Originally Posted by
coopervane
After learning of the company's attitude towards our contribution to this organization, I cannot endorse jetblue as a viable career or even transitional employer.
I came from a dying regional. I so badly wanted to work at an airline run by adults, who do the right thing......MOST of the time. All I've ever known in my airline career is "death by 1000 cuts"....an endless downward slide of my QOL all in the name of whipsawing and cost cutting. I was excited to finally work for an airline that valued MY contribution....where I wasn't treated like a line item expense to be managed.
I gave up on Delta/UA/AA/SWA and decided to hang my hat here. I wasn't disappointed for the first year. Things were looking up....plenty of aircraft on order. HAPPY crews for the most part. OK pay rates and in negotiations. Delta has a ceremony for new hires.....nice dinner with your spouse and a "welcome aboard" fair enough. I was one of the first classes at JB to be told "we are not allowing spouses to join you for indoc.....it's too darn expensive.....welcome to jetblue" hmmmmmm a sign of things to come.
We all have our disagreements, and negotiations are always tedious. But..........I'm seeing it again. A management that wants to barely get by while increasing profits. A mentality of "you don't build a church for Easter Sunday" Cutting MTC staffing, taking more and more power away from Captains authority.......Up to making us wear garbagemen uniforms and pressuring us to clean airplanes "or else". I cleaned my share of aircraft.....I was glad to. Did it at my regional to help get my crew home a little quicker. But when you THREATEN me with punitive measures I kinda change my attitude about helping out.
So.....to my buddies with apps in at jetBlue. I recommend you focus on the big 4. Don't waste your time. I'm focusing on getting out.......I don't have the time or inclination to "wait it out".......AGAIN. I been down that road and it never materialized.
Will it get better here. It will....it HAS to, or people will depart in droves. But everybody here is delusional about it happening in the next year or so, barring a watershed event. By then who knows what the economy will look like.
Don't apply here unless you are at a dying regional and have no other options.
This is JUST my opinion.
While I agree with you for the most part , I will say that I'd still recommend JB to people at the regionals.
I have been here for just over a year now and like many others came here from a dying regional, senior FOs and CAs bouncing out to other regionals.. that bad.
are we underpaid ? Yes. Are our benefits and work rules less superior to the big 4 ? Sure. But that's why we voted in a union so we can finally get a contract that's on par with the rest of the industry. Obviously a contract isn't gonna happen overnight and I dont want it to, I rather wait longer than have the union throw crap TAs our way that will just get rejected .
But even with all the crap the company pulls I still think this isn't a bad place to be, whether you are hanging hat here or waiting on a call from the legacys. Do I have my stuff in with the other guys , yes. But updating my app every few months is about the most of amount of effort I'm gonna put in. And trust me, I really do applaud the guys that put way more effort in by going to job fairs or networking more, but I just don't have the time or the urge too.
This place will get better, it's still young company that's trying to figure stuff out. While it might be a long and annoying journey to make this place a legit contender amongst the other companies , it still beats sitting around at regional where all it takes is for a CEO of one of the legacys to come up with a great idea to give away your flying to another regional because you are too expensive .
Obviously this is just my own opinion.