ifly2slo said:
How do the pilots like it at JetBlue . . . I have heard that people like it for the first few months and then it starts to get old quick.
How is the quality of life for line holders?
How is the quality of life for reserve pilots?
Thanks in advance,
2slo
fly2slo,
When you first start at JetBlue, your spouse is invited to the first 2 days of orientation. The night before, the prior class gives you a welcome party at the hotel. The following morning, you, your spouse, and the rest of the class head to the training center for day one. The spouses sometimes get to fly the sim if it's available.
JetBlue U (University) does a wonderful job of welcoming (sp?) you to the company. It seemed as if every other day someone was buying a meal for the class, or a stack of pizzas would show up in the back of the class for a free lunch.
Stay with me now ...
At the end of day 2, your spouse goes home, and you remain to finish up the 2 weeks of indoc and begin aircraft training. You are constantly being contacted by your mentor and others to see if everything is going OK.
After initial training is done, you have a few days off, then off to JFK for the Welcome to JFK day. More free pizza, for lunch. Later a tour of area in a van, then a JFK and crewroom tour. That night more free food at dinner.
You're feeling on top of the world. You're finally at JetBlue ...
Shortly after that is your IOE. You have a great trip(s). Your checkairman signs you off the next morning.
The next day you are on reserve, in NY. Reality has now set in. Your roommate snores, there is competition for the shower at 5am, and now you'll miss the crew van.
As you can see, when the training is over, reality sets in. This has nothing to do with JetBlue, but rather it's our industry, and JetBlue just happens to have it's biggest base in NY where few of the crewmembers actually live.
For those who tell you it's fun at first, and then it quickly gets old, were not ready for the reality part.
It's still a small company, but growing quickly. I have been flying in this industry for 15 years, most of which was on reserve. JetBlue has done a fine job of making sure that this has been a good experience, and painless a possible, but it's still the airline industry.
The career as an airline pilot is certainly different than it was before. The flying public just won't support the old way of doing business anymore.
At JetBlue, the pilots work hard for the company. For the most part everyone is on the same page. 90% of the bad press you read here is just rumor. Sure we help clean the plane. But, in reality most of the time it's cleaned so fast by the flight attendants ("Inflight Crewmembers" as they are called here) and station crewmembers, you hardly have time to get your "Blue Gloves" on. You might pickup a little trash and straighten a few seatbelts and your done.
The entire topic of "Pilots cleaning the plane" was taken out of context. I actually enjoy it, and look forward to that few minutes trying to get the plane turned around. It's a good outlet after the flying is done, and a good time to chat with the other crewmembers as well. On a typical turn you have pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, station agents, and others working together to clean the cabin. This is a constant reminder of how this company was built. Your cockpit duties come first, as always. On a couple of legs, I just couldn't get back to help, and that was OK, too.
Hope this helps a little on that subject. Good luck to anyone interested in working here. If, not then good luck where you do end up.
DW
