It is a pledge not a guarantee [sic]. Anybody half educated about fund raising knows that pledges are subject to change.
Actually that is not the case. Most larger charitable contracts (especially when someone or a company gets lots of exposure) is a legally enforcable contract and is NOT usually subject to change. Once in a while charities do take the unsual step of seeking to enforce the pledge and are usually successful. The premise is that the charity is relying upon that COMMITMENT and is moving forward on that behalf. For good PR (and the hope of getting future large commitments), charities usually do not seek to enforce the commitment.
While we all want pilots to be recalled, if assume the union contract does not require all pilots to be recalled before the comany can make charitable contributions.
I am not in favor of anyone (or compamny) making commitments and then walking away from them. I serious doubt RTS would have walked away.
Fly safe.
Netjets, like all other companies effected in this recession, needs to return to profitability. Drastic times sometime call for drastic measures. I am sure that Netjets would have loved to honor this pledge, but I would never expect them to honor it at a detriment to the company. If the company goes down, then there is vastly different effect on the overall economy, than just these charities.
It is a regrettable decision, but a necessary one. We will never know what RTS would have done, so that is a mute point.