Flynhigh,
Just to keep comparing apples to oranges, are you commuting? If so, where are you commuting to and how many actual days at home (not days off) are you getting realistically? Leaving the house at 5 a.m. to commute to work is not really a day at home. If not commuting, how long to get to a line holder in your base? When is upgrade available? How many is JB hiring this year and how long are new hires on reserve?
Are new hires expecting the same type of conditions that you had when you were a new hire (expansion, etc.).
And don't take that the wrong way either. I still think jetblue is a good company. I've ridden on you guys many times and am always thankful for the ride.
Obviously a new hire today at EK is not the same as it was five years ago. U.S. guys have a different taste of it than a lot of the others, simply from the fact that U.S. guys aren't used to living outside the borders. It's common culture for almost everyone else, but not in the U.S. Ask the Varig guys how they feel here. Upgrade on the Boeing is still just under four years. I'm not saying EK is great, but neither is the U.S. Prior to 9/11, the market was slowly failing with the dot com industries. 9/11 accelerated that. Furloughs, bankrupcty, whipsaw crap from one carrier to another, buying a bs "shadow" carrier to whipsaw, mergers, age 65, reducing medical insurance, paycuts, etc etc etc. U.S carriers are not Pan Am of old. They suck. Ride home on them, then ride home on EK, and you can see the difference. Furloughs with four kids sucks. Yes, Dubai is different and at times sucks. Sitting straight reserve in Detroit next to the Fat Boy restaurant with no end in sight sucked too (although the wheat and rye was great). Make it what it is. Be honest with yourselves. I don't like management here but Ed is gone. The new guy hasn't proven himself, whatever. But look at NWA and Delta management. You can spout contracts, ****, those guys violated contracts left and right and took years to settle as well. If NWA/Delta was in the interest to violate the contract, they did it and settled in arbitration. They don't honor contracts any more than EK does. The HUGE difference here is I don't worry about a paycheck here and I put the kids in bed a hell of a lot more at night than I ever did on reserve at Redtail. Apples to oranges. Make your own decision but make it smart. Can't handle being an expat, okay, fair enough and I respect that. It's not the U.S. Anyone coming here thinking it's the U.S. did not do their due diligence.