Jet Blue open house

[Lebowski]

OK I just flew the Real Estate man in charge (GS) from RSW to JFK yesterday and as he did not say anything was confidential I will share some of our conversation with you.

Thanks for a great post.

 

[Roger Murdoch]

Thanks for the response to my question of when the Open House is in May.
I just want to insure that it is May 12th because that is a Saturday and I thought they did the other ones during the week. Just seeking some confirmation. Thanks in advance.

 

[jhwk0309]

Thanks for the intel LaGarbage Man. One last request to anyone who might care to chime in. What's the deal with the 5% 401K & 5% ret I see people mentioning? I understand the 5%401K match. I just don't know what's happening with the 5% ret. Is that 5% profit sharing? If it is, APC says that it's 5% even when no profit. ???? Any enlightenment would be appreciated.

 

[Captzaahlie]

Thanks for the response to my question of when the Open House is in May.
I just want to insure that it is May 12th because that is a Saturday and I thought they did the other ones during the week. Just seeking some confirmation. Thanks in advance.

Roger Over?

Sorry the airplane movie came to mind there for a sec.


Hey Rog,

Where did the new Open house for May info originate?

I'm trying to keep my friends up to date on these things but have not yet seen the "official memo". I will try to remember to ask Verna tomorrow at the open house in MCO. If anyone is toying with the thought of going tomorrow (19APR) GO! It's well worth your time.........



Good luck everyone,
Capt. Z

PS: "What to you make out of the weather?" Over and out...

 

[dudemize]

Thanks for the intel LaGarbage Man. One last request to anyone who might care to chime in. What's the deal with the 5% 401K & 5% ret I see people mentioning? I understand the 5%401K match. I just don't know what's happening with the 5% ret. Is that 5% profit sharing? If it is, APC says that it's 5% even when no profit. ???? Any enlightenment would be appreciated.

The way I understand it is you get the 5% 401K match every month, and then 5% gets placed in your retirement account at the end of the year. It's considered profit sharing but you get this 5% whether they have a profit or not. Any profit sharing above 5% you get in cash.

 

[Captzaahlie]

The way I understand it is you get the 5% 401K match every month, and then 5% gets placed in your retirement account at the end of the year. It's considered profit sharing but you get this 5% whether they have a profit or not. Any profit sharing above 5% you get in cash.

If that's the case it's fairly generous during these times in the airline industry..... most places these days will take away your stuff rather than contribute.

 

[Lake Alice]

Thats correct dudemize. Some other changes they made to the 401K were a Roth option and an SDA option.

 

[Lake Alice]

If that's the case it's fairly generous during these times in the airline industry..... most places these days will take away your stuff rather than contribute.

Not necessarily. Most airlines who have lost their retirement have gotten more in the way of 401Ks and B funds. We are still a little behind.

 

[Captzaahlie]

Not necessarily. Most airlines who have lost their retirement have gotten more in the way of 401Ks and B funds. We are still a little behind.

Sorry I keep forgetting that I don't really work for a "real airline".......

The company that wholly owns us doesn't really believe we are here!

(that's not being bitter, just the honest to God truth)

 

[Splert]

OK I just flew the Real Estate man in charge (GS) from RSW to JFK yesterday and as he did not say anything was confidential I will share some of our conversation with you.

1.) Mngmt. has definitely noticed the amount of folks moving on to other airlines. They hope the pay raises will start to help with retention and acknowledge that there are other items to be addressed to make the over all work environment better. Each turn over cost the company around $30k, so it is in there best interest to keep the pilots happy. But he also knows that if a pilot wants to make more money flying for FedEx or UPS makes them happy then he/she should do it.

2.) In keeping with the theme of keeping the pilots happy. He said look for the MCO base around third quarter of 07. We spoke of MCO as a 320 base and did not discuss plans for the 190 in MCO so I can't offer any more on that. He did not know how the seniority of the base would work out as it is not his dept. however I think we figured with over 100 crewmembers living in the MCO area you can look for Capt. to go very senior and as for the FO's it will probably mirror FLL. Some senior FO's with a mix of mid-level FO's next and probably a few newhires to round out the reserve coverage. Once in the base I would not look to get off reserve very fast. I do not think it will be as bad as LGB and will still be a pretty good deal if you live in the MCO area. However if you plan on commuting you might want to think twice. The loads to the home of the "RAT" can be a nightmare. I know that MCO has been a rumor for a very long time. Last year was to be "The Year" it opened but was put on hold due to RTP. Now that we are making a little money and they are looking for things to boost moral a new base makes sense.
Growth plans at JetBlue seem to include an MCO base. When thinking of new destinations for us he was not very specific for obvious reasons. However he did mention that many of the places they are looking would originate in MCO and head South. I think we said if you put up a map to throw darts at you better be a pretty good shot as some of your targets are pretty small down there in all that water. I am thinking they are looking at places that are working for Spirit and American. We all know that the loads to (SJU,BQN,PSE) are very good so there are definitely more places that would support our service.

3.) West Coast base hopefuls better plan on at least another year. OAK is still the most likely but the company wants to see how we are accepted in the SFO area first.

4.) As for those of us still hopeful for an IAD base. Not likely. MWAA will be passing on the costs of all the construction (New Rwy./New Trains/New Twr./New Term.) to the airlines over the next 5 years. This makes an already tough market (United, SWA) that much harder to make some money in. So it looks like status quo for us IAD guys/gals.

5.) As for new US destinations he said he thinks we can look for 6 new ones this year. Once again not very specific but he did show us a route map with excisting cities as well as unnamed dots on it. Some were quite easy to pick up on. (Think three cities in particular that are hubs to certain Red Tail a/c)
When I asked when they might start he said " When JetBlue is ready to pick a fight" acknowledging that the Red Tail airline is not known for there hospitality when you come and play in there sand box. Most of the other dots were the usual suspects but it was interesting to see some of the dots up North of the border. Maybe some plans are being laid for the new open skies agreement? Who knows? My crystal ball was smashed about 1 1/2 years ago.

Hope that the info helps with what ever decision you may have to make.
ie. Should I stay or should I go or To take the job or not. All in all it is not such a bad place to work. Are there problems? Sure there are. Are they being addressed? Somewhat, but of course you can not please everyone and you are best to remember that when reading anything on FlightInfo. In the end you do what is best for you and yours.

Trash Man

P.S.
Please spare me the grammer police. I had alot to say and a short time to say it. So as we use to say Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Translation is if you want to grade papers be a school teacher. Better job security in it for you anyway.
Now to get at that honey do list.
1.) Clean Litter Box
2.) Make the cat disappear ( hear kitty kitty )

I'll paraphase what Jim said: "OAK this year and over 30 departure from SFO by year end". His job is to get everyone to look left as we slip in though right field.

Good Day