Originally Posted by
rvr1800
Southerner it is not blind acceptance and agreement. We all agree and stand behind our MEC against this gateway because we legitimately believe it is a degradation of our profession. Not just our jobs at JetBlue but the profession as a whole. It's shortsighted of you to believe that Jetblue has your best interests in mind when they begin a program like this. There are is a large supply of regional guys that will always be available to fill our hiring needs. Not to mention the military guys that can't even get an interview. I'm sure you know plenty at XJT/ASA that can't get an interview here.
If, big IF, there becomes a pilot shortage like you believe there will be, we will have years before it reaches our ranks. Plenty of time for Jetblue to prove this is a necessary program. I personally believe, and 99% of the guys I've spoken to about this, that this will never be a necessary gateway. The regional airlines have already begun to offer better compensation to offset any shortage.
I understand the position on the Gateway 7 to some extent, though I don't think that it is a safety concern at all. That wasn't the "rhetoric" I was talking about. I'm talking about National saying over and over again that there "isn't a shortage," despite a very clear change in pilot supply.
At any rate, I guess since I was so actively involved in a program similar to Gateway 7 and saw great results from it I'm more open to it than others. Some of those people are now here at JetBlue. I can think of a few of them offhand.
And that's fine. We don't all have to agree on everything. I respect your position. Like you, I don't want the company to waste money. It remains to be seen if it will turn out to be a waste or not.
I do not agree that it is a degradation because programs like this have existed for nearly 20 years. This is truly not very different from the "ASA Direct Track" program that was started in the late 1990s.