Open up the forums page and take a look, read the titles, and then see who starts most of the negative threads. It's you.

I just got to this forum and am dismayed to say the least, there are four or five very negative members feeding upon each others' negativity. It is truely sad.

Your above post is again nothing but the negative. You seem to thrive on complaining, like it is you oxygen upon which you live. After reading the list of threads started by you I decided to register and post.

You are a very sad case. Nothing but Bi*tch Bi*tch Bi*tch. Again, are you ever pleased about anything?? Even your post that stated how happy you were to be here, flying new aircraft became another b*tching post. You need help.

This forum is the JetBlue gripe forum with you as the denmother. Very Sad.

Ask a friend who doesn't have any airline background or interests to read your posts and comments, and let them tell you what they think, I bet they hand you the Yellow pages opened to the Psychiatry [sp?] section, or offer you some of their prozac.

Are there problems here YES! Is creating a gripe forum where everyone feeds on each others gripes going to fix them?? NO! Do something productive.

The only really productive threads are the ones about the Survey . I wish I had read them before doing the survey, I missed a few items when filling out my survey. But not many. I can be negative, but only where it may do some good, not where it infects others.

I DO NOT subscribe to the conspiracy theory that we are being exploited by management to line their pockets.

I DO NOT believe that there are a hundred or more pilots making $170K, there are however many making over $140K. Do the math, it is very difficult to make that kind of change, even with the check airman override, and if a pilot does make that kind of change, then they have like 5-10 days at home a month. Not for me!!

 

Couldn't agree more. A couple of "grassy knoll" types using this forum as their personal comfort blanket of discontent. Bet 'cha none of them has volunteered their time to actually doing something for this company to make the improvements they seek. Gimme a break . .

FB

 

Ouch!
You know, I went back and read everything I posted and you're right!
There's nothing of substance at all.
Just ***** ***** *****.
I'm even starting to doubt what I believe in politically and morally after that tongue lashing.
Speaking up is really too hard.
Just think of all the time I wasted fighting for better schools in my district. I can't believe I got so ****ed off about the environmental giveaway to some fatcats in my city.
It probably was just my paranoid self creating a grassy knoll scenario.
It really is just so negative to be outspoken and I will be sure to correct all of these surley FO's I seem to get that just can't shut up about their problems.
I realize now that if we all just stopped being so negative then, everything will be just fine.
actually.....
My posts don't make these issues real or fake.
Do you think this company would have undertaken such huge measures to address the staffing problem if there wasn't an outcry? I'm not a lone ranger.
I will admit that things have gotten a bit repetitious but only because we keep getting posts that completely restate or misconstrue the thread.
I could stop posting right now and every one of these issues will continue to evolve and problems won't get solved because people don't see certain things as problems or certain people will continue to protect what they have.
That's not grassy knoll paranoid that's pilots being pilots.
These posts are nothing more than a naration of the bitching that occurs in our cockpits every single day.
No - I'm not owed a thing and neither are you.
I'll give it a break though.
But you keep your ears open. Let your FO's ***** without giving them the evil blue eye.
We can revisit these issues in a year and give them time to ripen on their own.

 

Flyboy...(and B6guy)

I don't think you are any where close. Yes, there is lots of bitching and complaining for several reasons.

First, it is our right to complain. Good or bad, its our right.

Second, almost all of the complaints you read about here are valid! Some are small ones, some are big ones. Almost all of them have been at JB since the beginning and have yet to be fixed. God, had the work rules and treatment of reserves been fixed when we only had 200-300 pilots we would be a smooth running machine now. Instead, we are struggling to make the schedule. Why is it that just about every weekend or everytime we get a holiday or a few thunderstorms in FL or NY we get crew services begging for help with "pickup reserves lines". We had never cancelled a single flight until back in APR when we ran out of reserves (a know problems before the weekend even began).... All this should have been fixed years ago. And thats a lot when you consider we are only 5 years old!

Now about fixing things. I have written to the Chief pilot, Crew Services, The Values Committee, even DB about the problems and along with each complaint/problem was a solution(s). You know what, not a darn thing has been changed. Lots of finger pointing, blaming the industry, economy, blaming everyone else but themselves, but mangement has not been doing anything to fix the problems they control. I have vollenteered to work on committee and workgroups. But guess what, never called! I can only surmise that management doesn't want good suggestions or solutions that they don't think of or solutiosn if they might cost a few $$$$. Remember there are lots of little empires here at JB that have been here from the beginning. These empires have been hard to break into (training, standardization, crew services, etc). Some of these have begun to change, but it took a change of leadership in each of these areas to slowly effect some change. Some change is starting to occur, but is way too slow and at the expense of the crew members.

Do I or others think that mangement is lining its pockets at our expense. No, The pay of our executives is public knowledge and they get some of the lowest pay in the corporate world. But I do think they are builiding the company and maintianing JetBlue's profit margin at our expense. Instead of fixing the problems I refererence above, they are maintaining our profit margin by not fixing things. Pilot manning sucks (poor reserves work rules, insufficient reserves), lost wages due to inflation (no cost of living pay raises), inconsistant crew services (crappy service), poor productivity (productivity is going down, but with more flying and options, it should go up).

I don't agree with everything Realistic says, and he doesn't agree with everything I say. I have found that most of the JB pilots I have talked to agree with most of the issue I have posted (both Captains and First Officers). There is a lot to fix and fix quickly before it organization set in (spell that UNION). If the company doesn't get on the stick and do something soon, it will happen.

We have tried to work within the system and even vollenteered to help, but it has fallen on deaf ear. So, the complaints will continue until they are fixed. IF they are allowed to fester too long, look out! Remember back just 2 years ago, everyone wanted to come to JetBlue, and no one was leaving. Well things are changing, Captians are just plain quiting, pilots are going back to Continental off recall, pilots are leaving to go to SWA, FED EX, UPS. These are all signs that the problems are much bigger than you want to admit. Othewise they would never leave. Things need to be fixed soon.

Just my opinion....

FNG

 

I think banger has the correct answer. No you are not required. Hummmm you have a good question! What if you refused? That I'd need to ref the Sked manual, if you have what does it say?
I have no doubt that you have been called I think you should be receiving JA pay and expense to travel. I have received no less when called out in my Blue City. Just because you are on reserve shouldn't mean you are fair game to be manned at other SoCal cities.
I know your CP has complained @ this in NY, have you spoken with him @ this situation? What did he say?
I'm interested in this kind of stuff, not that you are being used around the LA basin but that you may not be being compensated as JA with expenses.

 

Well I disagree with Realistic quite often but I see the posts as his way if letting us know what's on his mind. I honestly think he is trying to improve our workplace/conditions. Just because we look in different directions to solve problems dosen't make him negative. I guess you call it complaining, I call it him speaking his mind to alert us to misunderstandings, possible pitfalls and his solutions to some of them.

 

FNG, thank you for a reply that is not dripping with acid. This is the main thing that I wrote about. You just showed that a complaint/comment can be voiced without the reader feeling like they opened a spam email with a virus. Or got maced.

A post like your's above and NoSpin's post about the survey are examples of complaining with a positive twist. You have at least made some attempt to work within the system and to offer solutions to the problems. You are not just writing a post in hopes of getting several additional negative responces so you can all feel miserable together.

What we don't need is a festering boil where everyone adds some new infection to the mix. That is what so many of the threads here are. Several guys posting and feeding on their mutual negativism.

NoSpin managed to point out very clearly without the nastiness the problems at are here with us everyday. I sincerely wish I had read his post before filling in the survey.

So: yes we have a right to complain, but why complain for the sole sake of seeing your complaint on your computer screen?? What is the thrill in seeing several others agree with your complaint?? This is sick.

Yes some, maybe most complaints are valid. What are NOT valid are complaints about base size, expected raises, increased productivity, and expectations not met. We are a flexible company, we have to be, and there have been many times where the company has had to make unpopular decisions in order to keep growing and maintain profitability. If you think moral is bad now, how low do you think it will be and how much griping and complaining will there be if we report several profitless quarters in a row. How about stock prices around $5?? will this make everyone happy?? Nope just more griping feeding upon itself.

Yes: Crew Services is a very big problem, if we could get it fixed then we all would enjoy work much more. Have you volunteered to go into Forest Hills and stay a couple of days and watch and listen to what is going on?? I haven't been to Forest Hills, but I have spent many hours in Crew Services when they were at JFK. The experience gave me a different perspective to my complaints about scheduling.

I agree that there are too many little fiefdoms here, they are inevitable, they are in every organization. And at every organization there are people who strive to create them and those who strive to eliminate them. Life goes on.

You have mentioned pilot[s] plural, that have left, I have only heard rumor of one. This is also inevitable. No one organization is the perfect fit for everyone, but we do a pretty good job of trying to be that place.

What we DO NOT need are negative posts that are negative because of the decisions made by the person posting. What we can accept is recognition that maybe we assumed too much from the info given and jumped to conclusions that didn't pan out. Such as when or if reserve would end for a given seniority number at a given base. Hey I HATE commuting to JFK, but my finacial situation is much better there, so I'm not going to change my base any time soon. My decision, I live with it, and don't ***** about the slow growth at the other bases.

I could post for months about how I hate having to fly weekends if I want productive pairings, how unfair it is that the more senior guys get to fly weekdays only. And how about the seniorty system itself, poor me, I can't get back to back SJU day trips, or even night trips, it's SO UNFAIR. My momma didn't treat me this way!!!???

I too have many complaints, my QOL has gone downhill since D. Bushy arrived, and my income this year will suffer too. His position should have been filled from within the company, not from outside, he claims to be making decisions based on the Values, but I personally believe he cannot assimulate our Values, he has been too deeply immersed in his former company for too long. And the Bonnie Simi mess!! AARGH!!

Lets just try to separate the 'poor me' comments and only work and comment on the posts that have valid issues that can or could be fixed. Expecting the company to add a few more pilots at a base just so #xxx can be a lineholder is not a valid complaint. That is personal 'poor me' whining.

Now for the pay: this is more 'poor me' whining, if you want to make more money, go to a base where you can hold a line, or a better line and use the system, that is why it was created. I can't bid a productive 90 hour line, but I can Flica one, and do it virtually every month, and I often volunteer for IROPs flying. This is the way to make more $$ and help the company. However with every IROPs flight I ask a lot of questions about why and how this pariing or leg needed to be covered. It is pretty amazing what happens to have a pairing appear in open time.

Keep volunteering for postions, be active within the company, not on keyboards complaining. Complaining is not productive.

 

so happy we have you to tell what is a problem and what isnt a problem and to explain what is wining and what isnt whining and to go on about whats a personal choice and what's not

 

Exactly.

I love this too:

"But when I have an opinion, it's okay"

 

Maybe what we should do is fill Dave Bushy's position with YOU. Then we could keep the "culture" and you could teach the pilots about personal responsibility and how there are no guarantees. And YOU could make the airline productivity and prosperity driven just like it was before Dave came.
And Bonnie, sheeesh, I'm sure you'd set that situation right.