JetBlue verses FedEx?

[SpeedBird]

Hey Orion, you should be glad that there is at least one company in this wacky industry of ours, where at least a few of your professional brothers and sisters truly enjoy coming to work; who feel good about their working relationship with management, and who get to pursue their passion of flying. All while earning wages that exceed the average U.S. income by a factor of at least 500%.

No one at jetBlue is trying to puff up their chests, and neither do they possess a "holier than thou" attitude.

At the same time we're not a bunch of boy scouts who are naive about the "realities" of the airline business. If things change for the worst, you can bet your a$$ we'll take care of our own.

 

[Draginass]

JayDub -
Don't misconsrue my comments. Like I said JB seems to be doing everything right, at least right now. Nor would I recommend that you unionize right now either. There's no sense in paying union dues of $150 a month or so if you are happy with you compensation and work rules.

I think you did catch my drift that it's something to keep in the back of your head, especially if management's attitude and actions become different, like they did in Atlas' case. Their pilots spent a few years resisting organizing AFTER things got really bad and lost a couple of years on a contract. Everybody thought they could bring management around . . . but to no avail.

Unionizing now for JB would probably not be in your best interest anyway, this early in the life of the airline.

Recommend you read "Confessions of a Union Buster." A great book that really shows the insides of what really goes on in MANY companies. Hopefully JB will resist that kind of draconian attitude.
BUT, it's in your best interest to at least know the ins and outs of labor - management relations.

Like I said: Have faith that maybe JB will break the historical mould of airline/labor relations. I hope so, but at the same time, don't be naive. If you've got guys from Atlas and Kaletta, they've smelled plenty of rats before and will know 'em when they smell 'em again.

Good luck to all at JB!

 

[JayDub]

Draginass,

I'll certainly pick it up when I have the time. Right now I am reading "Flying the Line II". Man, is that going slow. All that reading makes my lips tired.

Believe me, if the time is ever right, like Speedbird says "we'll take care of our own". But, you really have to look at the history of people to see where they are coming from.

Have you heard of Robert Ferguson? He is the guy with Midway Version 2.0, make that 3.0. He came from Continental, and was basically everything Bethune identified as being "the worst". He has a history of running airlines into the ground.

On the other hand, the manager of the EWR hub, and the Guam operation (I think he managed Guam, atleast) were two of the reasons Bethune was able to turn things around, among many other things of course. Those two people are 2/3 of our upper mgmt. team now.

Also, have you heard any old Morris Air pilots bad mouth Neeleman? I've never heard anything like that. As previouly mentioned, the fact Kellerher mad him sign a non-compete speaks volumes.

I think evventually (hopefully years down the road) we'll get so big, that it will be recognized we need a union. That happens also. Sometimes you need a formal way of resolving issues without involving your company folks every time. I think when that does happen, unless things change drastically, I'd expect to see an in-house union. It would be much less confrontational too.

Besides, most everybody came from smaller carriers represented by ALPA. I've heard many of them talk about how they didn't care for the treatment they got from ALPA National, as a small carrier. Some were highly involved in the union at their old job, and atleast one swore to me he'd never let ALPA get on the property.

I doubt it would be possible for him to do that by himself. He would, I think, have a lot of support though. That is something ALPA has to realize. They are really pi$$ing people off with their treatment of small carriers. We have some folks here from Trans-States. Some of them don't care much at all for ALPA and how they felt they were treated.

Anyhow, thanks so much for your comments. They are welcome. Talk to you soon.


JayDub

 

[FlyDeltasJets]

Albie,
Congratualations. You made the right choice. I hope you enjoy a long and prosperous career.

P.S.
We still have to have that beer!

P.P.S.
JayDub, you are both simplistic and inaccurate in your version of the Comair strike and the help they recieved from Delta. That, however, has been done to death on the general board, so I won't get into it!

 

[vschip]

Gents, I have a solution to this arguement, lets all come back when were 60 and compare notes, ok? Maybe it just me and my small brain, but it seems to me we're all pretty much overpaid, so if your happy at your job, good for you. Been at Fedex for 6 months and love it, know guys who have the JB/Fedex choice coming up, and everyone of them has reasons for the decision they made either for JB or Fedex. Like I told my captain last night "I'm just happy to have a job", and I hope to work for the same company til I retire.

 

[FlyDeltasJets]

vschip,
Not sure about you, but I am definately not overpaid. I have heard many guys say they were overpaid, and that attitude is one of the reasons that our compensation has fallen in real dollar terms over the last 20 years. You have worked very hard to be in the position you are, and have earned every penny you make.

 

[F18-FDX]

Just to throw in my two cents, FedEx was my first choice over a couple major passenger carriers. If recent events haven't proven the importance of a well-established, well-run company in a profitable sector with plenty of growth potential, I don't know what will. I'm fairly new, but from what I've seen so far, I love FedEx and personnally I don't want to be anywhere near a passenger airline, let alone a startup. I can live where I want, plenty of future choices as far as aircraft / great commuting schedule (try to get 7-on 7-off, 14-on 14-off at a pax airline) / domestic / international, a CONTRACT, vacation, retirement plans, a great bunch of guys to work with, etc... A few months ago people were asking "why are you going with FedEx?" Now they're asking for recommendations. 'Nuff said.

 

[FlyDeltasJets]

F18,
If people were asking you "why FedEx?", they obviously do not know much about the industry. FedEx is a wonderful company, and you are right to be proud. Delta was my first choice, but had they not called, I would have loved to work for FedEx. You and Albie will have GREAT careers. Congrats.

 

[F18-FDX]

Thanks Delta, as will you. Not a better "pax" company out there!