A majority of them are surprisingly satisfied....which is good on face value,
All owners I know a very satisfied with the pilots. I think many of them will not complain to the pilots about problems and issues the owners are having with operations. My guess is all newcomers to private aviation are ecstatic (as we all once were). However, longer owners of NJ shares see the service as inferior to what it once was. It is all about expectations -- when these are incredibly great and responsive (a 100 on a scale), getting a mere 96 while still great is a step down. The real test of owners' sentiment is where their private aviation dollars are going -- and the "net flow" of these dollars is not into NJ. I have also pointed out before how various departments at NJ can "play" with their numbers to make their department look better and management then uses the same numbers to show how wonderful things are -- but so far from reality.
The old NJ culture was do whatever it takes to get an owner where they expect to be on time or as close to it. That is no longer the culture. I have had quite a number of flights (some in the past year, and this has happened to others I know) where operations decides it is better to give the owner the contractual credit for a late flight (capped at 2 hours in the last few years of contracts -- but it did not used to be capped) than actually bring in a recovery aircraft (which may be larger) or use sell off. While that may save NJ $$, it does not make for happy owners. This is especially true as sales uses the "depth" of the NJ and EJM fleets for recovery purposes as one of the major reasons to use NJ and not a competitor.
NJA Owner,
We appreciate your business and your concerns should be addressed. We would be so appreciative and grateful if you would write a letter to Warren Buffet explaining your frustration along with other owner friends of yours. We also take notice of the culture change and it is not for the better. I believe that if Mr. Buffet knew what is really going on behind the scenes, he would make a drastic change for the better.
Warrens philosophy has always been safety first, and give our owners the best
of the best. He even states, quoted by Richard Santulli, "Safety first, I don't care what it costs."
I would like to share with you that as an aviator for netjets, there are times that I worry about paying my bills. Do you realize that on a 7 on 7 off schedule, I gross after 8 years of service, less than $80,000 per year. I have been flying since I was 15 years old. I went to college, earned a bachelors degree, went to flight school, paid $25,000 for it. I worked flight instructing for a year, flew cargo for 2 years. I have worked flying professionally, mostly corporate, for more than fifteen years. Friends of mine have a nine to five job making much more money and they get to see their families every day. We do not. We are away from our families in a strange bed for half of the year. We miss birthdays, mothers day, fathers day, thanksgivings, christmas', easters, halloweens, school plays etc..
We are not complaining, but pointing out the facts. We are highly competent, and our average new hire far exceeds the airline minimum hours.
Aren't we worth top pay for our experience and skill set? Would you prefer to have a low time pilot with less experience flying you and your family? Personally, I wouldn't if given the choice. However, I have no choice but to fly on low cost carriers because of my meager wages. I would be infuriated if I were you to know that your pilots may be in the cockpit worrying about bills. Peace of mind equals safety, period....
I would encourage you to write a letter for CHANGE.... I appreciate your sentiment for our pilot group and we appreciate your business. Afterall, you pay our salary, and for that, we thank you... I would hope that the company would not pass on our wage increase to you. You deserve the "best of the best" and we hope that you will be patient with all of us during this negotaiating time. We will try to provide you with exceptional service, even though our current leadership is lacking in leading by example.
Please let us know if you will be willing to write such a letter because your one voice is more powerful than the entirety of our pilot workforce. Thank you kindly...
