No comment on 6-7. As far as your other bullets, I won't dismiss them out of hand but am going to offer the perspective of an 8+ year guy to counter, for those considering JB:

1. JetBlue has not successfully been all that on-time, primarily because they've hamstrung themselves with the parking brake SOP. We've told the company multiple times how to fix that issue, they don't want to listen. You could board an empty E190 60 minutes prior to departure and when you get bag numbers at D-2 you WILL be late if you follow SOP.

I'd argue the weekly Cartergrams threatening discipline if we delay a flight for nonrevs and begging us to "comply" with AO personnel, or the emails I get from the base Chiefs asking me to explain 2-minute delays coded to Flight Crew, indicate the company does care about being on time. They just don't seem to yet want to fix the actual issues behind it.

2. Concur, mostly. When you push back, if you do so professionally and know your FSM rights, scheduling will usually (not always)back off. I'd really like to see some sort of contract compliance rep on call once we have a CBA. Whether they push harder than your regional depends on which one it was... I came here from CHQ before RAH really hit the skids and CHQ scheduling was far worse.

3. Yep. Even us grumpy 320 Captains. For the most part...

4. Respectfully, you'd need to have been here for the years of "we hear you, that's not sustainable, we accidentally released the dependability policy but aren't taking it back, we are ignoring the hotel committee's recommendation in favor of a craphole that costs a buck less per night, we're going to forget to book your hotel in a sold-out state during an irop and ask you to sleep in the lobby" to understand the level of frustration in this pilot group. Frayed relations have been years in the making and I'm frankly amazed the MEC tone has remained this polite this long.

5. That training pay is a prime example of some of what I cited above. In 2007 2500/month training pay with single-occupancy extended-stay hotel and 47/hr first year pay was one of the better deals in the industry. When we signed our last PEA in 2013 prior to the ALPA vote the company could easily have raised first-year pay yet chose not to. And once the lodge opened they used your measly training pay to subsidize the use it or lose it meal stipend. Our MEC fought that knowing we didn't have a leg to stand on, so now you make less in training than I did in 2007 and have a completely non-family-friendly lodging setup. And 49/hr in 2016 is now substantially sub-par.

 

Great post and pretty much my view.

 

Funny LargeMarge disappeared, troll much?

 

Just curious what the average expirience for guys getting interviews?

 

Can't imagine why. The new guy posts about his personal experience and opinion, and he gets flamed.

 

He didn't get flamed, he was countered by people with more than a few months experience at the airline when he tried to tell everybody else "how it is"

 

He posted his opinion and experience. Since it's his opinion, there really is no counter for it. He just feels differently than those other guys. Maybe his experience an opinion will change over time, but for now that's how he feels. Yet some on here take offense to it.

Maybe it wasn't a "flame" per se, but it was in a condescending tone at best.

 

So do you, Southerner, agree or disagree with his opinions? Or is this just a board where we blindly scream our opinions onto the Internet and there shall be no discussion further?

 

I disagree with 1 and 2. I'm indifferent about 3. I agree with 4, for the most part. I agree with 5, 6, and 7.

As far as 4 goes, I think the MEC needs to pick it's battles, and be less reactive. They are trying to appease a very specific, vocal (belligerent) minority with some of their emails because they fear getting removed from office.

I'll be the first to walk a picket line and rant and rave when the time comes, but the time ain't here yet fellas. My last airline (ASA) negotiated for 5 years for the 2007 contract. It got nasty at the end, and for good reason. We ain't there yet. We are just getting warmed up.

I'm still waiting for the company to realize it is actually in their best interests to get this thing done pronto. We should be happy if it drags out until Delta, United, SouthWest, Spirit and American all reset their rates higher.

 

Hush now New Guy.