Kalitta Air or Jet Blue

[75 Driver]

17 days on the road, not going to do anything but get longer with time.

No Connie, no company that fantasy just will not fly.

The other thing to look at is do you really want to spend a majority of your life with the kind of folks that are there. Was sitting in the Hotel in JFK the other day next to a Connie crew. Counted how many times the word F#ck was used in about sixty seconds (figured he was going for a record) , 16 times this mensa warrior used the word in a place that had children and normal people within ear shot. Everybody in the room kept flashing glares at this idiot and all it did was make him increase his volume.

You are what you eat and you become what you hang with, I would not wish that on anbody. So JetJock it is your life, where it goes is up to you.

Still a no brainer.....

 

[Redmeat]

With very good prospects for a job at either airline, what airline would you choose?

The 747 would be a fun airplane with fun flying (for awhile) and the schedule (blocks of time off) would be great for a younger person or one with no family at home.

Kalitta Air could be gone this time next year, A'la AIA (chalk me up as one who does not believe the operation will survive long without Connie).
JB is a publicly traded airline with enough forward moving critical mass that for it to disappear things would REALLY be bad for everybody in the industry.

Not sure of your age, but one of these days, maybe sooner maybe later, you are gonna wake up in the morning and the last thing you would like to do is go to the airport and go away on a trip. At that point I would venture to guess that JB would be the much easier (read: livable) job to do until retirement...
YMMV

 

[Classicdriver]

I have to say, a lot more guys have left Atlas to go to JB, than the other way around.

 

[GittinFatter]

The non-sked freight business ain't for everyone. The people here seem to like it. We have guys furloughed from American that have no near plan to return. We have a lot of ATA guys here that like it. if you want to fly domesticly for the rest of your life, go ahead. If you want to see the world, have some fun, fly a whale, be able to tell some cool stories, Kalitta is the place. We have the 2 finest 747 sims in the world. WE are expanding. numerous second year year F/O's have broken 100K.
There have been many airlines that have have gone out of business that everyone thought were untouchable. no airline is safe! Just ask anyone who has been in the business 20 years.

 

[GogglesPisano]

I have a FlyI alum who spent 2 years at Kalitta and is now an E190 FO at JB and couldn't be happier.

Seeing the world is nice, but don't think for a minute that you're not going to be out for 18 days straight and spending a good amount of time in the middle seat in coach (at least that was the policy at another nonsked where I did my postgrad work.) That may not be the case at Kalitta but definitely ask.

The majors have pass benefits, better (read easier) training, more egalitarian/automated scheduling protocols, and generally a better culture.

The nonskeds have home basing (nice if you live in small town in the middle of nowhere) and the potential for a lot of fun on overnights. But even a 3-day layover in Honolulu isn't going to be very fun if you miss your kids. You're also dealing with a much smaller company where your schedule and income can be based more on whether you're in the good graces of a scheduler than your seniority (again, I speak from experience.)

In the end you have to ask yourself where you want to reitre.

 

[lionflyer]

I was in a similar situation. I declined an interview with Jetblue for the reason that there was no way I was going to commute to NYC for $40/hr in the 190 with a 7+ year upgrade (at the time anyway). Yes I know they make more now. You get used to the 17 days and being home for 13-14 days straight is nice. The Co pays for your ticket to work so you can live where you want. You'll definitely make more money at Kalitta. My only grip about Kalitta is the 18hr duty days we sometime do (which will hopefully be dead & buried in a few months) and the complete clusterf&%$ that is our scheduling dept. There is no accountabily and it's run like it's 1965. Connie says there is a plan for when he is gone but I don't know. Roll the dice and take your chances. I certainly don't think Doug is cabable of running it. I think we'll eventually be sold or merged with someone because the Co is a goldmine.

 

[PUNISHER]

I was in a similar situation. I declined an interview with Jetblue for the reason that there was no way I was going to commute to NYC for $40/hr in the 190 with a 7+ year upgrade (at the time anyway). Yes I know they make more now. You get used to the 17 days and being home for 13-14 days straight is nice. The Co pays for your ticket to work so you can live where you want. You'll definitely make more money at Kalitta. My only grip about Kalitta is the 18hr duty days we sometime do (which will hopefully be dead & buried in a few months) and the complete clusterf&%$ that is our scheduling dept. There is no accountabily and it's run like it's 1965. Connie says there is a plan for when he is gone but I don't know. Roll the dice and take your chances. I certainly don't think Doug is cabable of running it. I think we'll eventually be sold or merged with someone because the Co is a goldmine.

Just curious why you think Doug is not capable of running K4?

 

[spitfire1500]

Let's see: fly for a sh#tbag outfit with an single owner who could clutch his chest at any moment. Or he might just just get tired of this current set of "crybabies" (his words), or work for a company actively traded in the public forum with real schedules.

This is really a tough one.....

......yea go to Atlas!!

 

[johnsonrod]

I have a FlyI alum who spent 2 years at Kalitta and is now an E190 FO at JB and couldn't be happier.

Seeing the world is nice, but don't think for a minute that you're not going to be out for 18 days straight and spending a good amount of time in the middle seat in coach (at least that was the policy at another nonsked where I did my postgrad work.) That may not be the case at Kalitta but definitely ask.

The majors have pass benefits, better (read easier) training, more egalitarian/automated scheduling protocols, and generally a better culture.

The nonskeds have home basing (nice if you live in small town in the middle of nowhere) and the potential for a lot of fun on overnights. But even a 3-day layover in Honolulu isn't going to be very fun if you miss your kids. You're also dealing with a much smaller company where your schedule and income can be based more on whether you're in the good graces of a scheduler than your seniority (again, I speak from experience.)

In the end you have to ask yourself where you want to reitre.

3-days in sunny HNL? Sounds like a good job if you WANT to get away from your nagging wife and punk kids (joking)... Everyone is different - I guess it is a matter of perspective.

 

[GogglesPisano]

And before anyone corrects my spelling "reitre" is French-Dyslexic-Canut for "retire." :erm: