hiflier -- I retired from the AF after 20 years and felt the same way you do about the transition to the airlines. I too wanted to continue flying and didn't see the AF as providing that opportunity much past 20. I wanted to go somewhere fun--where I could be excited to go to work every day. Those who are only interested in money and time off flamed me because they simply did not understand.
Well I can tell you that jetBlue is the perfect company for me. Every day has been fun and exciting, and it just keeps getting better every day. The people at all levels--from top management to our contracted skycaps--are great. The company has done a very good job of hiring people who embody the core values of Safety, Caring, Integrity, Fun, and Passion. I could go on for pages about the great things at jetBlue, but let me put it this way instead. After getting a big drink of blue Kool-aid on day one of indoc, we all looked at each other and asked ourselves, "Could it all really be this good? Have we died and gone to heaven?" To our surprise, it just kept getting better and better every day. The more we learned about the company, the more we liked it.
And if that weren't enough, flying the A320 is really a kick--leading-edge airliner technology that puts most of the aging AF iron to shame. (Loved flying a Cat IIIB ILS into a very foggy JFK last night!)
There are still issues within the company that need to be worked and things that could be improved. The radical thing here is that the leadership has probably already identified the issue and is probably already working a solution to the problem. If they are not working it, they probably don't know about it--so they welcome input about ideas for improvement in all aspects of the company.
So why am I selling blue Kool-aid here? Are they paying me to be a cheerleader with blue pom poms? Well, not exactly. Like those before me, we are all interested in getting top quality people, with a passion for flying and who embody our core values into this company. Ultimately the people will make this company a success and management knows it. That's why they are more interested in the quality of the people and their values than your logbook--after you meet the minimums. If you are one of those kinds of people, I highly encourage you to give jetBlue a try. Once you get here, you'll be astonished at the quality of this company and their ability to breed success. Good luck. -- dgs
