JetBlue Airways
Capt. Carmelo Marino (JetBlue) accepts the 2023–2024 ALPA Airport Safety Liaison of the Year Award at the Association’s 2024 Air Safety Forum. Photo: ALPA staff
At A Glance
Pilots joined ALPA: 2014
Number of pilots/flightcrew members: 4,929
Pilot bases: Newark, N.J.; New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.; Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla.; and Los Angeles, Calif. San Juan, P.R., will open in 2025.
Hubs/key markets: Boston, Mass.; Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla.; New York, N.Y. (both John F. Kennedy International and La Guardia Airports); Newark, N.J.; and San Juan, P.R.
Headquarters: Long Island City, N.Y.
Operations: JetBlue operates more than 1,000 daily flights to over 100 destinations, including London, England; Paris, France; Dublin, Ireland; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Fleet: 38 A220-300s, 130 A320neos, 63 A321ceos, 25 A321neos, 11 A321LRs, and 20 E190s. On order: 62 A220-300s, 34 A321neos, 2 A321LRs, and 13 A321XLRs
In 2024, JetBlue Airways pilot leaders recommitted to enforcing their current contract and negotiating the second full collective bargaining agreement on the property. When the merger agreement between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines was terminated in early 2024, JetBlue pilots pivoted to focus on a successor agreement to the contract achieved in 2018. A contract extension was ratified in 2023, but it only focused on economic issues. Since then, numerous contracts have been negotiated at comparable carriers that improve job security, quality of life, and compensation.
“Our pilots waited patiently while management discussed a potential merger. It’s now time for the bill to come due,” commented Capt. Wayne Scales, the pilots’ Master Executive Council (MEC) chair. “Not only will we be vigorously enforcing our current contract, we’ll also be seeking improvements to our seven-year-old agreement.”
This focus on the contract is backed by a strong commitment to communications with the pilot group through a multitude of channels including e-mails, social media, and podcasts.
“While we pursue a new contract, it’s vital that our pilots are engaged, informed, and—most importantly—unified,” Scales observed. “We’re reaching out to our pilots using everything in our toolbox and finding new ways to ensure that they’re fully connected with their union.”
