lake alice

I feel kicked in the teeth when free pizza isn't offered.

p1ayn

I beg to differ. While not denying your specific situation, I can attest that my short term disability for close to six months worked great. Did I need to budget, of course however very manageable. In addition, the company took care of me on several issues, some not solicited. I had a similar medical issue a few years back with another airline and needless to say, I almost lost my home and had to borrow against it as well as derive other means. Not to say JB is perfect, however it is what it is and so far I could not be happier here, and I was satisified with the coverage and communication the company provided. Every person has a different situation/medical issue story and unfortuantely not all have positive experiences. But for me personally, with comparable health and medical surgeries with two airlines, this by far was not bad.

p1ayn

Wish to reitterate that I am by no means down playing your situation at all, just stating that every situation is different.

whatifguy

From talking to a lot of guys that have been through a medical absence I would say that your experience is HIGHLY unusual. Every guy I've talked to has taken a huge financial hit and felt completely abandoned by the company, the insurance and the disability folks. The story of the pilot who died of cancer last year is just heartbreaking. We just need to have better benefits than the rampers and gate agents, and without a CBA it'll never happen. Guys NEED to put their past ALPA experiences behind them and think about the big picture. We need a CBA for better bennie's and merger protection, and no in-house effort can raise enough cash quickly enough to be of any real help. Get smart! A merger is in our future whether we like it or not, better that we have some say.

Now, go ahead...bash away! But it's your future...

p1ayn

No bashing here my friend, unlike some other pro union supporters, regardless of each others opinions I respect them and hope my opinions are as well. In the end we are on the same team. As for "get smart" and get big picture, I have it, based on factual experience on several different carriers and all negative experiences. Thats just me I guess, and thats my vote with no disrespect to anyone else. My condolences to our fellow pilot an his family, and I cannot speak of anyone elses experience, just mine, which is why I had to reply. There is so much negativity on this thread of this company that I felt compelled to put somewhat of a positive note. What can I say, except Im actually happy here, with the job, with the efforts on both sides. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. In the end what ever happens, is going to happen. Time for a drink..

Fins Up

I agree, mostly.

and VOTE YES TO A CBA!

lake alice

Let me just say I was 6 days out of surgery, benefits cancelled. 10 days later, benefits suspended, 10 days later benefits suspended. And on and on. After substantial emails, call and letters the company got involved. Still nothing.
I was neither paid on time nor the proper amount. Upon threatening legal action, which they know is like a children's tantrum, I was transferred to a supervisor who made it abundantly clear the reason for all the cancellations and suspensions is per direction of Jetblue.
Not what I would call living up to the "values"

I'm very happy you had appositive experience with disability. Now being on LTD and paying close to $1500 per month things are tight, very tight. If you are lucky enough to have a spouse who works you have a leg up. Trying to fight this battle while dealing with office visits and and hospital visits is tough. This whole experience is a total joke being made at my expense. I'm nauseated every time someone sings the praises of this airline.

And lastly we are not all on the same team. 1193 are not on my team. If we had either JBPA or ALPA our insurance wouldn't be nearly as pathetic as it is.

bama*pilot

Is it that bad there?

lake alice

I'll be the first to admit that it's not. It's just that this company is neither a career destination nor the utopia people make it out to be.
Insurance is the worst in the industry. STD/LTD is one of the worst in the industry. These are unfortunate facts.
People go through their careers thinking an injury will never take me off the job, it will never happen to me. Then it does, like me. Then you truly see what the shortfalls of your benefits and company are.

CaptCoolHand

It all depends on your perspective. If you look at the spread of just hourly wages Jb isn't that bad. When you dig deeper, yea, its kinda crappy. It's been said time and time over, Jb is better than mesa, and any other regional carrier. It's true it is. WAY better. But when you start comparing apples to apples we are far far defficient in most areas.

Add to that the hypocritical rhetoric from managment it can be frustrating.

Safety : be on rsv fly a red eye turn, but be ready for a 5am show the next day.

Caring : see posts above about health care...

Integrity : HA, oops, I just threw up in my mouth alittle. (for the third month running I've had to submit a pay request now to make sure they compensated me correctly and ask why my pto bank was debited when I havn't called in sick in 4 months.) Maybe I just won't notice...

Fun : Well it's a job it is what you make it. I have fun at what I do, but I'd have more fun if I wasn't worried about the three up above.

Passion : That pretty much went out the window when you asked me to work longer hours(more days a month) for less than average compensation,while giving yourself a 40% raise last year but took nothing this year but "stock grants". Did I forget to mention that this multi billion dollar company is proffitable and making millions every quarter?

You could just take the attitude of; Well I 'm just happy to have a job... But I choose not to be a beaten dog, or walk around with stockholm syndrom. If JB came through with half of the things they said they were going to do, there would be no union support at all.

Some would say if you don't like it leave... well, JB knows as well as you, there's not too many places to go and do our job. The cycle will continue, and in afew years when JB can't get any apps in the email things will change. We may get bought, we might go bankrupt. Who knows.

So is it really that bad? Could be worse!! It could always be better though. Sorry for the ramble.