Flexjet Scamagement Hits a New Low

[Imissmypilot]

For the Mre and Warlords among us, I didn't want the latest schizophrenia to p*************** us by.

If they are so happy with the constant court victories they are claiming why are they appealing them?

If they are happy to give the affected pilots their VSP, why all the feet dragging?

 

[GlorifiedCabbie]

Self-serving LIES. How can this ONESKY leadership be respected when they cannot face the truth?

 

[1folinepilot]

The VSP was never intended to actually be paid out to the employees. The program was specifically designed to force our Union to litigate and waste our resources in an attempt to make our Union look bad.

This is no differebt than the 30,000$ raise Kenn and his managers promised us but had no intention of giving us.

Nothing is stopping Kenn and his managers from doing the right thing. Our Union has actively encouraged a better working relationship to include enhanced wages, better staffing, a generous VSP, but Kenn and his managers decide to fight us and lie to us

 

[GlorifiedCabbie]

I have to agree on that one. Kenn could have gotten away with a smaller raise years ago if he decided to negotiate in good faith. He decided to fight, so HE will end up with pilots that will never be happy. Why are pilots bailing from Dead Label?

 

[1folinepilot]

Red Label is nithing but a FOK club to go for another Union decertification vote.. Kenn is giving out of seniority upgrades to mid and large cabin airplanes in exchange for no votes. Look at who is in that group. People like the overtime whore CK who received a phenom type with a 3000 training then after 3 rotations in the airplane he received a Legacy 500 red lable slot. CK was one of the original 4 that founded the inhouse puppet union for Kenn.

 

[Imissmypilot]

I'm not making excuses for them (my views on Red Label have been made clear) but I think Kenn will be surprised with how expensive of a failure the scam will be. With the exception of a few truly delusional ones, many Red Label pilots are silent supporters of the union but are just looking to cash in while they can. The screws to even these precious golden children are being slowly turned and everyone is getting fed up. A tour full of over 14 days and 10/24 warnings are happening to everyone and it is frankly unsustainable. Now it appears Red Label captains will be surrendering their pay bump to the PIC when they are not crewing their planes. It's a smart way to infect the regular line with a little company generosity but ultimately it will fail. Also RH is now openly admitting the freebie bonus they got because metrics could not be produced was a one time deal.

I truly believe pilots and owners are waking up to the scam of red label. Even an idiot can recognize we are losibg airplanes and customers. Fancy AIN articles aside, this place is going down in flames all due to one man's arrogance.

 

[CALRepublic]

"I truly believe pilots and owners are waking up to the scam of red label. Even an idiot can recognize we are losibg airplanes and customers. Fancy AIN articles aside, this place is going down in flames all due to one man's arrogance"

Are you talking about the article "Flex's business grows 20%"?

What a bunch of BS that was. He's boasting about taking customers from the competition. He talks about how half of his new business is people who switched from other fractionals, people "who used to patronized other fractional providers"

But he forgot to mention that he is undercutting everybody. He's selling Gulfstreams for Hawker prices in order to gain market share. He's bleeding red ink, but his clientele is growing. He's pulling a mesa airlines. I hope this scumbag doesn't start a race to the bottom in the frax industry, because that would not be good for anybody

 

[Fresh Air]

Red Label is nithing but a FOK club to go for another Union decertification vote.. Kenn is giving out of seniority upgrades to mid and large cabin airplanes in exchange for no votes. Look at who is in that group. People like the overtime whore CK who received a phenom type with a 3000 training then after 3 rotations in the airplane he received a Legacy 500 red lable slot. CK was one of the original 4 that founded the inhouse puppet union for Kenn.

If I may clarify a bit: CK did not receive a Red Label slot. He and the other recent transfers to the 450/500 and the 300/350 transferred as new hire SIC's. They get no Red Label pay, bonuses, or special scheduling. They are in a RL fleet, so they get to do the RL work without the RL perks. And the way Flexjet is so incredibly PIC heavy, it will be a long long time before they will see the left seat of anything, even after SLI. I know most of those guys, and get the feeling that this was seen as just an opportunity to get off the sinking ship that is Flight Options. As far as Kenn trying to buy "no" votes, that probably won't work out for him. Except for 2 of them, (I think) the recent transfers are all MIGS, and after a year of doing coffee, papers, & ice for RL Captains for crappy Options pay, I'm pretty sure that they won't be changing their minds. I agree with you that the way they are handing out type ratings like candy is pretty crazy, but that appears to be the Flexjet way.

 

[Imissmypilot]

If I may clarify a bit: CK did not receive a Red Label slot. He and the other recent transfers to the 450/500 and the 300/350 transferred as new hire SIC's. They get no Red Label pay, bonuses, or special scheduling. They are in a RL fleet, so they get to do the RL work without the RL perks. And the way Flexjet is so incredibly PIC heavy, it will be a long long time before they will see the left seat of anything, even after SLI. I know most of those guys, and get the feeling that this was seen as just an opportunity to get off the sinking ship that is Flight Options. As far as Kenn trying to buy "no" votes, that probably won't work out for him. Except for 2 of them, (I think) the recent transfers are all MIGS, and after a year of doing coffee, papers, & ice for RL Captains for crappy Options pay, I'm pretty sure that they won't be changing their minds. I agree with you that the way they are handing out type ratings like candy is pretty crazy, but that appears to be the Flexjet way.

Just to be more clear: Giving type ratings like candy and PIC overload is not the Flexjet way: it is scamagement's attempt to buy votes from their likeliest resource of already union-averse pilots. The transfers aren't his only gameplan and it would appear are actually broken pawns even if they try to deny it.

While we have always been slightly captain heavy for operational purposes, the real craziness of our current list did not happen until Kenn started trying to buy votes. We have many guys on Red Label who would still be SIC for a while longer based on the old method but aren't now due to the seniority gutting nature of red label plus before the program in the early days of the union debate they upgraded a slew into the regular fleet only to claim how good things were going and for a minute it worked.

As far as type rating candy, for Flexjetters it only happens as a result of transition - upgrades, fleet rollouts, fleet phase outs. Nothing more than usual and not so prolifically among regular line pilots. In the past decade, I've only had the one initial and most of us would say the same. I believe what you're referring to is the number of Options transfers who are getting several in less than a year or two and/or low seniority 45's and 300's transferring to Red Label.

So please ammend your thinking. Old Flex was a best practices model. The new Flexjet is the lipsticked pig of Kenn Ricci's wet dream. Man, can you imagine how bad it would be without the threat of a union hanging over his head?

 

[Imissmypilot]

I truly believe pilots and owners are waking up to the scam of red label. Even an idiot can recognize we are losibg airplanes and customers. Fancy AIN articles aside, this place is going down in flames all due to one man's arrogance.

Are you talking about the article "Flex's business grows 20%"?

What a bunch of BS that was. He's boasting about taking customers from the competition. He talks about how half of his new business is people who switched from other fractionals, people "who used to patronized other fractional providers"

But he forgot to mention that he is undercutting everybody. He's selling Gulfstreams for Hawker prices in order to gain market share. He's bleeding red ink, but his clientele is growing. He's pulling a mesa airlines. I hope this scumbag doesn't start a race to the bottom in the frax industry, because that would not be good for anybody

It goes beyond the undercutting. It actually is delving into the category of scamagement's specialty: deceptive truth.

Go back and read the article with this thought in mind: Options is no longer selling shares. They will phase out in 5 years and roughly lose 20% a year to the Flexjet side. Ding ding ding. Every single Options customer we are converting to the Flexjet side is technically a new acquisition from the "competition".

Now here's the scary part: if you dive into the numbers closely, it would appear best case scenario is we are at stagnantion but the truth is probrably we are shrinking by a small but noticeable percentage.

And it's going to get worse. When owners start recognizing the inflated price of Red Label (and those are the only shares being sold according to sales) they are going to ask if it's really the smartest move. I could go on for quite a few paragraphs on why that is but if you don't understand why by now, me explaining it won't help.

 

[GlorifiedCabbie]

It goes beyond the undercutting. It actually is delving into the category of scamagement's specialty: deceptive truth.

Go back and read the article with this thought in mind: Options is no longer selling shares. They will phase out in 5 years and roughly lose 20% a year to the Flexjet side. Ding ding ding. Every single Options customer we are converting to the Flexjet side is technically a new acquisition from the "competition".

Now here's the scary part: if you dive into the numbers closely, it would appear best case scenario is we are at stagnantion but the truth is probrably we are shrinking by a small but noticeable percentage.

And it's going to get worse. When owners start recognizing the inflated price of Red Label (and those are the only shares being sold according to sales) they are going to ask if it's really the smartest move. I could go on for quite a few paragraphs on why that is but if you don't understand why by now, me explaining it won't help.

Deceptive truth. That sums up the way this management team has been operating for two decades. Don't forget, it's basically the same management team and philosophy, but now that they own the Flexjet name, the used car salesmen of aviation has a new storefront. So Options and KR's way of doing business is growing but he can't really claim that in public.

 

[doh]

I'm really looking forward to the outcome of this first arbitration.

 

[GlorifiedCabbie]

The thing that will scare the ONESKY mouthpieces the most, is the truth. I want full disclosure, but there is a gag order.

 

[Club ORD FO]

A gag order on the contract arbitration?

 

[doh]

I haven't heard about a gag order. I was told to expect a letter from leadership. It's my understanding the news is pretty good.

 

[GlorifiedCabbie]

Yes, there is good news and I also heard there will be an announcement soon. As for the "gag order", details aren't to be released until the "summary" at the end of the sessions. So DF should not be making phone calls until the session is over.

 

[doh]

DF is dancing the Desperation Samba...

 

[doh]

And cabbie, what do you mean "until the session is over"? They finished on the 2nd.

 

[GlorifiedCabbie]

I was told that some clarification was needed. The summary will be out soon. I can't wait.

 

[doh]

Whoop, der it is.

 

[Honorstudent]

For those Flex Jet Pilots who visit this site and doubt what Managment would really like to do to Flexjet Pilot Pay and benefits here is a Baron's article that quotes MS. Without a Union read it and weep because this is what you will be getting.
http://www.barrons.com/articles/flexjet-takes-on-netjets-1466222365

 

[NJAowner]

How many off the 154 a/c actually fly? I know previously aircraft count included Beechcraft without fewer than 2 engines and on the ramp? Also, "customers moving from competitor's programs" do include customers moving from FO to FX. A few of my friends are long-time FX owners and they are not a happy bunch.

 

[Imissmypilot]

How many off the 154 a/c actually fly? I know previously aircraft count included Beechcraft without fewer than 2 engines and on the ramp? Also, "customers moving from competitor's programs" do include customers moving from FO to FX. A few of my friends are long-time FX owners and they are not a happy bunch.

Frankly, we have no idea because transparency is at an all time low. Because of the pissing match Ricci is continuing with the union via furloughs and a fake VSP battle the company just lost, tell your friends to get ready for a much worse situation in April when we lose 45 more pilots.

The problem is aircraft crewing levels/ratios. We do not have adequate crewing to effectively operate much of our green aircraft on any given day (this means we have available aircraft sitting empty because we do not have enough pilots to fly them) and this is resulting in a days lift being divvyed up against what crews are available. This is also resulting in jammed packed days for crews and the resulting fatigue issues and a constant ridiculous game we play with musical aircraft and captains while on tour. Unfortunately, I can just about predict an accident is on the horizon and all I can do is make sure it's not me.

There is so much an owner can do to assure better service and safety but you don't and/or you don't follow up to make sure it's being done. You assume guys like Kenn Ricci know their business and are giving you the best bang for your buck but he fact is you are being taken advantage of and scammed.

You pay a ton of money because you assume you are getting well maintained aircraft, competent, rested and happy crews, and aircraft availability that should equal expectations on non peak days. For starters, you should insist on high overall crewing ratios for your fleet being a part of your contract with a financial incentive for the company to keep it. You should insist on pilots having 10 hours work days with a financial incentive for the company to keep it. You should insist on the company taking care of your investment and not showing up in a ragged out POS with airframe hours that do not represent honest fractionalized use. You should be asking your crew for the truth about delays and not depend on owner services to tell you the truth about anything.

The old Flexjet took care of their owners from top to bottom. However right now your only ally is your crew. And while pilots are still doing everything we can to take care of you on a daily basis, the fact is this company is being managed and run in a way that ties our hands. At the heart of what is making most pilots miserable right now is that very fact: we can no longer do our jobs in a manner that affords the very best to our owners because our new management no longer runs a ship that allows it.

Management is trying to claim owners are mad the union contacted them regarding these issues but I applaud the union's efforts. The fact is I fly for you and your friends NJAOwner - you are my real boss - and it's only fitting you should be made aware of just exactly how screwed up this situation has been and how much worse it is getting.

If I were an owner, I would be paying careful attention to the upcoming contract arbitration and tell the company to quit wasting your money, resources and pilots and settle it now. Do not be okay with waiting 4 months. Demand they settle now. There is no reason in the world your friends should not be able to insist on a NJA matching contract in order to stay. A settled contract that keeps pilots (your only real ally in this fractional world) happy will be the best thing in the long run for your investment. If for whatever reason the company fails to listen to owners, then as an owner I might just look into getting your concerns addressed in front of the arbitrator. Let him know whether or not you really want your family flying with a low paid newbie hack on his 13th hour of duty. Because trust me if Kenn Ricci has his way or this arbitrator fails to deliver something decent, that's what will end up happening because every good pilot left will just be forced to go elsewhere.

 

[Imissmypilot]

For those Flex Jet Pilots who visit this site and doubt what Managment would really like to do to Flexjet Pilot Pay and benefits here is a Baron's article that quotes MS. Without a Union read it and weep because this is what you will be getting.
http://www.barrons.com/articles/flexjet-takes-on-netjets-1466222365

There it is again for the yammer crowd: Flexjet management is trying to bring Flight Options low cost labor structure to Flexjet. What do you think that means? Raises for everyone?

It is a flat out lie Red Label crews give better service.

Another halftruth is contained in this quote from the article:

"Can Directional really run Flexjet as a luxury brand? So far, so good, with 20% of Flexjet?s customers already signed up for the higher-priced Red Label program. That?s an impressive result, considering it?s not yet a year old."

What they are not saying is that Red Label is the only thing they are selling and they are essentially giving it away. I have yet to meet a "Red Label" owner who has any idea what I'm talking about much less would agree to pay more for service they were already getting. The 20% represents the same number of owners who re-signed this year. The program is not a an impressive success. The program is a marketing scam and union busting tool. Kenn loves ideas that allow him to hit a few birds with one stone.

 

[Frac Cap]

I agree with you whole heartedly. I am hearing a lot of our 18/19 year guys with this company are getting fed up with the low pay and moral due to an extremely hostile management team that makes working here very stressful. They are now planning on moving on to the airlines where they will make more in their second year then they make now after being here 18/19 years. I am very concerned of the kind of quality of pilot we will be getting to fill their places if all the majors are hiring and the commuters are offering 33K signing bonuses and a quick path to the majors.

 

[Imissmypilot]

I agree with you whole heartedly. I am hearing a lot of our 18/19 year guys with this company are getting fed up with the low pay and moral due to an extremely hostile management team that makes working here very stressful. They are now planning on moving on to the airlines where they will make more in their second year then they make now after being here 18/19 years. I am very concerned of the kind of quality of pilot we will be getting to fill their places if all the majors are hiring and the commuters are offering 33K signing bonuses and a quick path to the majors.

Frac Cap, Kenn Ricci is on record at some of these fancy speaking events he seems to always be jetting off to stating he does not really believe in a pilot shortage despite all evidence to the contrary.

He believes years of unionization in the aviation sector has led to pilots being underutilized. He believes if the industry adopted long work weeks (8/7), mandatory 12 hour days, dedicated crew pairs and some of his other crazy ideas, there would be no pilot shortage.

I disagree. On the contrary it would make the pilot shortage a lot worse because there'd be a whole lot of dead pilots out there if those were the new industry standards. Even the FARs are outdated and don't address the current environment adequately. The FARs are not meant to be an FOM.

 

[NJAowner]

Most existing owners have no idea what "Red Label" is. It seem appealing to new owners. You are correct -- old Flex was a great operation. I only had a few cards with them for supplemental lift -- but my friends with them were happy.

Those of you who have seen me on the board for years know that for a few years I took most of my hours from NJA to FO. FO started well. And then every single peak day I was moved 3 hours in the the least preferred direction for me. Once I was moved 18 hours (obviously they did not want to charter -- and I am not a big fan of sell-off charter) and once 12 hours (it was a new excuse every 3 hours) -- and no compensation, credit, upgrade or anything which made it a little easier to swallow. My old-time Flex friends say this is still continuing - one of the reasons to have a share is to travel peak days when you want. And in well close to 20 years with NJA I think I was moved once on a Peak Day -- and not a full three hours. Flex has 3 real advantages --- (1) some people don't like or had an issue with NJA so they want to be elsewhere, (2) Flex does not (or at least as of year ago) charge a premium for a 50 hours share - so if all you had was 50 hours it is a good bit less expensive than NJA, and (3) Because of repeated labor issues for all quite a few owners of many, many hours no longer have 100% of their hours with NJA; they do 200 hours with NJA and 50 with Flex for diversification (I do not know of any the other way around).

 

[Imissmypilot]

NJAOwner thanks for the info and response.

Full disclaimer, there's probrably a reason your in the bsck and I'm up front but still for the life of me I can't figure out why owners don't realize the bargaining power you have by simply demanding contract revisions that address your issues. They need your business. You have many options and they can't afford the hit if you choose to exvercise those options.

Labor issues are here to stay no matter what company you go with. However, as an owner you are the one in control of how much those labor issues effect the company you are with by encouraging your friends to be vocal in settling these contract negotiations and insisting on a common sense approach to labor demands.

Labor wants what you should want: high crew ratios, smart not brutal schedules, freedom from retaliation regarding decisions on rest /maintanence and a wage that is commensurate with the skill level/responsibility considering the clientele we are ferrying. You want these company's to be career destinations and competative. i guarantee you in the end that is what will provide you with the solutIons to the issues you expressed.

And do not believe they need to charge you more for it. If this red label farce has taught this sector of the industry anything it's that management can pay their pilots double and still make a profit. Don't forget that!

 

[NJAowner]

Most owners have no idea of these operational details nor do they really want to get involved. They want ease and convenience. Also, what you raise are not issues which can be dealt with by a contract by contract basis. So unless all owners "band together" it won't happen.

 

[Imissmypilot]

Most owners have no idea of these operational details nor do they really want to get involved. They want ease and convenience. Also, what you raise are not issues which can be dealt with by a contract by contract basis. So unless all owners "band together" it won't happen.

I think you undervalue the effect owners have on the industry. What makes you think owners aren't already getting individual ammendments to their contracts? Sales will tell you it's not possible until you are willing to walk. I can tell you right now we have owners labeled "high risk" for walking and the company bends over backwards to accommodate these issues.

I get owners don't understand (and don't want to understand) the operational details but I assure you every single complaint I hear from owners could be quickly solved by becoming a little less naive. The easiest way to do that is throw your support behind the same group of people who want what you want, your pilots. This is what you should tell your friends.

It's your money. Why don't you and your friends start demanding to actually get what you paid to get? Trust me NJAOwner, the only people in this industry who really care about how you're treated are your crew; they have to face you everyday and I can't begin to tell you the mountain of crap they wade through everyday to have your back. Everyone else, including management, gets to hide for at least a little while.

If you care about getting served well, it's really as simple as supporting the group who wants to serve you and wants what you want. Tell your friends it's as simple as that.