Gov Bush: Jetblue Selects Orlando For New Flight Center [150 new jobs; average salary: $57K]

State of FL ^ | Aug. 6, 2003 | State of FL

[summer]

Governor Bush Announces Jetblue Selects Orlando For New Flight Training Center And Maintenance Hanger

~Low-Fare Airline to Create More Than 150 New Jobs in Central Florida~

ORLANDO- Governor Jeb Bush today joined JetBlue President and COO, Dave Barger at the Orlando International Airport to announce the low-fare airline will build its first flight training center and maintenance hanger in Orlando. The $160 million facility will employ more than 150 people at an average salary of approximately $57,000 per year. Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer joined the Governor at the announcement.

“JetBlue had a choice in where to locate their first-ever flight training center and maintenance hanger, and they picked Florida,” said Governor Bush. “This is a major victory for Florida and Orlando as it continues our efforts to diversify Florida’s economy. Technology, training facilities, and jobs brought here by JetBlue only adds to Orlando’s reputation as the world’s hub for simulation and modeling activities.”

JetBlue’s new training center will encompass an 80,000 square foot building with the capacity for eight aircraft simulators plus classrooms, cabin training equipment, a training pool, and administration areas. JetBlue will use this new facility for the new and recurrent training of all its pilots and in-flight crew, plus training for its technical operations and customer service crew. Construction of the center is scheduled for completion in late 2005.

The carrier’s new maintenance hanger will cover approximately 70,000 square feet and have the capacity to accommodate three Airbus A320 aircraft. The hanger, which is expected to be complete by early 2005, will be used for maintenance as well as the installation and maintenance of the airline’s LiveTV inflight satellite television system.

“Building on our long-standing partnership with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Governor Bush, Mayor Buddy Dyer and County Chairman Rich Crotty have all stepped up to the plate to help take JetBlue’s commitment to Central Florida to a new level,” said Dave Barger, President and COO of JetBlue Airways. “We were also fortunate to have the support of a variety of community organizations such as the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, Enterprise Florida, the University of Central Florida and Valencia Community College.”

The New York-based airline offers flights throughout the country, including Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach.

JetBlue selected Orlando to build the training center and maintenance hanger over other locations, including New York.

Orlando’s success came because of the tremendous teamwork at the state and local level. The Governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development worked with Enterprise Florida, the Orange County Commission, the City of Orlando, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in convincing JetBlue to locate in Central Florida.

[NYS_Eric]

To calculate the median, you add just the highest and lowest salaries then divide by 2.

Actually, the median is found by taking ALL 150 salaries and lining them up smallest to largest. The one right in the middle is the median. So with the example cited, $30K would be the median.

[summer]

I knew someone would say that. :)

[summer]

Re your post #20 - I don't know that Gov Bush is "dead set" against that; but I do think he saw that nothing like that could be funded in this year's streamlined budget.

[NYS_Eric]

Hey, it's good to remember *something* from college.

Illustration of

Median versus Mean

Why is it recommended to use medians instead of means (averages)?

Definitions:

Median: The middle value of a set of values.

Mean: The arithmetic average, computed by adding up a collection

of numbers and dividing by their count.

As an example, let's assume the below list is the result of a search

and analysis of guideline companies.

Price/Sales Valuation Multiple

(sorted from lowest to highest)

0.45

0.47

0.49

0.49

0.52

0.55

0.55

0.60

0.61

Middle of sorted sample set

0.62

0.70

0.74

0.76

0.80

0.91

5.30

10.40

0.61

Median

1.47

Mean (Average)

In the above example, one can see that the Median is much more representative

of the central tendency of the sample set. Outliers (5.30 and 10.40) can

dramatically impact the mean (average), whereas the median is less affected.

The analyst may also want to consider further analysis of the two outliers

and the possibility of eliminating them from the sample set.

It is also important to note that the value the analyst selects (whether it be the

median or the mean), is typically a starting point. Based on the financial analysis

of the subject company compared to the guideline companies, this value may be

adjusted up or down.

[Bob]

Actually, the median is found by taking ALL 150 salaries and lining them up smallest to largest. The one right in the middle is the median. So with the example cited, $30K would be the median.

Ouch, sorry, I stand corrected.

I had confused the median with something else. Would summing the extremes and dividing by 2 give you the mean rather than the median?

[Bob]

Would summing the extremes and dividing by 2 give you the mean rather than the median?

I see from your subsequent post that the mean and the average are just two different terms for the same thing. I don't know exactly what I was thinking of.

I just hate it when I find out that I really didn't know something that I had always thought I did. :=)

[PokeyJoe]

That's why I would like to know both pieces of information. One without the other isn't as interesting and not statistically significant.

[Cobra64]

No one's been moving to California recently except left-wing liberals and illegal aliens.

Though you exxagerate a bit, you're pretty much on target. I lived in CO for 30 years (just moved to NC due to weather more temperate here). In the last 8-10 years, there a LOT of Californians coming in. The Coloradans are really upset of this mass exodus from CA to CO. Personally, I think CA is doomed. Just a matter of time.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Well, if our company (Boeing)could make planes as good as the Airbus we wouldn't have a problem, would we?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Did you see that Fidelity National (a Fortune 500 company) is relocating from California to Jacksonville? It was announced a couple of months ago.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Well, Nazi Germany had good people too. (if you catch my drift).

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

So what if he had said median vs. average? A median doesn't necessarily give any more info than the mean.

[summer]

No problem here IMO; it just goes to show how easily confused a person who is writing press releases may be, as that person may sometimes have NO idea what they are actually writing - which was my real point. :)

[summer]

RE your post #24 - And, thanks for posting that info. :)

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

The median salary would be the what the person in position number 75-76 makes. In other words, if there are three people who make 30k, 60k and 300k each, the median salary would be 60k, the average (mean) is 390k/3= 130k.

[JoeSixPack1]

There is a large population of unemployed or under employed A&P mechanics, aircraft upholstery techs, and sheet metal fabricators in the Orlando area since PageAvjet went bellyup in the mid 90's. Glad to see they've got more choices then just AirTran and GOAA.

Good Luck JetBlue. You should have used the old hangers so I'd have somethin' to talk about! :-)

Go Jeb!!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

To calculate the median, you add just the highest and lowest salaries then divide by 2.

This is not how a median is calculated. In fact, I don't know what you are calculating by doing what you described.

[summer]

Re your post #30 - Thanks for mentioning that one! I know there have been MANY other examples as well with Gov Bush:

Governor Bush Welcomes Fidelity National's Corporate Headquarters Move to Jacksonville -- April 23, 2003

[summer]

Good point, Joe. BTTT. :)

[Willie Green]

I don't know that Gov Bush is "dead set" against that; but I do think he saw that nothing like that could be funded in this year's streamlined budget.

Is that his same excuse for not permitting offshore drilling?
Heck, I don't even have to ask if he built any nuclear power plants to accommodate Florida's growing electricity requirements. I already know the answer to that one.

Nope, the Bush Brothers have a real dismal track record of pursuing any technology that might happen to reduce our nation's dependence on imported oil. From what I can see, the only use that they, and their father, have for technology is for waging war. And they're not even committed to having that technology made in America.