NEW YORK - JetBlue pilots have for the second time in three years chosen to be without union representation.
The latest attempt was driven by the Air Line Pilots Association, or ALPA, which represents more than 53,000 pilots at 39 US and Canadian airlines.
JetBlue Airways Corp., which is entirely nonunion, said just 42 percent of votes were cast in favor of a union.
The first attempt to unionize took place in 2008. Pilots at that time wanted to form their own union and avoid teaming up with a larger national labor union such as ALPA, which has difficult relations with management at some other airlines. At that time, only a third of the pilots voted in favor of the union.
Organizers said then that getting the word out proved difficult, and ballots not cast were counted as “no’’ votes.
Since then, the federal government, which oversees labor relations, has changed the rule so that votes are based on only the ballots that are cast.
In a prepared statement, JetBlue’s chief executive, Dave Barger, thanked the pilots for choosing to retain their “direct relationship with the company.’’
