QOL
 

I’ve got a decision to make; go to JetBlue or stay at my regional captain job. With my current job soon paying money that I won’t see again till I’m in the left seat at JetBlue, not to mention the prospect of having to move or commute, I’m not sure it’s a clear decision.

The one thing that may tip the scale in JetBlues favor could be quality of life; and by quality of life I largely mean number of days off per month. Next month I’m scheduled for just 11 at my regional job.

How many days off does a reserve at JetBlue get? A junior lineholder? Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence?

Go to Blue, if it's not for you it probably makes you more hireable to the big 3.

Short Call reserves get 13-14 days off a month. First day can't start before 10am
Long Call (14 hour callout) 12-13 days a month. First day can't start until 1400

Don’t make the decision in a vacuum. One day the money looks great and the next every major airline has a new contract and you are way behind again. I fly perma reserve by choice. I live in base and work approx 7 day a month and I think that’s a stretch. I get sick of being home so much but I want to be home with my family will kids are young. Also, pay rates on APC are inaccurate as well as pilot and aircraft count. Many of us have sent updates but the apparently don’t GAS.

What are the current FO rates?

What is the minimum call out for SCR?

2:30 hrs is the minimum. Some co-bases might have an extra 30’ on top of that.

Here ya go.


EDIT: well what do you know? APC just update the JB profile.

Except they used the A221 rates and not the A223 rates…which are the only ones that matter currently.

The aircraft count is wrong too. We retired 190’s.

They’ve parked some. Still own/lease them though. That’s a bit harder to stay on top of until they are returned to lessors, sold, or scrapped, so I can cut them some slack there. But putting up payrates for planes that aren’t on property nor on order (outside a few options to convert to 221) instead of the pertinent rates of the planes on order/on property (ie 223) is a little harder to cut slack for.

stay where u are so we can get paid more here please.

so is Jb in negotiations for a TA?

how long to hold a line in NY on the 320?

Like…. 2 months.

In base the QOL here is great. The operation drives me nuts sometimes, but I enjoy the people I work with, and there’s a ton of chances to make some serious bank. Or just work your schedule and enjoy 16-17 days off a month. Commuting is another story, so seriously consider where you want to live. In base here crushes commuting for the big 4, IMO, but if you’re a commuter regardless… probably a different story.

To answer the original post: I’d never go back to a regional, even if it does pay more. My friends who are still at the regionals are getting brutalized. The grass really is WAY greener when it comes to how hard you’re working at a major vs. a regional.

What’s your end game? Staying a regional Captain usually doesn’t make sense long term for most people and situations. Sometimes it makes sense in the near term while waiting to transition to a legacy etc. but in most 5+ year time horizon a place like JetBlue will win hands down over a regional.

I go back and forth on the whole regional pay raises vs coming to B6 etc. I'm still new here and so far love the decision of coming to B6 even as a commuter. As others have said the operation can be a mess sometimes but even being on reserve as a commuter (got a line next month after 4 months of reserve 2 on short call and 2 on long call) is leaps and bounds better then being a line holder commuting to my regional. So many variables about whether they extend the pay rates at the regionals when they expire. The 401k here vs the regionals is leaps and bounds better. Recession could upturn everything. I was just always told get into the regionals and get out asap because at anytime everything can shut down and where would you rather be? A regional or a major when the music stops. Different strokes for different folks.

Another issue you may want to consider is the viability of the regional model. Regionals are starting to fail and yeah, right now their pilots are being scarfed up by other regionals - sometimes even with longevity (but not seniority) respected and Lord knows anyone wanting to be a DEC has their opportunities, but how long that’s sustainable is anyones guess. It may be a question of jumping in now while the movement is pretty good at the majors or being forced to jump in anyway later when - with a bevy of your regional brethren - a major regional goes under.

Totally agree, so many were burned (lifers) by the regional model, comair comes to mind but there are countless others.

I'm at Spirit, former Xjet. As all have said working at a major, any major, is light years better than any regional. Xjet was a good place to work and we had a lot of senior lifer captains. Look how that worked out.

Interested to hear how the QoL is on the E190 right now, mainly regarding commutability. I know it's changing a lot due to reducing the fleet etc., and I've read through all the threads a few times. Got a class date next month and I'm stoked! I'm stuck in my area for at least a couple years (the better half has a real job) so I'll be commuting from CMH for a couple years before ultimately moving to base. Was planning on bidding the 320 in class, but I've been thinking more about bidding the 190 and hanging out on that for the first few years while I'm commuting. We've got 20-24 daily flights to NYC (12-14 to JFK/LGA, thanks RPA) out of CMH, so in theory the commute shouldn't be totally miserable. Is there still a good amount of movement on the 190 with the reduced flying? Ideally I'd like to sit reserve as short as possible and my priority is holding commutable lines, regardless of fleet. Is the 190 a good choice, or should I just try and bid the 320? JFK is the priority for me, regardless of fleet.

320 will have better commutability. I’d stay away from the 190 unless you were a local in JFK. .

Also consider that they park the airplanes prior to moving 190 pilots to other fleets. As the 190 fleet is drawn down, there will be more pilots going to reserve, not less.

Thanks for the input guys! Makes sense. Definitely sounds like 320 is the way to go for my situation then. BOS is a slightly tougher commute for me. If you get BOS 320 out of training about how long would it take to hold JFK? Sorry if these are all dumb questions, read through all the threads multiple times and just trying to get a good picture of what to expect!

They're both pretty junior, I think. You can try to do a base swap every month with someone else trying to get to Boston, as long as you're not SQ. Failing that, a supplemental or annual system bid will get you right over, and I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to. It's all a matter of timing at that point (Getting on property at the right time to get a bid in, not for the seniority to hold).

The 190 was good to me for the first year; don’t sweat it if you cant get the bus. You move up FAST on the 190 and can easily bid for commutable trips, then bail after a year if you want to gtfo before the drawdown.

How many legs per day can a junior FO average per day ?

prior regional/135 guy here: I typically average 2-5 Legs a day

Depends on the fleet.

Airbus: 1-2
190: 3-4
220: 🤷🏼‍♂️

Whatever it is, it seems the average is increasing with the pairings getting worse. Trying to stuff more legs into every nook and cranny.

220: 1-3……..

But but….“industry leading pairing construction”. Hopefully people will have a more critical eye next time they are sold something.

Recently flew with a guy that said there was a meeting with a group of CKA and Warren Christie lately at JBU and they brought up how much our QOL has taken a hit lately with these crap pairings and he basically said well don’t expect that to change….
THEY
DON’T
GAF what we think….
Its all about the bottom dollar.

They can squeeze a couple more percent of productivity by ruining our QOL and the pairings... But they I'm sure have seen an increase in sick calls and have or will see an increase in attrition as guys that might otherwise be on the fence can't take it anymore.

It's very short sighted to try and save money this way as ruining pilot morale harms the airline in so many ways.

I am totally shocked no way WC would say that. He is on our side he wants to help the pilots he knows we should be paid more. :)

He’s a military man, so we can trust him :p

Everybody ought to go read the AS proposal, not that it is necessarily the be-all and end-all, but because it does have some good things that you might want to incorporate in the CBA and the JCBA - DOJ willing. With luck you will get two bites at the apple this cycle with no feet dragging by management on the second one.

I really like the 150 percent reassignment and 2 hr late fee paid to the pilots.

QOL in Boston
 

How long would it take to hold weekends off on reserve in Boston?

1-3 months after IOE. I got it the month after IOE ended on SCR and two months after that on LCR.

*on the 190. Don’t know about other fleets but I don’t think that much longer.

I was in a Jan class this year, BOS 190. Second bidding month after OE was May and I was holding every weekend off on SCR. Been bidding short call since and having every Saturday Sunday Monday off. Bid for a line in October, every weekend off as well, just had to trade a bit, but I was originally awarded a line only working 2 Saturdays.

Any update on SQ reserve times? BOS/JFK?