FLOPS and XO Jet

[Options_SLAVE]

My guess is Ricci sees the honeymoon is over. His charm and steak dinners only went so far, and the Union is towing the line and not budging when it comes to what's left on the table: Scope, pay, benefits, schedules.

SOMETHING is going down with XO Jet. Our scope will prohibit anyone doing our flying. That spells merger to me.

So now my guess is Ricci, who is a lawyer, is talking to his lawyers and seeing what would happen if he decided to merge XO Jet now, while the contract is still in negotiation.

The problem is, peak travel is a stone's throw away. Our pilots learned to fly the pledge last year very well. If he were to merge now, a war is what he'd have on his hands again, and sure, he'd have XO's Jets, but he won't have his own. XO Jet is now neck-deep in debt that needs to be paid. Options already has its own debt, and has shrunk to quality of scale problem-size, meaning, he doesn't even have enough airplanes (let alone the crews to fly them) to cover trips in an appropriate fashion. This means 4-hour repo's for 45 minute legs, which is NOT how we will make any money, let alone the disservicing that will occur for those repo's plus the fact of dealing with only 40% of his fleets "green".

Ricci's gonna screw up if he decides to protract negotiations and fight further on this. His best bet is to get the contract DONE. Then he will have pilots who will be more than happy to help out however they can for peak travel, will definitely go above and beyond (which will NOT happen until then), and will be happy to assist the XOJet merger - especially if their pay is better than ours, that's what an LOA is for.

If he merges without a contract, he's gonna have the smelliest sh!t sandwich he's ever seen, and an already embittered pilot group will now be even more embittered.

It isn't rocket surgery what needs to happen for the good of the Company. Let's hope he's smarter than that.

One thing's for sure. The past 4 weeks Ricci hasn't even been in negotiations and even Hertzberg's been out of the picture. Nothing's getting accomplished and the Union's twiddling their thumbs. They are just trying to wait as long as possible before flipping the switch to turn the war back on, but that's what looks like is going to happen.

Too bad. Oh, well. Where's my pen? I need to start doing exercises with my fingers so they are strong enough to handle what's coming.

 

[cherry20's]

I don't know why you guys think there is going to be a merger? Wishful thinking maybe...

 

[jetwash]

I don't know why you guys think there is going to be a merger? Wishful thinking maybe...

We saw this all before when Travel Air managers and Flight options managers were visiting each other and having discussions. All the time saying that there will not be a merger.

Then the e mail comes out saying we have merged.

 

[dime line]

Cherry congrats on getting hired at XOJet. But you haven't even done a trip with them yet (you don't even have a class date yet). There are a lot of pilots at FLOPS that have seen how the merger thing has played out, all the lies and were doing so good and poof there is the email, here is the phone number to FLOPS and on this day start using it.
You do need to know that our CEO is an XOjet guy and they have been at CGF. WHat there talking about, I have no clue. Nobody here does.

 

[Myster79]

I don't know why you guys think there is going to be a merger? Wishful thinking maybe...

NO, not wishful thinking, just experience. We have all been through this before and there are to many similarities.

We are not ignorant enough to believe a merger can't happen. We already know that our companies are talking and for whatever reason they are not discussing the meetings with the pilot groups. Furthermore, our chairman has already mentioned an acquisition.

You guys can stick your head in the sand and hope for the best. The FLOPS pilots will be ready.

 

[cherry20's]

Don't get your panties in a wad FLOPS pilots. Settle down. I just don't see it happening. Thats all I'm saying.

And I do have a class date on the 8th.

Back to sticking my head in the sand! haha

 

[GooseHZ]

5 whole mins in the frac world and cherry knows all LOL.....Cherry your name says it all...get it???



just playin......have fun in the 10.

 

[cherry20's]

its been 10 minutes... and no I don't get it???

 

[skyismyoffice]

... and no I don't get it???

haven't been fucxed yet. Get it now??

 

[cherry20's]

HAHA I got my Cherry popped!

 

[jetwash]

haven't been fucxed yet. Get it now??

Give him a break, if he is was flying cargo in a Falcon 20 he surely must have been f**ked along the way in his career.

PS. Flops new management will give you a reach around if there is a merger

 

[993_Pilot]

Give him a break, if he is was flying cargo in a Falcon 20 he surely must have been f**ked along the way in his career...

Good God, I flew at Cherry Air 14+ years ago, and those Lears and Falcons were hardly airworthy back then. No wonder he is so happy to be getting out and remains eternally optimistic. His blinders will be off eventually. I agree, give the guy a break.

 

[cherry20's]

They still aren't any better 993!

Trust me guys, I've been getting screwed since I started at Cherry. This ain't my first Rodeo.

And I am still very optimistic about this game. Who knows what will happen in the near future? I'm just holding on for a wild ride.

Don't worry about taking it easy on me either. I can dish it out too.

 

[Options_SLAVE]

Cherry just don't think it's impossible that a merger will happen.


Both the flight options pilots and the raytheon travel air pilots did not believe the rumors of a merger between the two. Raytheon was the more profitable company at the time, and if anyone thought there would be a merger, they thought that if it happened, RTA would be buying Options.

Everyone was wrong. There WAS a merger, and it was Options who bought RTA. Neither was unionized, and the merger was about as messy as it could be. It's in the past and most of the pilots have put what happened with the seniority lists behind them now, as they all finally realized everyone got screwed one way or another, and some pilots from both sides got screwed more than others.

Since that merger, it has been a down-hill spiral with management basically taking anything that was good from both companies, stripping it down to nothing so that they could try to get the company sold. They totally destroyed the quality of life for the pilots, and even to this day, almost 6 years later after the merger, have NEVER given the pilots a raise.

The pilots finally had enough and voted in the Teamsters and Local 1108 (with a LOT of help and support from our Net Jets brothers) in March 2006, which kick-started a war between management and the Union. We are hopefully, well over 2 years later, finally starting to see the end of negotiations, but that remains to be seen. The pilots have a glimmer of hope now that Ricci is back in charge, but the glimmer gets dimmer every day now as the "flair" of Ricci arriving is already starting to fade as we settle once again into mediocrity at the negotiating table. Although the pilots have "let up" on their war with management, in a cease-fire if you will, all it would take would be an e-mail from the Union stating that things are looking like they did before Ricci arrived and the war would again be full-blown.

So. Never say never. As unlikely as it may seem to you (which is hard to believe since you are a new-hire not even in class yet), the fact is, our CEO came from Options, went to XO Jet, and is now back as our CEO, and both companies are talking.

Our pilots know what a merger smells like, and they smell it. Options needs growth, and the Phenoms coming starting late next year will only be replacing retiring beechjets - there IS no officially planned "growth", although the company tried to sell it as that. Our beechjets are very old, some are over 10 years old. Most of our hawkers are also approaching 10 years old, now. We have the ugliest and oldest fleet in fractional aviation. The phenoms will be a good replacement, but that's all they are.

The growth that XO Jet has would be a perfect match for Options when it comes to our existing client base and the growth and potential that XO Jet has (and they do NOT have the customer base).

XO Jet is lean, ready to grow, and financially backed. Options is well-backed with H.I.G. now, and XOJet would be a perfect buy for them. It certainly does not seem impossible to me. I'd almost bet money that in the next 12 months, it will happen.

There is also the rumor that the legacies will go away, to be replaced by gulfstreams from ACM Jet - question is, will the Jets come complete with ACM Jet pilots. That will go over like a fart in church, and would surely get the legacy fleet pilots, the ONLY fleet that as a whole would not be considered "on board" with our Union (and amounts to a small percentage of our most senior pilots) would jump on board in a heart beat. Last year during peak travel the legacies were covering broken beechjet trips like crazy. I doubt the company could count on that this year. Those legacy pilots may not be so apt to break the FAR's, carry write-ups and ignore crew rest like so many of them have been reported to have done last year.

The question is, will the merger(s) happen before or after the contract is done at Options? Rumor has it, H.I.G. wants to inject a lot of cash into the company for such an aquisition, but they won't do it until the contract is done and the pilot costs are known. Let's hope that's right, as that is the only real motivator we have, and life will continue to be miserable, for both the company and the pilots, until it gets done.

However, our pilots are used to the misery. It won't bother us to wait even another 12 months. The company can't wait that long. If they wait another 12 months they would have to weather another hurricane (the Union) during peak travel, and our owners won't tolerate it, and the company knows it.

So. Bring it on. Our pilots are ready. Won't bother us to shore up the windows for another stormy peak travel. The ball is in the company's court and time is on the pilots' side. We have nothing to lose, the company's already taken it all, and the company tried firing the most ardent union supporters and that back-fired on them.

Company's move. Merger? Sure. Make things messy again during peak travel. See what that gets Ricci with his customer service to the few owners we have left.

Our pilots are ready. To help, if the contract is done, or to fight, if it is not. As usual, it is management's choice.

 

[cherry20's]

Good insight as to what has happened and is happening at FLOPS. I hope for all your pilots sake that an agreement is reached and there is a pay raise in your future. I could see why the merger talk would be prevalent. If it happens, I get to fly with some friends that work there. Just hope it works out in everybody's favor... Usually someone gets the sh!t end of the stick on these deals though.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to explain the whole situation