Thanks for your clarification of the obvious regarding IROPS. My question remains, what changes do Al's e-mail foretell?
C'mon, we're just trying to discuss this stuff...

 

All of these bullet points have merit. In fact, they have already been identified and forcasted years ago.

We all want this venture to thrive as we grow. We have to ask ourselves if we want to be proactive or reactive. It can be frustrating to watch this gem of a company evolve into a reactive creature.

Maybe we need to change the, "keep it small as we grow" mentality of our culture. We are no longer a meager company trying to fly below the radar. Let us redefine the fact that growth is our survival.

Let's recharge the old mentality that we are "Southwest on Steroids" and be proactive and bold about it!

 

To be honest - I see factions lining up against DB and I see factions who think that Al thinks pilots should shut up and fly airplanes. I see pilots who long for the days when there were no layers of management and I know many pilots who look forward to union representation.
I can't figure it all out but there are definately some powerful little groups.
The Boni gang up is a perfect example. Nobody could ever explain WHY she was not liked (except maybe for being ambitious) but there were the "good ol' boys" stating emphatically that she HAD to go. I listened to the rants about Boni and I couldn't believe that our hiring process had failed to filter out raging misogynists. When I hear someone trotting out the values to support their positions anymore - I am highly suspect.
For anyone to come on here and claim that THEY understand the will of the majority of Jetblue pilots is silly.
If we really wanted to understand the will of jetblue pilots, we could find out.

 

the changes that al will try to change are what i indicated earlier. more qualified individual's in key positions. more staffing i.e. for summer months.
(jetblue did not staff properly. and we were not training to max capacity.) the individual who took over the pilot staffing foresaw (on paper) that it would be cheaping long term to keep a minimum amount of reserves during the summer flying. that wasnt realistic. therefore, we will not see that happen again. and we will see crew members flying together.

in regards to boni, i still do not understand what her job title entailed. it is my opinion that her created position was a waste of my profit sharing. (and yes, she is a very nice individual.)

whats funny and ironic to read here is the "ALPA MENTALITY": us against them, and im getting screwed or going to get screwed.

the last thing jetblue management wants is a union on property. thats a fact.
so to believe or "see thru" al's letter that we are going to "take it" only maintains the ALPA MENTALITY. management know's what the problems are, and when it's costing money long term, they will fix the problem.

I've been here long enough and been flying 121 for a long time. what i do know and have witness in the past is that we do not have the same management mentalility as DELTA, UNITED, US AIR. to think so is naive.

 

Well, I don't know what you mean be "fixing" crew services, but that is being done as we write. More schedulers have been hired and pay raised to decrease turnover. THAT costs money. Also, plans for hiring more pilots are in the works, and manning is a major issue within CS and Flight ops. Increased manning is a goal of the new Director of Crew Services. That doesn't fix your pay problem, but it does show that management is willing to spend some money (in order to save money, which only makes sense).

What I would like to see is a couple of more spare aircraft, a few more reserves, slightly higher ticket prices, and lower load factors, around 80%. That would reduce the impact of IROPS significantly. The trick is for marketing to guess the right ticket prices so that lower load factors do not equal lower revenue.

 

The trick is for marketing to guess the right ticket prices so that lower load factors do not equal lower revenue.[/QUOTE]


Man, do I agree with that! I guess smarter people than I are doing the math but I really would like to see higher prices and a slightly lower load factor to give us a little breathing room. As rough as it is on us (aircrew) I see the high loads really taking an effect on the gate agents and ground handlers.
Once I heard D&D address this saying that we wanted to be known as the place to go for low tickets even at the expense of raising prices and gaining short term revenue when we could. Just hope they are right.

 

I like your camera angle, Bluebrother. Right-on.

After those two totally screwed-up emails from DB, and Chris Collins blaming the pairings for IROPS rantings to David N, the speak-up survey, the fact that Bushy doesn't even have the support of his direct-reports... I think Al is trying to spread some of his good will and calm the waters.

Maybe it is the fact that the prelim results of the speak-up survey have hit the 8th floor. You think Lanny got roasted for being an idiot dictator... I can't wait to see how the 8th floor tries and cover up for what the Bushman is trying to stick down our throats.

Bushy has proved himself to be the double-dipping Delta Dolt that he is. Another Lanny? Oh yeah, I agree, with an even fouler temper. Just like Florida Orange Juice - All Juice and no Seed. Talks the talk, but in the end, its all about him. Disagree and get fired - just like Brian and Dusty.

Its not the pairings FNG, even though I'm beginnning to see that you LGB guys blame the scheduling committee for most everything you don't like about life in a slot limited transcon base. What the heck else did you expect when you bid LGB? If your life sux out there, it's your problem. Bid JFK. We've got a little bit of everything. Or bid FLL if you like flying to LGA and being delayed all the time.

I love to hear you rant, FNG - but take off the ALPA blinders and try a wide angle view. You're missing a lot running around in Macro....

Now... we'll just have to see what Al, Dave and David do about it. If Bushy manages to survive these latest acts of arrogance and stupidity, I'll even think seriously about sending a card in.

 

[QUOTE=OldBlue]...If Bushy manages to survive these latest acts of arrogance and stupidity, I'll even think seriously about sending a card in

OldBlue, I'm not so sure Bushy is even to blame for that email. I've heard from reliable sources that he was told from the very top to send it. Then upon further reflection we got an apology from the top. DB might not seem to be all that popular but maybe thats the way its supposed to be. Somebody has to play "bad cop" My impression is he is doing exactly what he was hired to do. Maybe AL got tired of taking the rap everytime a change had to be made and he wanted to step back and be more of the "grandfatherly" type. Now he can pull some strings and make things happen without taking heat.
After all DB is a contract player. At the end of the year he can stand in front of his bosses and say "here is how I saved you guys money" " I ditched the box lunches saving XX dollars" " I tried to get rid of the jackets" "I'm pressing the 4P thing saving more money" "I saved you guys this much money and I want my contract renewed"
I think DB is here for a long time doing exactly what he was hired to do.

 

Look! There's a puff of smoke on the grassy knoll, right behind that little Bushy. It's a conspiracy, I tell you, they're all out to get us!

 

I would like to see our ticket prices raised just a little to give eveyone in the company a cost of living raise.

As an example, if we raised the ticket prices just $1 here is what is produced:

$1 x 156 (seats) x 230 (flts/day) x .85(load factor) x 365 (day per year)

= $11,131,770.00 (over $11 million dollars)

Now assuming we have 8000 crew members....

$11,131,770.00 / 8000 = $1391.47 per crew member.

Now an FO making 50K a years, this is a 2.7% pay raise! Just about the cost of living for last year! If this was spread out over the company as an even 2.5% pay raise between all higher and lower paid employees, I'd bet the numbers would work out perfect! I don't have the numer of of employees or their pay to really crunch the numbers, but since most of JB is not paid at the same rate as an A320 Captiain, it should balance out.

Now, I can't see any of our customers leaving JB just becuae we add $1 to each ticket price! But by paying or a pay increase by using this dollar, we can maintain our profit margin and improve the quality of life for our employees (especially the lower paid customer service, rampers, and FA and others) and help compensate for the increase in our medical and insurance costs that we have been forced to bear. This allows the company to help us and not take it out of our profit margin.

I know this is pretty simplified, and I am sure it is more complicated with the acutal cost for all employees, 401K matching, Social Security, income tax witholding, etc. But it still has to be close.

Just my opinion....

FNG