JetBlue Won’t Hire The Unvaxxd, But Hired Violent Felon As Pilot
Some JetBlue pilots are expressing outrage after it was revealed that the airline hired a violent felon to fly planes even as it is still refusing to hire people who haven’t received the COVID-19 vaccine, citing “safety.”
Speaking with The Daily Wire, two pilots revealed that JetBlue hired John Perrys, a man who served nine years in prison for breaking into the home of a judge and brutally attacking his daughter as she was getting out of the shower.
Perrys, who was released from prison in 2014, is on felony probation until 2044, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
“Apparently JetBlue won’t hire unvaccinated pilots, but they will hire violent convicted felons to fly their airplanes,” one pilot told the outlet, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his job.
A 2005 report from The Associated Press revealed that Perrys — who was an Air Force captain at the time — was charged in Louisiana with burglary and assault with a deadly weapon while wearing a mask, and faced up to life in prison for his crimes.
Perrys entered the judge’s home and beat his daughter — who was Perrys’ former fiancée — with a metal baton as she stepped out of the shower. According to police, when he was arrested, Perrys was wearing a bulletproof vest. He also had knives, handcuffs, parachute cord, a shovel and a mask in his vehicle, the AP noted.
Meanwhile, JetBlue refuses to hire individuals who have not taken the COVID vaccine, citing their “commitment to health and safety.”
“Every decision JetBlue has made throughout the pandemic has been with our safety value front and center,” JetBlue’s job applications state. “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.”
JetBlue announced in November 2021 that it was requiring nearly all of its 21,000 crew members to get vaccinated — claiming that it had no choice, because the company qualified as a federal contractor and thus was obligated to follow a Biden administration rule.
Except, the Biden administration never actually enforced the rule JetBlue cited. The rule was initially delayed, then later blocked by an injunction from a judge.
That injunction was lifted just last month, but the government released a statement the following day, which read: “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.”
The Daily Wire further noted that JetBlue did not respond to requests for comment regarding its vaccine policies or Perrys’ hiring, and Perrys did not respond to a request for comment either.
The outlet also was given a screenshot of an internal JetBlue web page, which listed Perrys as a “Pilot Trainee” and a “Crewmember since July 20, 2022” — and a picture which showed him beneath a banner that read “Congratulations Class 34-22,” referring to his training.
The first pilot who spoke to The Daily Wire regarding Perrys’ hiring told the outlet that the felon was being trained by JetBlue to fly the Airbus A320 and noted that “several instructors have refused to train him. Many captains have told management they’ll refuse to fly with him.”
A second pilot expressed concern that Perrys is “on the line as a flying pilot in control of a plane with up to two hundred paying and oblivious souls on board.”
Many Americans, including airline employees, lost their jobs over their refusal to take the COVID vaccine — with companies citing “safety concerns” as their reasoning for choosing to fire unvaccinated workers.
