Qs. for a jetBlue dude?

[Stugatz78]

What kinda trips does one do on the 190 out of JFK? How long are the average legs? Once awarded a line is it hard to commute to on that aircraft? Gracias!

 

[IronCityBlue]

Stugatz,

The 190 does mostly high cycle, short haul flying. I'd say averaging 3, maybe 4 legs a day. There are a few 2 leg, 8 hour power turns but not many. Schedules are sort of AM or PM. Not very many productive trips that are commutable on both ends. Not sure what you mean about "is it hard to commute to on that aircraft" but the plane itself has 2 jumpseats, 1 front 1 back. Any city it flies to other than CLT is about as easy to commute to as any other city on that particular airplane. If you mean commutable schedules as a 190 pilot, again, 1 end of each trip is not too difficult to achieve. Both days takes a good bit of seniority.

 

[On Your Six]

Stugatz,

The 190 does mostly high cycle, short haul flying. I'd say averaging 3, maybe 4 legs a day. There are a few 2 leg, 8 hour power turns but not many. Schedules are sort of AM or PM. Not very many productive trips that are commutable on both ends. Not sure what you mean about "is it hard to commute to on that aircraft" but the plane itself has 2 jumpseats, 1 front 1 back. Any city it flies to other than CLT is about as easy to commute to as any other city on that particular airplane. If you mean commutable schedules as a 190 pilot, again, 1 end of each trip is not too difficult to achieve. Both days takes a good bit of seniority.

I hear the 190 is a great airplane (nice flight deck, HUD, etc.) and fun to fly. That said, the 190 operation at JB is often referred to as "Jet Blue Express" - it is as close to a regional operation as you can get according to some JB guys I know. The 190 doesn't fly any transcon flights and it is well suited for shorter, thinner routes or high frequency routes (JFK-CLT, JFK-RIC, JFK-BOS, etc.). True you do get some longer flights to Austin and Houston Hobby out of JFK I believe but most flights will be shorter.

So, Stugatz, if you do get assigned the 190 at least you will get the "regional" type of experience you were missing...

 

[StarChecker]

I just flew a 2-day with our former VP of Ops.

Here's what he had to say...


-MCO base

-Expansion to the Carribean

-Base somewhere in the midwest as a midpoint for the 190 going to the west coast. So longer legs and better schedules are on the way for the 190.

-all A320 options will be exercised. I believe it's 223 airplanes

-Marketing people have discussed International flying(Europe)

- any attempt to acquire JetBlue would be hostile and therefore very expensive and unlikely. DAL would never get a merger with us past Justice Department due to route overlay

-NO announcement in Oct.

 

[Beechnut]

I just flew a 2-day with our former VP of Ops.

-NO announcement in Oct.

That figures. I've been at the U for the last 6 weeks and all kinds of folks are passing through here talking about that.

I suppose me passing my checkride (hopefully) and sitting reserve in October just isn't big news.

S.

 

[IronCityBlue]

I hear the 190 is a great airplane (nice flight deck, HUD, etc.) and fun to fly. That said, the 190 operation at JB is often referred to as "Jet Blue Express" - it is as close to a regional operation as you can get according to some JB guys I know. The 190 doesn't fly any transcon flights and it is well suited for shorter, thinner routes or high frequency routes (JFK-CLT, JFK-RIC, JFK-BOS, etc.). True you do get some longer flights to Austin and Houston Hobby out of JFK I believe but most flights will be shorter.

So, Stugatz, if you do get assigned the 190 at least you will get the "regional" type of experience you were missing...

I'd concur with all that as well. The only thing I'd add is the 190 is "on the property" versus being outsourced at what would end up being 30-50% off, dragging the 320 and everything else at the company down with it. The pay has come up significantly in a short period of time and there is pressure to bring it up some more. We kind of need 1 or 2 other airlines to either bring it to the mainline and/or simply raise the pay. Not the mythical 18 year Captain pay either, but the pay rates where most pilots actually fly at, years 1 through 4 or 5. I have a sneaky feeling the 190 will be outsourced at a legacy near you by the end of the decade. Once one does it, they will all do it.

But that's just MHO and i really hope I'm wrong. As for everything else he said, again, right on. The 190 does "regional" type flying I guess you could say, but then again so do some of the most deseriable airline gigs, like SWA in general and the DAL Shuttle in particular. A friend of mine at UAL is on the 737 and his schedules are very similar to our 190.

The plane has some long legs actually. NY to SLC is I think its realistic limit even though it doesn't currently do that route. Stage lengths will increase and trip variety coupled with additional bases will help the QOL a good bit.

The flight deck is great as previously mentioned. The HUD combiner takes up a lot of head room, and overall its not nearly as generous as the bus for room, but the avionics are great. The plane had a lot of reliability issues, now it has a few reliability issues. Its making progress in that area rapidly as well.

 

[Loosediamondfl]

THAT ALL SOUNDS GREAT!! HAPPY TO THE NEWS IS COMING!! I THINK THE CARIBBEAN MARKET IS A SMART MOVE ON JB'S PART!! NOW THAT AIRTRAN IS OUT OF THE INTERNATIONAL FLYING. SO WHEN DOES ONE HEAR BACK OFFICIALLY ON YOUR EXPECTED TRAINING DATE OF OCT 10TH. THE BACKGROUNDS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON SINCE SEPT 7TH. DOES ANYONE KNOW? DO THEY EMAIL YOU OR CALL YOU, OR MAIL YOU A PACKET FOR TRAINING WITH YOUR HOTEL?? PLZ GIVE ME INFO IF ANYONE HAS IT. THANKS SO MUCH
MCO

 

[IronCityBlue]

If you've been hired already then you will get all the info from the company that you need either by phone or email. Oh and if its not too much of a hassle, dropping the caps would be a nice touch, as well as the lavender text.:nuts:

 

[Loosediamondfl]

no problem!! so it really takes that long for the background and job verifications? since my fingerprints and drug test were done on Sept 4

 

[Stugatz78]

Thanks IronCityBlue. What I meant about the commuting was, I'm going to commute from the west coast and was wondering if I could commute in time to be at work on the first day and then possibly get back out on my last??