Jet Blue Pilot Contract

[General Lee]

HeavySet,

I don't know if we want all of our mainline 757s at Song (we have 120 total), but that might be what really happens. Of course, we might add some heavy MD-11s to Song to saturate the market---that would be interesting indeed!! Let's also hope for some eventual profits while we're at it.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[jointops]

I may despise myself for getting in my .02 worth, but here goes.

Yaks,

As for your concern about our contract and the management's options to release us after 5 years:

Having been an Alpa member and now at jetBlue, I honestly feel our pilots as a whole don't feel threatened by potential "acts" by management. It comes down to the platinum rule: Treat others the way they expect to be treated.

You approach the attitude that getting rid of the bad apples is a bad thing. Since when is that ever bad? Regardless of the management team and the product offered.

As a professional if I behave according to my profession, morals, values, etc. then I have nothing to be concerned with when 5 years rolls around.

We are all treated as a valuable member of a family. I can't say I ever felt that way at US Airways. Having been furloughed, I didn't gulp the kool-aid at JB either. I was licking wounds and skeptical at best.

Having been here for almost 18 months, I can now honestly say my loyalty goes up the chain of command. Most pilots at JB feel the same way.

I'm not certain why there is such animosity towards JB pilots not being union or the perceptions as sell outs, etc. Everyone tries to provide for their families and makes the best choices when life dictates certain paths.

Constantly making judgments without walking in the shoes of others is a dangerous, slippery slope.

I usually pride myself on keeping my posts informative and helpful. I try to be encouraging and positive to inquiries about JB and the interview process.

I apologize for ranting, but I'm on reserve today and had the time to vent frustrations.

JayDub,

How are the girls getting along?
Happy landings

 

[JayDub]

Ops,

Hopefully I'll have a full house Thursday! Thanks for asking.

JayDub

 

[yaks]

jointops

Maybe my post was not clear or you are misreading it. I have no feelings one way or the other as to whether you should be union or not. My most recent point is that YOU DO NOT NEED AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT TO GET RID OF A BAD APPLE! The company need only to call the guy in and fire him. My 2 bigger issues with the concept are that: 1) guys sign a potentially life changing document with huge implications without even reading it or having a lawyer explain the contents, and 2) guys are thinking that things will always be just like they are today and that is never true, especially in the airline industry. Things are looking great for JB and I can tell you that a few years back no one thought EA would go out of business, or that AA would be near bankruptcy or that UA would be in bankruptcy and struggling to emerge. The decision to sign this contract has pretty much taken away your options forever since as I understand it the contract renews after 5 years if neither party opts out. That means that in 20 years the airline could set your wages at 36/hr fo and 72/hr captain (if I remember correctly from the previous post) since that is what the contract states. And you have no recourse.

 

[jointops]

Yaks,

Aha, I must have misinterpreted your comments then.

The issue about management dealing in something other than an "honorable" manner just isn't an issue.

Our CEO, President and 6 officers of the company teach a Principles of Leadership class to supervisor, managers (to include pilots).

They focus on the 5 principles JB strives to attain with people in those positions.

1. Communicate with your team
2. Treat your people right
3. Do the right thing
4. Encourage initiative & innovation
5. Inspire greatness in others

These may sound cheesy, but as long as this management team is at the helm, no one is concerned about them arbitrarily decreasing our wages.

It's all good, yaks.
Happy landings

 

[colorado418]

Re: jointops

......My most recent point is that YOU DO NOT NEED AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT TO GET RID OF A BAD APPLE! The company need only to call the guy in and fire him. My 2 bigger issues with the concept are that: 1) guys sign a potentially life changing document with huge implications without even reading it or having a lawyer explain the contents, and 2) guys are thinking that things will always be just like they are today and that is never true, especially in the airline industry. ....

My .04 worth....
Bad Apples..... if left in place they not only do they stink, they make the whole barrel of apples rotten. Chuck 'em. Our "values committee" (kind of a pro standards) will make sure that we don't loose any good fruit...

BIGGER ISSUES.... (from above) 1.) We are all big boys now. I think that we can read the contract. It is in big letters... Also, "yaks" if it concerns you so much, please save yourself the terrible agony that "we" live with every day working under the above said "working agreement. I.e. you probably would not want to work here.
2.) If you have read any of the posts here about folks trying to get on and those who have, you may notice that many of them are FURLOUGHED!! They are probably quite aware of "downturns" in the aviation community...

Sorry for being a smart butt. I only had 3 hours of sleep last night... kind of fun though...

 

[Falconjet]

Good Point

Even if you drink the blue koolaid and figure that nothing could ever go wrong with such enlightened management personnel in place at Blue, Yaks makes an excellent point about the self-perpetuating clause of the employment contract. If (when) money gets tight down the road the "honorable" thing to do is to cut costs or raise revenue so that the company can continue to make a profit and survive. If the management team has a built-in vehicle to reduce costs by "honoring" the terms of its contract with its pilots, the "honorable" thing for management to do is to utilize it and protect the shareholders.

Unlikely, lets hope so. Possible, yes. Something to consider, you bet.

Does that make JetBlue a bad place to work, absolutely not. Just people gathering info and using it to make the best decisions they can.

 

[Skank]

It's also instructive to consider what the more traditional airline collective bargaining agreements offer, and what happens to those agreements when times are bad. Have you ever heard of a no furlough clause? Yeah, me too.

Sorry General, didn't mean to highjack your Song infomercial.