Company Adds To More Than $3 Billion In Profits With Another Profitable Quarter

JetBlue pilots, represented by ALPA, responded to JetBlue Airways’ fourth quarter financials by calling on management to come to the negotiating table with a contract. The airline announced its 31st consecutive profitable quarter, with $170 million in pretax gross profits. Since the pilots began negotiations three years ago, the company has made more than $3 billion in pretax profits. Yet, JetBlue management has been slow to provide the pilots with a market-rate contract that would bring them in line with their peers at other airlines, according to the union.

“Year after year, quarter after quarter, JetBlue Airways posts industry-leading profit margins,” said Capt. Patrick Walsh, head of the JetBlue unit of ALPA. “However, when management comes to the negotiating table, they refuse to offer market-rate pay and benefits to the professional pilots who fly their planes.”

The parties have been in negotiations for three years. In July 2017, the pilots, frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations, filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board. Seven months later, the pilots are still waiting for management to meet their demands for a contract that includes fair compensation.

“JetBlue pays market rates for aircraft, gates, and fuel—it can afford to pay the market rate for the pilots in the cockpit, too,” continued Capt. Walsh. “It’s been three years—it’s time for a contract with a compensation package that recognizes the contributions we make to our successful airline.”

In a show of solidarity, JetBlue pilots are holding their first-ever informational picketing event outside company headquarters in Long Island City, NY, on January 31. Hundreds of JetBlue pilots will attend the event, drawing public attention to the pilots’ demands for a contract.

(Source: ALPA news release)

FMI: www.alpa.org