Originally Posted by
Anonymous2092
Yet another "Stay or Leave" post.
I've been at B6 for coming up on 4 years now, based in MCO. I came here because I wanted to live in FL, and I didn't want to be furloughed. I'd been holding out on leaving because of fears of a furlough back when everyone in my class left. Now it's been years, and all my classmates that went to legacies are having a ball while we've been struggling to grow. I was feeling, a bit optimistic back when I thought we might gain Spirit's route network, but now that thats all fallen through and with all the downgrades coming, I just feel like I sold myself short. Now don't get me wrong, B6 has been good to me, but I'd be lying if I said I really look forward to the next 30+ years at this moment in time. Now with an april class date offer from UAL, I'm stuck wondering if the possibility of a furlough in the near future is worth the risk. The economy isn't looking great right now, and hiring is starting to slow down. I've got good senioriy at B6 with 1,200 below me, but I'm not sure if thats saying much when I fly with 12+ year captains on reserve.
Things worth noting:
- 32
- no kids
- no wife
- no debt
- no mortgage
- widebody flying seems cool, but isn't a main driver
- don't mind commuting for now if I know it'll be worth the long-term gain
All things being equal, I feel relatively good about JetBlue's future, but thats only because I think we will be bought in the next 2-4 years. Is it worth staying to find out? WWYD?
I look at it from an entirely different perspective, job security but hear me out. With the sheer amount of flying increases, it statistically becomes more and more possible that someone will fold up and airplane and have 150-180 letters to write plus the legal fallout afterwards. United would absolutely survive such a catastrophic event. B6 may, but I'd argue it is significantly less certain.
Economic downturn aside since no one knows, United will better shield you from furlough based on what someone else said which is absolutely true... we're too big to fail barring serious corporate criminal activity.
Folding up a narrow body into a smoking hole has been estimated to cost approximately 2 billion when it's said and done. As I said, B6 could probably stomach the financials but doubtful it would survive the decade backlash afterwards. I'm not saying United would simply shrug it off but the financial aspect is a non issue and the brand, IMHO, would recover far faster.
For all of the 737's faults, it is a seniority rocket ship so you'd be able to recover seniority relatively quickly.
Finally, if you just get tired of flying the same airplane to the same routes over and over, a switch is always nearby. That can be a non tangible goldmine as life deals you unexpected changes in the future.
The grass is greener if you want to see it