I agree with bits and pieces from both sides. However, overall I feel your argument was correct. They (FI NetJet posters) were all saying that the mighty NetJets would never fail, yet they have. Uh, no we haven't. Last time I checked, we're still here. Still the biggest (by far). On track this year to being quite profitable. Actual growth? Who knows. Had to cut back some, but how many fracs didn't? Just one that I know of. Pretty much union and non-union alike scaled back some. But so far we've all pulled through the worst (so far) of the economy. How is that failure? They would never furlough, yet they have. True, some here have said we would never furlough. But not all of us. I myself have even pointed out that Netjets had furloughed in the past (in its EJA days). Anyway, most folks here (including myself) are not official spokespersons for NJA management. Anyone with half a brain on this website (a rare breed, I know) could tell you that anyone who said we would NEVER furlough was guessing, and being unrealistically optimistic. Their union would protect their employees and yet there are 495 pilots and who knows how many others, on the street. Hate to break it to you, but our union has done a stellar job of protecting our pilot group. No matter what our union does or did, it was ALWAYS up to management to furlough or not. But our union put up one hell of a fight to try and keep pilots on property (not our union's job to look after the non-union employees). While it's incredibly sad that we had 495 furloughed, we have taken no wage cuts, no reduction in benefits, no downgrades in hotels, etc....Grievances are WAY down, as are discipline actions against the pilot group. This is all thanks to our union and their continued enforcement of our contract (a union's primary purpose) and it's ability to effectively look after it's membership (a union's secondary purpose). Now another round of furloughs coming next week? Nope. That is what I just heard from two furloughed NetJet pilots I met recently. They were wrong or misinformed. Not that more furloughs can't or won't happen in the future, but for now, things are stable. You were absolutely right. Nope.
I got a good laugh out of whomever said it would have been different if RTS were still around....really? How? We be out of business right now. Can't argue with that one. He was fired by WB from his own company! Sadly true.