MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JetBlue pilot leadership, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), voted unanimously to voice “no confidence” in Alex Battaglia, the airline’s head of Airports and System Operations. This comes after months of disruptions at JetBlue Airways and customer and pilot frustration at the operational turmoil.
Battaglia was moved to his current position of head of Airports and System Operations in August 2021. At that time, management asserted that Battaglia’s move would “benefit our crewmembers and customers.” However, since then, JetBlue’s reputation among its customers has plummeted and the airline was recently named “the worst airline” by the Wall Street Journal’s annual ranking.
“Every day, thousands of JetBlue pilots show up to work committed to providing the highest level of service to our customers,” said Capt. Chris Kenney, chair of the JetBlue unit of ALPA. “Instead, we are seeing operational disruptions at every level. Customers are having their flights canceled, while pilots are spending hours on hold with the Company just to find out if they have a bed to sleep in that night.”
The resolution passed by the pilot leadership cited that pilots “are consistently unable to reach Crew Services in a timely manner for purposes of managing their schedules and responding to disruptions and irregular operations, which has compounded and extended operational delays on countless occasions.” The pilots also noted that they are being “timed out” for duty hours, resulting in delays and cancellations.
“Our airline’s reputation has suffered under the leadership of Battaglia,” continued Capt. Kenney. “We are calling on our company to fix the problem and restore both the customers’ and pilots’ faith in JetBlue.”
Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 62,000 pilots at 38 U.S. and Canadian airlines, including more than 4,200 pilots at JetBlue. Visit the ALPA website at alpa.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.
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