Originally Posted by
dontsurf
funny how earnings calls only seem to mention "costs associated with the newly unionized pilots' contract". i take it no financial reporters read this board, and know nothing of the pathetic way that jetblue operates? if they did, it would seem like some of them would ask questions about this. what questions should they ask?
1. why is crew services not a cost center? they can spend a million dollars to crew just one flight, and they are happy because the flight is not cancelled. then flight ops is stuck with a million dollar "minus" on their balance sheet.
2. over the past 3 months/6 months/9 months, how much extra has jetblue paid for staffing flights with pilots, compared to how much they would have paid if the airline were staffed with an appropriate number of people and had better operational procedures in place?
what else?
If JB is given a bucket that can hold 5lbs of poop then they will always try to put 10lbs in. Give them a 10lb bucket and they will try to put 20lbs in.
We staff the airline for blue sky days in September. Understaffing beyond that is part of the plan. Paying millions of dollars in VDA/RSA is the plan. They (or any airline really) will never staff the airline for levels associated with peak summer schedules all year round. It is more cost effective to pay overtime vs hiring new employees (cost of training, benefits, etc). I have never met an airline pilot anywhere who says "You know, staffing is looking great for the 4th of July. I might drop my trip"