Quite a few pilots for the airline JetBlue are overly angry in the wake of the airline choosing to hire a known violent felon to fly their plants even as it chooses to not rehire people that refuse to get the COVID vaccine by citing concerns about safety.
One pair of pilots explained that JetBlue chose to hire John Perrys, who is known to have served a sentence of nine years in prison for breaking into the personal residence of a judge and attacking the judge’s daughter as she got out of the shower. Perrys was released from his stint in prison back in 2014 and is still considered to be on felony probation until 2044, as reported by the Florida Department of Corrections.
“Apparently JetBlue won’t hire unvaccinated pilots, but they will hire violent convicted felons to fly their airplanes,” stated one pilot, speaking out only on a condition of anonymity in order to defend his job and livelihood.
Back in 20025, a report from The Associated Press stated that Perrys, at that point a captain with the Air Force, was officially charged in Louisiana with assault with a deadly weapon while wearing a mask and burglary and that he was looking down the barrel of up to life in prison. Allegedly, Perrys broke into the home of a judge and severely beat the daughter of said judge, who had been his former fiancée, with a metal baton as she was getting out of the shower. Police officials stated that as he was arrested, his vehicle contained a number of knives, handcuffs, parachute cord, a shovel, and a mask, all while he was wearing a set of body armor, as reported by the AP.
The job applications for JetBlue state, “Every decision JetBlue has made throughout the pandemic has been with our safety value front and center. Whether it’s requiring masks, or many of the other health and safety protocols we’ve had to navigate during the pandemic, all of these efforts have been focused on making the workplace and air travel safer for you and our Customers. As part of our commitment to health and safety, COVID-19 vaccines are required for all JetBlue employees. New hire employees must be fully vaccinated prior to the start of training.”
Back in November of 2021, JetBlue stated that it would be mandating that all of its massive complement of 21,000 crew members would need to be administered the COVID vaccine, stating that it had absolutely no choice because it was classified as a federal contractor and was therefore forced to go along with the rule issued by the Biden administration.
However, the government never actually chose to enforce that rule. It was pushed back a number of times before ending up blocked via an injunction by a judge. Just last month, the injunction was removed, but the very next day, the Biden admin stated, “Despite the lifting of the nationwide bar to enforcement on October 18, 2022, at this time agencies should not: (1) take any steps to require covered contractors and subcontractors to come into compliance with previously issued Task Force guidance; or (2) enforce any contract clauses implementing Executive Order 14042.”
