jetBlue's RJ's

[Humty72]

Reuters
U.S. fines 3 airlines for treatment of disabled
Thursday August 28, 5:21 pm ET


WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The government fined three big airlines on Thursday a total of $750,000 for not providing adequate services for disabled passengers.
The Transportation Department found that JetBlue Airways (NasdaqNM:JBLU - News), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - News) and America West Airlines (NYSE:AWA - News) violated federal law and other regulations by not providing enough space for passengers to stow their wheelchairs in the cabin.

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As part of a settlement, the carriers were ordered to immediately resolve the problem and were fined varying amounts. JetBlue was fined $100,000, America West, $150,000 and Southwest, $500,000. Larger penalties generally reflect more violations.

The airlines were given credit for most of the fine amounts to make room for wheel chairs or take other steps to improve services for disabled passengers.

In Southwest's case, the airline will have to retrofit a number of older Boeing 737 aircraft to comply with the settlement.

Among other steps, JetBlue must install equipment at its ticket counters to help individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Regulations require planes with 100 or more seats ordered after 1990 to have priority space in the cabin for storing at least one wheelchair that can be folded.

 

[JimNtexas]

Question from the peanut gallery.

I don't fly airlines a whole lot, but I just now got home from flying Las Vegas - Salt Lake - Austin.

The Salt Lake to Austin leg was Skywest 3885, which was an RJ-50.

It was living hell. When we boarded the plane, it was an inferno. All the window shades were draw, giving it a dark cave like feeling. The plane was hot for the whole trip.

I was happy that I'm not real tall, but I better not gain any weight if I plan on doing much more RJ riding. That seat was skinny, but at least the roof is very low. The faux air vents were tiny, like something from Barbie's Fun Jet.

Two hours in that thing was about my limit, no way would I get on one for any longer.

I found myself really missing the nice wide seats and excellent ventilation in my Archer

Is the airplane Jet Blue is buying as narrow and cramped? Does it have middle seats?

 

[Sppedmode]

Not the JetBlue "RJ"

Jim,
If you flew on a 50 seat jet on Skywest, you flew on a CRJ. That is what I fly and can attest that any flight over 2 hours is ridiculeous. I used to fly Minneapolis to Jacksonville quite a bit last year and it was miserable for the pax. I personally think that our CRJ's shouldn't be used on any flight blocked for over two hours, however, we probably have at least 30 out-n-backs that are well over 2 hrs and about 10 that are over 3 hrs!!!
The aircraft that JetBlue is getting is the EMB-190...the 170 is pictured and here is the cabin of the EMB190...it looks like it has a lot more room that a CRJ or ERJ.

 

[airbaker]

The seats on the EMB-190 are supposedly a 1/4" wider than what's provided for on the Airbus (which themselves are wider than a 737 or 757)

Looks like it'll be a pretty fantastic airplane...range, speed, efficiency, automation, comfort, etc..

Question for the JetBlue folks: I understand the Emb-190 has a highly automated flightdeck including fadec and autothrottles; will it be certified for CatIII operations?

 

[jetblue320]

Question for the JetBlue folks: I understand the Emb-190 has a highly automated flightdeck including fadec and autothrottles; will it be certified for CatIII operations?

Yes, yes, yes, and Yes.

As well as RVSM and LiveTV in every seat. In just about every respect it will be a A320 clone ecept with 56 less seats. Our A320 have 162 seats now but we are reducing them to 156 starting this week I think.

See ya

 

[Airpiraterob]

RVSM and live TV in every seat? ....i guess with the FA in the cabin...RVSM in the seat would be a good thing?

yep interior looks nice...that is untill someone figures out a way to make it a 3x2 "high-density" interior. all that space and comfort, BAH! you could fit more people in there....you know someone somewhere is gonna order an option like that.

 

[jetblue320]

Correction

RVSM and live TV in every seat? ....i guess with the FA in the cabin...RVSM in the seat would be a good thing?

Ok, so I forgot the comma. I meant - RVSM capable "and" LiveTV at every seat.

Is that more better?

 

[jetblue320]

"Canyon Blue" paint scheme

originally posted by LearAv8r
random question, did SWA come out with Canyon Blue paint scheme before JB came along? I'm just wondering who can call bragging rights over the blue.

Also, does JB owe royalties to Blue Man Group for this whole blue thing? I think there could be something there for an enterprising litigator. j/k (since irony doesn't play well on the BBS sometimes)

First question: As far as I know, the Canyon Blue paint scheme that SW uses on it planes came out after jetBlue was born. It is rumored that the scheme came about because of a bet/challenge Herb made to David. Supposedly, Herb told David that if JB made a profit within 6 months (? or some such time frame) that he would paint his planes blue! Well, we did post a profit and SW started sporting some "blue planes". Believe it or not but that's the scuttlebutt. There was also some rumor about that same time that Herb went out and bought like 10 JB model planes and placed them on his cronies' desks with a note saying something like, Know your enemy, or watch out for these guys, etc. True?, who knows, ask Herb. I don't know the man but I have read a lot about him and have heard a lot of stories from folks that used to work with him (Neeleman and Anne Rhodes) and it sounds logical.

Second questions: The name "jetBlue" has an interesting story. It was actually a last minute decision after we had exhausted a number of choices. Some of the losers were - It (thank goodness this one was out!), Taxi, and a host of others. At the 11th hour, one of our marketing executives (I think it was Amy Curtis) came up with "Blue". It had promise but you cannot patent or register common generic terms like blue, car, rock, as trade names. So somebody, maybe David, was mumbling (he does that a lot) and out came "jetBlue", with the small j and capital B.

The detailed story can be found out there on the WWW somewhere if you search for it.

See ya.

 

[amfteamster]

All you jetBlue folks better talk with your union reps. I hear that your pay is going to be adjusted to match the rest of the regional airlines as soon as you start flying the Rj's.

 

[Eagleflip]

All you jetBlue folks better talk with your union reps. I hear that your pay is going to be adjusted to match the rest of the regional airlines as soon as you start flying the Rj's.

OK, I'll go talk to my union rep. Promise. I think its the International House of Pancakes and Flapjack Guild.

 

[Skank]

amfteamster.........
Oh, nevermind.

 

[amfteamster]

dam, nobody bit. Gets boring on Saturdays.

In all seriousness, what will the pay structure be like for the RJ crews? Will it be set up differently than the A320 crews?

Are there going to be differences in the bases? RJ bases and seperate A320 bases?

 

[trainerjet]

I think its the International House of Pancakes and Flapjack Guild.

mmmmmm...flaaaapjaaaacks.

 

[General Lee]

How many times are you allowed to transfer back and forth between the new EMB Jet and the A320? Is it true that you cannot go back to the bus after switching from the A320 to the EMB? Is there only one transfer move allowed?

I think the term "RJ" can stand for a lot of things for different people. Some Comair pilots probably call it the "retirement jet."

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Eagleflip]

General-

I've heard (second hand, unfortunately) from Al Spain (VP Ops) that our Captains that go over to the 190 to get it started will be able to return to the 320 after two or three years.

Pay for these first Captains--the "transfer bunch"--is supposed to be grandfathered at 320 Capt pay, so it won't be a tough sell to get folks to move over. Once the 190 fleet has its feet on the ground, the original Capts could move back home to mamma Airbus.

If these statements are true--and I believe them to be--I will consider moving over for a while IF the 190 domicile is right.

Oh, gotta run...the Flapjack Guild is calling!

"Mmmmm.....flllaaapjaackks..." LOL

 

[General Lee]

Eagleflip,

That would make sense. If they did not allow that, I would think a UNION might eventually do it. They probably don't want a union on the property, so I bet it will be allowed, probably with a 3 or 4 year seat lock etc.....to cut down on training.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Intruder One]

The latest rumor out of Phoenix.........Orenstein is getting the ERJ-170 and 190's.Just try and compete with his wages.

 

[dgs]

Why would we want to compete with anybody else's EMB-190 pay at any level? Our management will set a fair wage that is appropriate for the number of people the 190 can fly so the CASM is correct and employees are treated fairly. Just because somebody else may pay dirt wages to fly the same aircraft doesn't mean we will. Very faulty logic.

 

[boeing76]

I apologize if this has been covered. I didn't take the time to read every post on this thread. It seems to me that the key to success in this volitile industry right now is to keep costs down that can be controlled. One of those costs is maintenance. With one type of a/c mtc costs are kept much lower than with a mixed fleet like UAL and DAL among others.

Why, then would Jetblue want to jeopardize their success by operating 2 types of a/c? A differnt size Airbus would be fine, but they are looking at an a/c not even made on the same continent. I have never flown on JetBlue or for that matter even seen one of the planes, but everything I have read about the company shows me that they have made some very smart decisions. I hope that this subject is thought through some more.

Just my $.02

 

[General Lee]

Boeing76,

You are correct about the cost advantages to having the same type aircraft, or "derivative aircraft." Buying parts in bulk can save the company a lot of money and training is less expensive. But, having one supplier can also lead to other problems. For example, Delta is Boeing's best customer. You would think they would try to please us by giving us discounts etc. Well, when we ordered the 737-800s, and then later found out about the advantages of winglets, we asked them about equiping the 738 fleet. They said it would cost about $1 million per kit per plane. Then we found out that Boeing was offering the same kit to European LCCs for $500,000. We weren't very pleased. Then they started to over charge us for certain software. That pi$$ed us off too. When we recently had scheduled a 3 day meeting in Chicago concerning the 100 seater--the 737-600---Boeing was very happy about that. They apparently set up a big party and wanted to "wine and dine" our top executives---to try to sway their sale. When our guys showed up without luggage, the boeing people were miffed and asked why? Apparently Leo said they didn't want a large meeting and just wanted to know the facts about the plane, and that later they all had to catch a flight back to ATL and on to "Europe." (Airbus) Maybe that was an eye opener for Boeing. Maybe not. I bet Jetblue got a very good deal for the EMB-190's---with no maintenence for a certain amount of years--like their "non-existant deal" with Airbus.

Bye Bye--General Lee