? It might not ever happen but I'm not willing to take any chances when i see interpretative swiss cheese language in my PEA that indicates otherwise.

There's also the pilots who go union at the first scent of BS and who dont really care about jetblew's contrived culture or the silly little cultists who work there. Those are the pilots who could have prevented this mess.

 

[BeachBummer]

Not sure what your going for line... The past is the past get over it. Let's pull together and move forward productively.

 

[linepilot]

Not sure what your going for line... The past is the past get over it. Let's pull together and move forward productively.

Is there not more than 4 groups of pilots at jetblew? I've been in a small group of very pissed off pilots for 12 years. What am I going for? I'll tell you, what I'm going for...

...hard core reversal of fortune.

Can you help me out with that?

Can we reverse the past with some hard core collective bargaining?

 

[BeachBummer]

Hope so.

Realistically, your not going to get back any perceived losses of the last decade+. But moving forward we should see marked improvements when this vote passes.

 

[ChuckDriver]

I hope we can brake the strangle hold the "Top 100" have on the vacations, (4 weeks each summer), and crediting more than 140+ per month! There have to be limits put in the CBA or it want float!

 

[BeachBummer]

The vacation issue is less of a pilot induced problem and more of planning problem. We are only allotted 2 weeks each per year. Yet last year I was able to bid for 7 weeks of vacation! I bid RSV on purpose and rarely call in sick.

If everyone bid for the vacation they were aloud vs what was allotted we would run out before we hit 60%. The company depends upon pilots not taking vacation! Not to mention the guys who blow off vacations for sickcations that are unplanned from a staffing point. Yet they wonder why we run hot every summer...

This is one of the many things that needs attention when we get to negotiating our cba.

 

[Smarta$$]

I hope we can brake the strangle hold the "Top 100" have on the vacations, (4 weeks each summer), and crediting more than 140+ per month! There have to be limits put in the CBA or it want float!

Agree 100% bro. Rounds of bidding for vacation. Period. None of this unlimited crap.

 

[pilotpayne]

Agree 100% bro. Rounds of bidding for vacation. Period. None of this unlimited crap.

That's right.

But I think the top group might not go for it.

The company could give us all the vacation slots and we still wouldn't see Christmas as it would all be taken by the top 10%

We need more vacation slots and round bidding.

 

[Nevets]

Is Alpa going to change its merger policy when jb joins? If not, enjoy being stapled to the bottom of ual, dal, or aa.

Would they be stapled if they didn't unionize and were merged with UAL, DAL, or AAL?

 

[B6Busdriver]

That's right.

But I think the top group might not go for it.

The company could give us all the vacation slots and we still wouldn't see Christmas as it would all be taken by the top 10%

We need more vacation slots and round bidding.

They are in the minority...too bad. I'm in my 12th year and cannot hold a week of summer vacation. The system is a joke.

 

[Flyer1015]

They are in the minority...too bad. I'm in my 12th year and cannot hold a week of summer vacation. The system is a joke.

Curious, how's this possible? Don't you guys have 52 weeks each available at like 6-7 a piece (or less each for smaller bases)?

 

[Flyby1206]

Curious, how's this possible? Don't you guys have 52 weeks each available at like 6-7 a piece (or less each for smaller bases)?

Not quite. There are fewer vacation blocks in the summer months, and an extraordinary amount of vacation blocks in Sept/Oct for bidding.

For example. There are 447 JFK CAs that have to fight for 43 vacation blocks per month in Jun/Jul, but there are 126 blocks per month in Sept/Oct. These arent the "leftovers" these are what we had available at the start of the bidding process. Add in a few super senior captains with 4-5 weeks of vacation to bid and the desirable weeks go very quickly.

 

[Splert]

48 not 52 weeks available for bidding purposes.

Weeks that cross over into another month are not eligible to bid upon in the blue contrarian world.

Like many have said JetBlue sucks big blue balls.

 

[linepilot]

How about some health coverage?

Wouldn't THAT be a nice thing to have as a major airline pilot?

 

[BeachBummer]

Curious, how's this possible? Don't you guys have 52 weeks each available at like 6-7 a piece (or less each for smaller bases)?

The break down goes something to the order of for argument sake:

25% jan feb
15% mar April
5% May June
5% jul aug
20% sept
20% October
5% nov
5% dec

Add to that I'm senior and get to bid 7 weeks before you bid any and we are both only allocated 2 senior guy wins all middle senior guy gets crap, junior guy gets September.