So are you saying an aspiring airline pilot should avoid JetBlue right now since they are eventually going to have a higher cost structure? What are the alternatives? Sit on the sidelines until an ALPA backed carrier starts hiring again?
Perhaps all those guys I've been helping prep for their JetBlue interviews that are from USAir are idiots and just need to wait around for 10-12 years until JetBlue has problems of its own.
Personally, I don't think labor costs are the big issue at JetBlue, nor do I think they will be in the next 10 years. The company is built from the ground up on the premise that if you take care of your customers, they will return and pay a "fair" fare and keep you profitable. You just need to manage your costs to insure you can make money without having to charge $1000 for walk up business class tickets. AirTran, SWA, and Frontier are also doing the same thing, but JB seems to be both the customer and media darling. SWA has been profitable for years, even as flight crew numbers have increased and average tenure has gone up.
I don't know if JB can make money if/when their crew costs 900 bucks/hour. But I DO know United can't make money when its management bungles millions on dreams of buyout mergers, a fleet of business jets for high end service, and the other various hotel/rent-a-car/computer reservation systems they have bought and sold over the years. Nicer seats or satellite TV to make customers more comfortable?...nah...build a nicer frequent flyer lounge. Now that the business travelers have evaporated, many of the majors have forgetten how to take care of the "backpack" customer they used to simply tolerate as a cost of doing business. I'll know JetBlue is on the way to death only when Neelemen hires Stephen Wolf on his staff.
As an ALPA member, I appreciate the benefits that majors have tradtionally provided...good work rules, A and/or B plans for retirement, and a competitive wage. However, those who sling spears at SWA and JB working for "less" compensation ignore the various profit sharing/stock option plans offered to the employees. Those "underpaid" JB employees are hoping that by building a profitable business model (which DOT said United was not) they eventually will be more than rewarded by their investment in the company. Personally, I'd like to have some FedEx stock as part of my compensation package at my carrier--if only to convince the media we aren't a bunch of "overpaid underworked pilots" who have no stake in the company's profitabilty. If JetBlue employees choke their golden goose for an "industry leading" wage, they know while their paychecks go up, their total net worth goes down. Guys who left other carriers over the last 2 years to start with JB are not different than the rest of us--they want to maximize their earnings. However, when they compare the wealth/security of a 12 year Captain at SWA verses guys (or gals) who had a great contract only to see their career disappear when their carriers were liquidated or merged (lets see...Braniff, Eastern, Continental, Pan Am, Flying Tigers, TWA....) they decided to give the former a try.
As for egging on Jeff G...well...imagine a guy who likes his job and is proud of his company in this industry! What an anomaly! I'll bet he even tries to save JB money here or there with gas saving techniques, and even has the gall to be pleasant to other crew members and passengers. He has got what most would love to have....a job he's proud of, a wage he thinks is fair, and a company that for now, at least, has found a way to be profitable in a tough market.
Std disclaimer....I fly rubber dogsh!t in the middle of the night sitting sideways....and I may very well be wrong.
