JetBlue pilots union presses airline over summer disruption response

The union representing JetBlue's pilots says the airline should be doing more to contain the operational fallout from events such as severe weather and shortages of air traffic control staff.

Wayne Scales, who leads the JetBlue pilots segment at ALPA, made the case in a Labor Day message to members. He and other members of the Master Executive Council are pressing the carrier to take steps that would stop flight delays from growing into wider service breakdowns, according to a copy of the message provided to AirlineGeeks.

Scales described the summer as punishing for crews, citing long duty days, repeated disruptions and what he called too much seemingly preventable chaos.

He said the systems intended to manage and resolve irregular operations have instead made delays and cancellations worse. Pilots, he said, have faced late schedule modifications, some of which he argued make little operational sense and do not follow the terms of their collective bargaining agreement. Other problems he listed include a lack of accommodations during difficult stretches and long waits on calls to crew services.

In Scales' account, responsibility for recovering the airline from disruptions rests with management, and he said management must also answer for declining employee morale and what he described as pilots' waning confidence in how the company is run. The council, he said, has raised the issue with senior management.