Will you bid the SJU base?
 

Any takers for the newly announced base?


Meant to post a poll with it but curious, and as to which seat you’ll bid.

No way, Jose

I bet a lot of the junior BOS 190 CAs losing their seats will get them back with SJU 320 CA if they want.

Young and/or single? SJU is going to be quite the place to be.

I am MCO based currently. I am thinking about it for a possible upgrade based on seniority. And I heard there are tax advantages as well. Does anyone know the details of that? Any references other than you heard about it somewhere?

That's how F9 management sold it to us. Turns out the tax advantages are completely offset by the astronomical cost of living and are only if you physically live on the island. Then after we figured it out, they told us to get roommates to afford living there.

My understanding is you avoid federal tax, but local Puerto Rico income tax winds up being about the same or worse.

https://relocatepuertorico.com/guide...n-puerto-rico/

https://i0.wp.com/relocatepuertorico...g?w=1120&ssl=1

There have been quite a few threads about mainland/expat life in Puerto Rico on Reddit if you do a little searching. Decided it wasn't for me and my wife, but looked into it.

1..2..3.. not it.

Maybe we can start a new reality TV show: New Hire Island.

And anything for an upgrade territory!

Go from 0 % EI Tax to 33% that'll sober you up in a New York Minute. Advantages....sounds like a penalty to me. Better get that Calculator out and crunch....... and see ....... if you are counting on your upgrade to augment your collection of gold coins.

But, thats only if he clains residency there, right? As a commuter, he's ok.

It is checkout time at the Holiday Inn Express, but I believe you are correct. If your tax status is still in the mainland then you file a federal return and arent subject to the local PR income tax.

Interesting.

There was a (very smalltime) rumor going around at Spirit a few years ago that we were going to open a SJU base to stage Deep South routes that couldn't be hit from Florida. Looks like JB is at least trying.

At this point they are billing it as a way to help operational reliability and having crews/planes in SJU for when it hits the fan in NE/FL. SJU has the most non-hub flying of any city we serve, so makes some sense to get crews based down there. Particularly considering the recent change in law affecting locally based airline employees and healthcare options.

Puerto Rico Law

But I like what youre thinking regarding deep south routes from SJU. We could hit all of Brazil with 321neos

SJU-Brazil route map

I guess the issue is the underlying demand in SJU-Brazil is weak, compared to FLL-Brazil which would be a better connect point considering the local market in S.FL

I mean like good for them if thats their plan but I wouldn't put any 🇮🇳 rupees on it. Aside from the Spanish
language, (excluding Brazil of course) Puerto Rico has like very little cross community connections with South American countries, diasporic, commercial, or touristic.

The airport only has 1 flight to the continent currently Avianca to Bogota.

Grain of salt
 

So....I'd take a LOT of the negative responses here (I.e., the ones saying this is the worst thing EVER) as potentially being biased. I've heard a lot of local PR natives giving disinformation in the hope that others will NOT bid to San Juan. This is BS, so you should look into this on your own. One guy I saw at JBU who was a 320 CA basically said the taxes were nothing compared to the US system. Also, there is some sort of exemption JBU has got in the works for its pilots.

Bottom line, the guys saying "oh yeah, wait until you see the PR tax rates, so don't come down here, are likely people that already live in Puerto Rico and don't want YOU to mess up their potential seniority.

Pilots misleading pilots for personal gain? Heavens!

As a native from PR, that it’s not a JetBlue pilot…

PR taxes are pretty bad. The cars are super expensive, roads are crap, driving is like NY/Miami and enjoy the energy grid.


The eagle guys used to call it “the rock”, you either love it or hate it. There’s no, in between…

Also, non reving there is like a sandbox, you can make it in, good luck getting out.

Ahh…the rock. Did a month of that purgatory before I ejected to Miami since I got the base change still in training. Then they got rid of the prop beast and I was back to Dallas for training again after not even 6 months at the company.

None of you guys are considering the mofongo!!!
It's f'ing awesome

Just want to give you guys a heads up, here at F9 ours SJU base has come with a lot of issues, mainly taxes and benefits.

Even if commuting, you are still technically "employed" there which leads to a lot of tax things that our union had trouble figuring out with the company. Stuff such as no HSA being allowed, lower limits of Roth IRAs, less doctors within United Healthcare's benefit rings, etc.

Have F9 and ALPA been able to come up with a LOA or some way to solve some of these issues with the benefits?

Yes, we did, but it still is a net negative unless you already live down there. Unless you are super deadset on commuting to a junior base and taking a fast upgrade or something, I personally wouldn't do it. For us, it isn't THAT much better than getting CLE or CHI.

You can get that in Orlando. Couple of good places to get it. :D