Still think we're better off without ALPA?

[StarChecker]

Q3 2011 JetBlue Airways Corp Earnings Conference Call, 10/26/2011

Minute :55

Question from Daniel McKenzie, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Airlines Analyst for Rodman and Renshaw:

“Do we have any labor cost increases that we should be thinking about, I guess, since the pilots decided not to unionize, was there any kind of exchange in terms of compensation we should be thinking about heading into the first quarter or into next year?”

Answer from Mark Powers, Chief Financial Officer for JetBlue Airways:

“None whatsoever”




This is verbatim....I listened to it. My health insurance just went up 13% next year with NO INPUT FROM MY COMMITTEE.

HUGE thanks to 1193 dopes...my family LOVES our new premiums for next year. And how about that retirement work-around. According to Mark Powers....there's "NONE WHATSOEVER".

You guys were right...we're WAY better off without ALPA....

 

[fifty30retard]

Q3 2011 JetBlue Airways Corp Earnings Conference Call, 10/26/2011

Minute :55

Question from Daniel McKenzie, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Airlines Analyst for Rodman and Renshaw:

“Do we have any labor cost increases that we should be thinking about, I guess, since the pilots decided not to unionize, was there any kind of exchange in terms of compensation we should be thinking about heading into the first quarter or into next year?”

Answer from Mark Powers, Chief Financial Officer for JetBlue Airways:

“None whatsoever”




This is verbatim....I listened to it. My health insurance just went up 13% next year with NO INPUT FROM MY COMMITTEE.

HUGE thanks to 1193 dopes...my family LOVES our new premiums for next year. And how about that retirement work-around. According to Mark Powers....there's "NONE WHATSOEVER".

You guys were right...we're WAY better off without ALPA....

It just went up 33%, to $666 a month. Any regional pilot has far better plans, all negotiated by competent representation.

B6 pilots are too stupid to negotiate a thing.

Don't come to this regional which happens to fly airbuses. You'll never be a 320CA and you will pay $666 this year for medical benefits. Next year, the company goes to a "catastrophic care" medical plan. It's only getting worse and the pilots are too stupid to see it. Ever cooked a frog? You do it slowly so they don't notice, it's exactly how Frank Lorenzo's clone Dave Barger is cooking B6 pilots.

Don't come here unless you'd like an eternity in the right seat with really poor benefits and a mediocre retirement.

 

[DonVersteed]

It just went up 33%, to $666 a month. Any regional pilot has far better plans, all negotiated by competent representation.

B6 pilots are too stupid to negotiate a thing.

Don't come to this regional which happens to fly airbuses. You'll never be a 320CA and you will pay $666 this year for medical benefits. Next year, the company goes to a "catastrophic care" medical plan. It's only getting worse and the pilots are too stupid to see it. Ever cooked a frog? You do it slowly so they don't notice, it's exactly how Frank Lorenzo's clone Dave Barger is cooking B6 pilots.

Don't come here unless you'd like an eternity in the right seat with really poor benefits and a mediocre retirement.

Stop reading that crap off of the bluepilots website. It went up to 154 from 141 on a semi-monthly basis. Don't read stuff or believe stuff from a one sided conversation. Guys are quoting the plan that pays 100%. Care 1 is what most people have and that is what I quoted. If you're going to rip get your $hit straight. It went up 26 bucks a month. The care plus plan which you quoted only went up about 10% as well. Unless your fanmily has recuring medical problems or special needs you be stupid if you're not on Care 1. Stop reading what those tards preach on bluepilots. Half of them screw it up. At least don't post it unless you KNOW it's true. All that said any rise in medical prices SUCKS.

 

[BentOver]

FWIW That's more than I pay for my medical at a rinky dink 135....

Also FWIW I still have an app in, lifestyle more than job for me.....

 

[Scape112]

Q3 2011 JetBlue Airways Corp Earnings Conference Call, 10/26/2011

Minute :55

Question from Daniel McKenzie, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Airlines Analyst for Rodman and Renshaw:

“Do we have any labor cost increases that we should be thinking about, I guess, since the pilots decided not to unionize, was there any kind of exchange in terms of compensation we should be thinking about heading into the first quarter or into next year?”

Answer from Mark Powers, Chief Financial Officer for JetBlue Airways:

“None whatsoever”




This is verbatim....I listened to it. My health insurance just went up 13% next year with NO INPUT FROM MY COMMITTEE.

HUGE thanks to 1193 dopes...my family LOVES our new premiums for next year. And how about that retirement work-around. According to Mark Powers....there's "NONE WHATSOEVER".

You guys were right...we're WAY better off without ALPA....

YES we are way better off without ALPA. Now I didnt say we aren't better off without a union, but ALPA would have been the death off this pilot group.

Also there are really only 2 reasons to be on the Plus plan (which is $666 a month for a family). 1. Your having a baby. 2. Someone in your family has a serious medical condition that needs constant treatment and or surgeries. Otherwise your much better off on one the other plans that are much cheaper. The amount of money you save by not being on the plus plan you can put in the bank which will pay for more than double what you MIGHT have to pay in deductibles if something bad happened to you and your loved one.

Plus if you dont like it here then quit. Nobody is forcing you to stay here. If it's so much better at the other airlines then go there. Nobody wants to hear you complain.

 

[n757st]

YES we are way better off without ALPA. Now I didnt say we aren't better off without a union, but ALPA would have been the death off this pilot group.

Also there are really only 2 reasons to be on the Plus plan (which is $666 a month for a family). 1. Your having a baby. 2. Someone in your family has a serious medical condition that needs constant treatment and or surgeries. Otherwise your much better off on one the other plans that are much cheaper. The amount of money you save by not being on the plus plan you can put in the bank which will pay for more than double what you MIGHT have to pay in deductibles if something bad happened to you and your loved one.

Plus if you dont like it here then quit. Nobody is forcing you to stay here. If it's so much better at the other airlines then go there. Nobody wants to hear you complain.

How would ALPA be the death of this group? I'm no ALPA cheerleader, (though I wish we were negotiating our first CBA) but I don't see where you are getting that from...

 

[StarChecker]

Plus if you dont like it here then quit. Nobody is forcing you to stay here. If it's so much better at the other airlines then go there. Nobody wants to hear you complain.

Oh perfect....Dave's wet dream. That's right....don't try to make it better. Just quit. F-ing perfect.

And thanks for the news flash that ALPA's got issues. Not a sane person...including the OC could deny that.

But by voting no to ALPA, you voted yes to substandard pay/ benefits.

You voted yes to NO PROCESS TO FIX THESE THINGS. When was the last time the CBC met with the company to discuss our benefits? One year? Two years? How about three years? Three years of zero input and three years of paying twice what ALPA represented pilots pay at other airlines.

And you voted yes to no CBA. How about a CBA with NEGOTIATED insurance premiums. Premiums that cannot be changed every year.

Exactly what part of this are you happy about?

And thanks again for the No vote....my family is thrilled about it....a$$

 

[Splert]

Also there are really only 2 reasons to be on the Plus plan (which is $666 a month for a family). 1. Your having a baby. 2. Someone in your family has a serious medical condition that needs constant treatment and or surgeries. Otherwise your much better off on one the other plans that are much cheaper. The amount of money you save by not being on the plus plan you can put in the bank which will pay for more than double what you MIGHT have to pay in deductibles if something bad happened to you and your loved one.

Plus if you dont like it here then quit. Nobody is forcing you to stay here. If it's so much better at the other airlines then go there. Nobody wants to hear you complain.

Plus Plan xapped out of pocket expenses (in and out of network and RX) at $3000 a year.

Care1 is $14,000 plus RX expenses.

Plus Plan is great coverage which should have a share of cost of about 20% instead of the 2012 share of cost over over 45%.

 

[kellwolf]

So, can anyone provide a side-by-side comparison of the different plans at B6? I've heard $666, $540, $140, $150 and $740 (from another thread including dental and vision). Be nice to see what each plan offers and for what so those of us not at B6 can follow along.

 

[Blue Dude]

So, can anyone provide a side-by-side comparison of the different plans at B6? I've heard $666, $540, $140, $150 and $740 (from another thread including dental and vision). Be nice to see what each plan offers and for what so those of us not at B6 can follow along.

Nobody can offer what you ask since the company hasn't given that info out yet. All we have is the table comparing premiums. We have no information how the coverage itself (limits, out of pocket, etc.) is going to change. Considering that the benefits window opens in a few days, that in itself is ominous.

On the other hand, we just overwhelmingly voted for an important documents package without seeing the finalized language, so compared to that level of gullibility, this is nothing.

This company is very, very good at aggressively "marketing" its programs and agenda to its employees, without allowing for dissenting views or information to be discussed honestly. We should just trust them to do the right thing and take care of us, you see. The details are unimportant. It's good for us if they say it is. Over and over and over again.

 

[Mach 80]

Ya all need to find the pilot who checks in on the radio with "...up here checking in with you...how ya doing? .." and tell him to knock it off so he won't tie up the frequency with such a long, redundant, useless phraseology. The controller doesn't already knows he's "up here" and that he's "with you" and he knows no one really cares how he is doing.

 

[fifty30retard]

Stop reading that crap off of the bluepilots website. It went up to 154 from 141 on a semi-monthly basis. Don't read stuff or believe stuff from a one sided conversation. Guys are quoting the plan that pays 100%. Care 1 is what most people have and that is what I quoted. If you're going to rip get your $hit straight. It went up 26 bucks a month. The care plus plan which you quoted only went up about 10% as well. Unless your fanmily has recuring medical problems or special needs you be stupid if you're not on Care 1. Stop reading what those tards preach on bluepilots. Half of them screw it up. At least don't post it unless you KNOW it's true. All that said any rise in medical prices SUCKS.

You're a retard. A family of 4 just went up to $740/mo. if you include eyemed, dental, and the top medical plan for a family.

Don't come to jetBlue, you will be impoverished and stuck in the right seat forever.

Don't listen to the messengers here from HR, they're liars.

 

[Fins Up]

Did you know anti-depressants like Xanax are now permitted under the FARs? You should change your "curr position" in your profile. You seem like more of the "smart, skinny and pissed off" kind.

I don't think anyone here is debating your numbers, and you're certainly entitled to express your opinion; but when all of your posts are e-yelling, you lose any real impact. Good luck with your anger.

 

[fifty30retard]

YES we are way better off without ALPA. Now I didnt say we aren't better off without a union, but ALPA would have been the death off this pilot group.

Also there are really only 2 reasons to be on the Plus plan (which is $666 a month for a family). 1. Your having a baby. 2. Someone in your family has a serious medical condition that needs constant treatment and or surgeries. Otherwise your much better off on one the other plans that are much cheaper. The amount of money you save by not being on the plus plan you can put in the bank which will pay for more than double what you MIGHT have to pay in deductibles if something bad happened to you and your loved one.

Plus if you dont like it here then quit. Nobody is forcing you to stay here. If it's so much better at the other airlines then go there. Nobody wants to hear you complain.

I'm not leaving, why should I, I'd rather just watch young dumb rj/milspec folks like yourself suffer in the right seat, whiling away the years in servitude, forever, with no reward of any kind.

 

[fifty30retard]

Did you know anti-depressants like Xanax are now permitted under the FARs? You should change your "curr position" in your profile. You seem like more of the "smart, skinny and pissed off" kind.

I don't think anyone here is debating your numbers, and you're certainly entitled to express your opinion; but when all of your posts are e-yelling, you lose any real impact. Good luck with your anger.

Don't prescribe anything, I'm on jetBlue medical plans and I can't afford any medications......

Seriously? You think your banter will shut up folks who know the drill here? I'm not going anywhere skippy, I've seen the promised land and it isn't B6, with luck, and some gumption (most likely not from you), someday we might have the balls to tell Frank Lorenzo's boy to ante up and treat us like the revenue generating juggernaut ($5 billion with 167 planes) pilot group we are.

In the meantime, he'll get a pass because you and your sniveling little cowards won't stand up for what we pilots deserve.

I'll leave you with an intelligent quip to match yours.......or then again I won't, I'll just be the guy laughing at you the next time we fly together.

 

[Fins Up]

Wow. You're embarrassing yourself. BTW - In case you missed it, I voted for the CBA and I'm not signing the ridiculous amendment whenver it comes out. You really like to spout off about people when you know nothing about them.

 

[fifty30retard]

Wow. You're embarrassing yourself. BTW - In case you missed it, I voted for the CBA and I'm not signing the ridiculous amendment whenver it comes out. You really like to spout off about people when you know nothing about them.

You voted yes? Well in that case you are the very best. Don't go changing, of course, from conversations of late, it appears we had 2130 yes votes for ALPA. No one seems to want to own up to the fact they were played and now we all take a $50,000 hit in our eventual retirements for each year without an ALPA CBA.

 

[CLARKGRSWOLD]

You voted yes? Well in that case you are the very best. Don't go changing, of course, from conversations of late, it appears we had 2130 yes votes for ALPA. No one seems to want to own up to the fact they were played and now we all take a $50,000 hit in our eventual retirements for each year without an ALPA CBA.

okay, the top 1k voted anti union ( they got there's) the bottom 1k voted ALPA same ol story

 

[B6Busdriver]

okay, the top 1k voted anti union ( they got there's) the bottom 1k voted ALPA same ol story

Riiiiiiiight. Not.

 

[DASHDRIVER]

If ALPA is such a distastful idea. Which I happen to agree with. Why not start a drive for your own internal union? As I understand the process there is no cool down required between union card votes. Of course I am no expert.

 

[B6Busdriver]

If ALPA is such a distastful idea. Which I happen to agree with. Why not start a drive for your own internal union? As I understand the process there is no cool down required between union card votes. Of course I am no expert.

How do you finance an inhouse union?
Are you willing to pay assessments to get an inhouse up and running?
Are you willing to pay higher dues then ALPA carriers?
Is it worth it to pay more and get less just to not be part of ALPA?

An inhouse union is pie-in-the-sky. I'll vote for it but I guarantee within 3 years of starting an inhouse folks will realize the need for a union like ALPA.

 

[fifty30retard]

okay, the top 1k voted anti union ( they got there's) the bottom 1k voted ALPA same ol story

Not true, the intelligent folks who live by the core values of the company voted for ALPA, to strengthen the operational integrity of the company and give pilots an equal playing field. A lot of those folks are in the top 1000, and a lot in the top 100. They know the drill.

 

[fifty30retard]

How do you finance an inhouse union?
Are you willing to pay assessments to get an inhouse up and running?
Are you willing to pay higher dues then ALPA carriers?
Is it worth it to pay more and get less just to not be part of ALPA?

An inhouse union is pie-in-the-sky. I'll vote for it but I guarantee within 3 years of starting an inhouse folks will realize the need for a union like ALPA.

Perfect analogy, you need $5,000,000 for an effective start-up. AirTran and Jazz both had access to ALPA's MCF after certification, and B6 would have as well with a similar pilot size.

Would you be willing to be assessed $2,000 individually for an in-house start up? How would the in house fare against a hostile kicked in the teeth management team? What resources would it have? How much would renting professional services from ALPA cost? How much would that assessment be?

Don't fool yourself, the last election was won by a greedy management team intent on keeping you unrepresented so they can keep the revenue for themselves and keep you in a blue fog, anticipating anticipation, and nothing else. ALPA would've been a monetary game changer for them now and they just got a 2 year reprieve from it, and very large bonuses for the delay.

 

[aewanabe]

Comparing apples to oranges...

Stop reading that crap off of the bluepilots website. It went up to 154 from 141 on a semi-monthly basis. Don't read stuff or believe stuff from a one sided conversation. Guys are quoting the plan that pays 100%. Care 1 is what most people have and that is what I quoted. If you're going to rip get your $hit straight. It went up 26 bucks a month. The care plus plan which you quoted only went up about 10% as well. Unless your fanmily has recuring medical problems or special needs you be stupid if you're not on Care 1. Stop reading what those tards preach on bluepilots. Half of them screw it up. At least don't post it unless you KNOW it's true. All that said any rise in medical prices SUCKS.

The white elephant crapping all over your arguement is this: the only reason most of us use Care 1 is because we can't f'in afford the Plus plan. By the way, my crappy regional was also self-insured, and my coverage was slightly better than the Plus plan, with premiums less than Care 1. Which one of our "Values" does that little tidbit fall under?

 

[CitationLover]

I love the statement about health care plans negotiated through a union as having "competent" representation. Haha. Did they hire a benefits consulting firm like Mercer, Towers, or Hewitt? I don't think so. Hate to tell you but those "experts" in benefits that unions employ is like bragging about your doctor who graduated from a Caribbean medical school.

Welcome to real life people and not some fantasy world ALPA sells you on. EVERYONEs medical costs are going up as employers cut back benefits. This isn't anything the airline biz has cornered. jetBlue pilots should be kissing the butts of all those who voted ALPA off property as saving them 2%.

 

[Dizel8]

"Only went up 10%!" Is that like "de minimus?"

Well, the devils will be in the details, so we will have to wait and see. Secondly aewanabe does indeed present a very valid point!

 

[StarChecker]

Welcome to real life people and not some fantasy world ALPA sells you on. EVERYONEs medical costs are going up as employers cut back benefits.

JetBlue pilots pay TWICE what our ALPA represented "colleagues" pay at the other majors.

It's no fantasy. It's quite real. And a CBA would have our negotiated premiums included in it so that they could not be changed every year.

Right now, I have no idea what JetBlue will do to my premiums every year. Indeed, they can do anything, including canceling the entire plan.

How exactly is that better than a CBA? And whose butt should I be kissing? I think a swift kick to the groin would be more appropriate.

 

[fifty30retard]

I love the statement about health care plans negotiated through a union as having "competent" representation. Haha. Did they hire a benefits consulting firm like Mercer, Towers, or Hewitt? I don't think so. Hate to tell you but those "experts" in benefits that unions employ is like bragging about your doctor who graduated from a Caribbean medical school.

Welcome to real life people and not some fantasy world ALPA sells you on. EVERYONEs medical costs are going up as employers cut back benefits. This isn't anything the airline biz has cornered. jetBlue pilots should be kissing the butts of all those who voted ALPA off property as saving them 2%.

American Eagle medical (ALPA) is 33% what jetblue is. You got furloughed from a failed company with no more money. ALPA or any union can't unfvck a bad business model or incompetent management.

 

[CitationLover]

American Eagle medical (ALPA) is 33% what jetblue is. You got furloughed from a failed company with no more money. ALPA or any union can't unfvck a bad business model or incompetent management.

The ad hominem attack is nice but shows you know nothing about medical plans. What does Midwest failing have to do with this?

Whopdee doo about 33% less. What's the coverage parameters: HMO vs PPO? Coinsurance? Lifetime caps? Prescription drugs? In network/out of network parameters?

Sorry but Eagle can spread out costs over all of AMR which is much larger than jetBlue. AMR can drive it's costs downs with providers because the negotiate typically over eagle, American, and corporate. Eagle itself is bigger than jetBlue. In terms of total compensation. (which is what you should be looking at) shall we compare an FO at jetBlue to Eagle?

 

[Sir Innocenti]

ALPA is inefficient and listless, but I DO think that B6 is in need of a union, without doubt. Just not that broken excuse of a union.