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JetBlue Compensates for High Fuel Prices
JetBlue figured out how to compensate for their continuing loss in revenue. Passengers now have the option to buy JetBlue’s “eco-friendly” pillow and blanket, since they have done away with their standard overly-used pillows and blankets. For $7, you get piece of mind knowing your item is new, clean, and has never been used by a stranger! Not too bad since you keep it and it comes with a $5 coupon to Bed Bath and Beyond. Not only is JetBlue making a little extra, Bed Bath and Beyond will cash in too! If you have a little extra height, don’t worry there is an option for you too. For $10 extra you are put in one of the front or emergency rows which provide “much-lusted-after” space. This alone is expected to pull in an estimated $40 million. Now let’s see how long it takes for the others to catch on.
Many travel deals offer jobs that are not a part of the job airline research database. People who work in cheap hotels and are seldom found aboard flights are not likely to know this, as much as they are likely to know the airline safety tips.
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Airlines WANT pilots to have a four year degree
College is important in aviation for two important reasons.
- It opens doors. In most cases, major airlines require or state that they prefer a four year bachelors degree. Every year tens of thousands of qualified applicants apply for a handful of positions. Many have met the specified flight time and have that precious piece of paper stating Bachelors across the top of it. To be competitive, you better have it.
- If you lose your medical, what are you going to do? To put it nicely you are screwed. The degree will give you a backup and the potential to make a nice living and stay competitive for other career opportunities. A degree in something other than Aviation Science would be best decision one could make. A degree in Business, English, History, Politics, Journalism, hell even Poetry is a better choice. Why? Because the world consists of more than how a turbine engine works and taking a course titled “Math for Pilots 101″ isn’t going to score you many points.
A college degree has no effect on ones ability to fly, but it does have bearing on ones ability to succeed in a challenging academic environment which is important to an airline who is about to spend several thousands of dollars trying training you. That’s why airlines prefer candidates with a degree. They know that an English degree won’t help you much, but they know you are able to memorize things such as places, dates, times, accomplish basic math etc, etc, and one can deduce that the person can also memorize flows, emergency procedures and other required tasks.
There are occasional vacation packages offered as well. They are not like cancun vacation packages or even the caribbean vacation packages but the fun is no way less than that on san diego vacation packages.
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Competition is for FBOs
Aviation may be perceived as a very competitive business. This isn’t so much the case for airlines as they all just struggle to stay afloat. You don’t see ads on television by airlines trying to cut each other’s throats. Most actually work together, somewhat. Ever heard of the Sky Team Alliance? If not, then you can look it up. I’ll just say that it consists of 11 member airlines and 16,409 daily flights to 841 destinations. So in short, it makes things a little easier for frequent flyer’s.
The real competitive part of the aviation industry is the General Aviation side. General Aviation can be considered an umbrella term consisting of Private owners, Corporations/Businesses, and Flight schools. It does not include airlines. FBO’s (Fixed Based Operators) are in business to serve these potential customers. Their main gig is to take care of the passengers and flight crew of these aircraft. This can consist of arranging hotel reservations, catering, and ground transportation, etc. The money however, comes from fueling these lovely aircraft. Since most airports consist of at least two FBO’s it is important to persuade or bribe flight dispatchers and pilots to send the business their way. Let’s take KMSY for example, Signature and Atlantic; two strong arms in the aviation industry. Signature’s price is about .60 cents higher per gallon, but claim they perform their job with greater safety than any other FBO *cough* *cough* *bullshit*. It’s a game and each have their own marketing scheme. Atlantic offers reward bucks. They give out points for fuel purchases. The bigger the fuel purchase, the more points acquired. Once so many is reached they may be redeemed online for a $100 AMEX gift card that can be reloaded. It’s a huge hit for pilots on the corporate side because they don’t buy the fuel, the company does (major perk). I’d like to see Signature offer something similar, but they are far too cheap.
KMSY is a class Bravo airport so the fuel is always higher. Always. Eight miles east is KNEW, a class Delta airport. It consists of three FBO’s; Million Air, Flightline First and the new AeroPremier FBO. Million Air has been there for decades while the other two are brand new. For comparison, Million Air is about a dollar cheaper per gallon than Signature and Atlantic at KMSY.
The General Manager there is also the V.P. of Million Air, a Citation pilot and a Police officer who is very well respected. Heck, I respect the hell out of him. He has two life times of success on one resume.
Now to get back to my blog, Flightline has the cheapest fuel prices in the city and they still can’t steal any customers from Million Air, at least not a handful. I work at Lakefront and I know that if pilot’s move their airplane, Addie will kick their a$$ to the moon and double their ramp charge if they choose to return. You gotta’ love his philosophy… I do.
In conclusion, the best way to a successful FBO is a great crew, lead by a great General Manager. That’s my .02 cents.
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