JetBlue Airways pilots have served a written notice to the airline detailing their intent to open negotiations for a successor collective bargaining agreement, following the failed JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines merger. The pilots are being represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
""Making this airline a career destination for our 5,000 pilots, as well as the next generation of JetBlue pilots, should be fundamental to the airline’s business plan to move forward after the scuttled merger with Spirit Airlines and to grow and return to sustained profitability,"" said head of the JetBlue ALPA master executive council Justin Houck. ""That starts with a contract that properly values our pilots’ singular contribution to the current and future success of our airline.""
Following the merger being blocked by the US Department of Justice and prior to the merger's termination announcement, JetBlue pilots stated they would focus on standalone contract negotiations.
Houck added: ""JetBlue pilots put our full contract on hold while the Company pursued the merger. We now expect the Company to come to the bargaining table prepared to negotiate terms on pay and working conditions in line with the standards and direction of the industry.""
JetBlue pilots had previously focused on negotiating a joint collective bargaining agreement for a combined JetBlue-Spirit pilot group.