Questions for senior JetBlue people

[Flyer1015]

When did jetBlue IPO? And what did the pilots get? Shares? Stock options? Approx how much did each pilot get at the time of the IPO payout?


Thank you.

 

[Blue Dude]

The IPO was in 2002 (April?) and the pilots got options for 6000 shares (more after splitting), to be vested over several years (I don't remember the exact schedule) and expiring after 10 years. The plan was to assign the strike price for the options at the market price of the shares at the time the options were issued. Pre-IPO, that was very low, in the single digits. The IPO set the price at $27 (the equivalent now of $8, post splits), the shares went up from there for a time so the strike prices were set very high (now $20-$30). This means that a number of pilots couldn't exercise their shares because after Wall Street came off their crack high, the options expired without ever being in the money after vesting. Then a few years ago, they stopped issuing stock options to pilots. Since then many old options expired unused and the share price just rose significantly for the first time in 8 years.

A lot of pilots were left out in the cold, but management was just fine. They got stock grants, not options, and not a one time grant either. Their "strike price": $0. Pre-IPO pilots did OK (those hired in the first 2 years or so), some really OK, but nobody made the millions that was being touted early on. Pilots hired from 2007 to whenever the options stopped are in the money now but total haul is somewhere in the 5 figure range unless something really dramatic happens before their options expire.

Consider it a bonus that may or may not be worth anything. You can't count on it being part of your compensation or career earnings, no matter what your managers are telling you.

 

[BeachBummer]

If you have the chance. Cash out early, cash out often. May not have the opportunity later.

 

[oldxfr8dog]

After all the splits, my strike price was about 9.50.
My options expired a little over 2 years ago. At that time, if the stock just about doubled I would have broken even.
If they work, cool.
But, don't count on them...

 

[Flyer1015]

Oh ok thank you. Still sounds like a much better deal than the one shaking out for VX.

 

[B6Busdriver]

Most of us got the shaft. My options expired, guys juior to me getting $$$ from theirs.