Originally Posted by
Celeste
My opinion: this program is a slap in the face to every regional pilot with an app in at JetBlue.
When I was at WIA a month ago, the folks at the JB booth looked at my resume with 3000 TT, and told me they wouldn't even consider me until I have 6000 hours (and presumably threw it in the 'shred' pile). Yet they had just hired a bunch of pilots with 0 TT off the street that they are going to train up. That pretty much summarizes what I and a bunch of other regional pilots think of this program....
I completely understand your sentiment and do not support that aspect of the program. Pilots more qualified and with more experience should be given spots ahead of ab-initio graduates. I hope JetBlue still plans for that to be the case.
Keep in mind no one has actually been accepted into this program. The title of this thread is wrong. He has merely been approved to give JetBlue $200 to
continue on with his application. The first graduates of the program wouldn't hit the line until late 2020.
JetBlue is projected to hire almost 400 pilots this year. Assuming all of the first class of 24 graduates finish and start in the projected year of 2020 (which they probably won't), that's ~6% of JetBlue's new pilot pool for the year, with well over 90% of new hires still coming from the Regionals and other operators.
If the supply of new Regional pilots continues to diminish as projected over the coming years (assuming no change in compensation), JetBlue has a model in place to address this. If anything, this puts further pressure on the Regionals to address reduced supply.