We have a ton of former JB pilots at United. Keep in mind that your 6 years seniority doesn’t mean than much when most of the pilots ahead of you aren’t retiring. So United’s JB really grows, you are going to stagnate. At Delta you’d be moving very quickly and have more pilots junior to you in a couple years than you ever would have at JB.

 

JB will not survive the next downturn. They are only profitable because its easy to be profitable right now. They have lost almost half their market value in the last 5 years while every other airline (Except American) is increasing. JB has no feed, so the network carriers will wipe them out in the next downturn.

Leave while you can.

 

Meh, I'm far from a JetBlue cheerleader, but you're off on a couple points here. Market cap is absolutely not indicative of the company's financial health, and we were printing money a couple years ago when not everyone was. We were in far more danger of going out of business in the '08-11 slowdown, and didn't furlough a single pilot. For the most part we are our own feed with the E190s.

That said, the legacies (with the possible exception of AA) are in far better leadership positions right now. Our management is the worst we've had in my time here, and can't decide if they want to be Spirit, Allegiant, or the old Midwest Express. I don't think we're going anywhere, but I'm also 43, live in base, and have 12-plus years on property, so I have the golden handcuffs on. If I was the OP and had the opportunity listed here, I'd be gone in a second.

He/she will have company culture, flying opportunities, and general lack of buffoonery that I believe probably won't ever exist here.

 

STAY...
Jet Blue will be a Southwest acquisition in a year or two!

 

In the spring of 1988 my Marine buddy had two job offers....Northwest and Pan Am. In 1988 Pan Am was the largest international airline in the world....he chose Pan Am. Fast forward 30 years, he is flying with me at Sun Country. The airline industry is very unpredictable. This is the advice I give every young FO who flies with me and I will give to you.....You do what is right for you and your family in the moment in time, and hope for the best. Wishing you the best in your decision.

 

Whatever you choose, move to where you are based.

It’s a game changer.

 

The airline industry was very predictable back then. The new consolidated airlines are very predictable with strong pricing power due to lack of competition. Oligopolies. Warren Buffett, a man who knows an oligopoly when he see one, has returned to investing in airlines. Rumors have it Berkshire is looking into purchasing Delta or SWA outright.

That being said jetBlue is going anywhere. They are a small airline but have a strong balance sheet puts then in good position to weather a downturn. Long term due to their size a merger is a near certainty. The question is who. My guess would be David Neeleman returns to power at jetBlue after a merger with Moxy in 5-10 years.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

 

Meh.

Some commutes are radically different than others. And then there is the psychology factor.

Having done both extensively, commuting in many cases, with the right mindset, isn't bad at all. Some "locals" have it way, way worse. Many of the so called "locals" in NYC for example with their 3+ hour drives in traffic getting up at 2AM (after an obvious 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep...) digging and chipping their cars out of employee lot blizzard ice storms whilst bragging about "sleeping in my own bed" while the commuter in many cases is home before they are, etc.

I wouldn't live in NYC/LA regardless, and the nature of the job really doesn't make any domicile safe, save for ATL for DL as long as DL exists. But even then unless you like the flat hot speed trap stepford wives south side experience or want to be a skyscraper urbanite (ew) or want to overspend 5-10X for trendy neighborhoods (VA Highlands, Morningside, maybe Vinings, etc) then it rapidly gets to be diminishing returns. Some people for example just love what the outter parts of CHA/AVL/GSP lake area etc have to offer and the short easy and driveable commute is way better than what many "locals" deal with all things considered.

Then there is the reality of family. Its in our cultural zeitgeist/DNA to think we're the alphas of the family and the military makes people move every 5 minutes so suck it up right? But the reality is that not everyone can move, and many who can don't want to because doing so would create more hardship than it solves in some cases. Some spousal and family considerations like someone else's work, school, elder care, extended family support structure, etc make commuting much, much easier than living in base overall.

The psychology factor is usually more of a factor though, and some folks just aren't wired for it. Miss a single flight and it ruins their month with stress, while others price that in and roll with it. I know someone who came from a regional who commuted for a decade no problem. Got to DL and commuted, with a much better schedule...on the same city pair!...and suddenly had the ability to book the jumpseat he didn't have before. Well the psychology of occasionally losing out when someone else booked it (even when there were 80 seats in back open) blew his mind hole so bad and caused him so much exreme anxiety of losing out of a 12:00:01 booking to someone's sposebot that he had to move to base housing even though no one in the family wanted to.

Then you have those making a quarter to half million a year but who stress about a $250 or less a month crashpad or 50-100 a night rooms. They'll iron man it on the quiet room floor before they'll spend a pittance for single occupancy lodging. Others "price in" that not only financially but more importantly mentally, just roll with it and enjoy life living wherever they want with a great QOL and income. If you can't do that, then you need to move to base. If you can, you get to live wherever you want and wherever is best for your family.

 

You have an interesting view of JetBlue financials. Are you aware that JetBlue has one of the best balance sheets in the industry? Very low debt, buying back over a billion in stock, and paying cash for airplanes. Over 151 Firm aircraft orders through 2025 including A320/321 NEOs not to mention the 70 A220-300s, as well as the LR/XLR orders. I.E. A fuel efficient fleet with low maintenance cost.

Curious if you could tell us again how a profitable company with a healthy balance sheet, and a fuel efficient fleet with low maintenance costs and low debt doesn’t survive a downturn in this industry? I would offer that you may be confused on what type of balance sheet survives a downturn.

Our friends at the Legacies have been forecasting JetBlue’s demise for 20 years now. The airline continues to be profitable, offering a superior product with great customer service that consistently wins awards year after year. JetBlue will do just fine.

Now to offer an opinion on the original posters question, I would agree with some others on here. Tough call depending on your age, but if you’re young Delta, if you’re old JetBlue. Also if you can live in either airlines domicile that’s a game changing deciding factor to consider.

 

I'm guessing your "O2" is a little low on "O".