Buffett Bites Back at NetJets Pilot Complaints

[imacdog]

I do not care what extra taxes the company has to pay. I will be compensated what my skills and experience are worth.

 

[FamilyGuy]

So we should follow all the other lemmings??? The job I had prior to Netjets had us pay a portion of the insurance bill. Funny, every year that bill went up about 25%, and yet I couldn't even get a COLA raise from the crying poor company. I prefer the status quo on insurance. I would rather see parked airplanes than give on this issue. I would also expect a huge raise, more vacation time, and limits on duty days. Your line about auto unions and bankruptcy is nothing but a crock of sh$t. I don't put bolts on a tire all day long, day after day. I fly airplanes. It is a highly technical skill that takes decades and huge amounts of cash to get to the level of competency that Netjets and it's clients demand.

Great attitude. You should lead with that and put it on the picket signs at the next event. I'm sure it will strike just the right chord.

Yes, you have a skill set, and a more advanced one than some other people, but it is still just a skill set, and you shouldn't be denigrating other people's contribution to the finished product. Much like you wouldn't want me flying the plane, we probably wouldn't want you fixing the planes, or doing the scheduling or the accounting. Everyone contributes their own unique skill set and the finished product is better with everyone focusing on their specialty.

That said, companies focus their resources on solving the biggest, most intransigent and expensive problems. Automation is coming for many professions and I'm amazed at how far drones and self driving cars have come in the last ten years. They aren't ready for prime time yet, but I'm willing to bet they will in my lifetime.

 

[FamilyGuy]

I do not care what extra taxes the company has to pay. I will be compensated what my skills and experience are worth.

You should care what extra taxes the company has to pay, just like you've been concerned when the company wasted money in the past. Every dollar that the company spends on something else is one less dollar in profits and one less dollar that can be distributed to the different stakeholders.

And restructuring the health plan to avoid extra taxes from the government doesn't mean those dollars are lost to you and the other employees. Just negotiate and have them reallocated to another form of benefit.

Do you think the bankers stop cutting deals because the government raised the capital gains tax rate? No - they simply find another way to restructure the deal and get their money. You should follow the example and roll with it rather than trying to fight the tide.

 

[jmreii]

Sounds like a fredex thread just get the employee groups fighting and then divide and conquer. Now march to Rome darn it!

 

[imacdog]

No really, I have no intention to give concession to a company that is so profitable. WB endorsed Obama, he can pay the Obamacare taxes personally for all I care.

 

[pilotyip]

It is a highly technical skill that takes decades and huge amounts of cash to get to the level of competency that Netjets and it's clients demand.

You spent huges amounts of money? T-37,T-38, C-130. Me thinks, like me, you made a fair amount of money while learning to fly.

 

[SCT]

Yip, I was wondering about that statement, too. It takes "decades" to have enough hours to fly for NJ? Come on.....

 

[pilotyip]

Yip, I was wondering about that statement, too. It takes "decades" to have enough hours to fly for NJ? Come on.....

Yea I know guys who came to USA Jet with 500 hours and a COMM/ME/INS. They flew aged out airplanes for 1/2 of a decade (5 years) made decent money, got a TJ type rating and an ATP at no cost to them then got hired at NJ

 

[T-1GUY]

You spent huges amounts of money? T-37,T-38, C-130. Me thinks, like me, you made a fair amount of money while learning to fly.

The airplanes on my profile are generic for a reason. I hold dozens of other types. I don't feel the need to put down everything I have flown over the past thirty years.

The price I gave was blood, two wars, and over a decade going wherever Uncle Sam wanted me at his whim to defend this country 24/7 365 days a week.

I stand by the assertion that it takes decades to acquire the skill set. I have probably given over three hundred checkrides in multi-engine jet airplanes. Thousands of hours instructing in jets and simulators. I'm still learning and will never know it all. Like they say, it's a license to learn.

Any basic ATP with 1500 hours can fly point A to B. It's when the ******************** hits the fan you get what you pay for. Hopefully the experience in the left seat will hold it together, unfortunately I see a brain drain leaving Netjets.

In no way am I trying to disparage other jobs or professions. I had plenty of school friends working at the local GM factory for $40 an hour to put that bolt on a new car. Like I said, day in, day out. I can also tell you any trained monkey could do the work. You are comparing apples to oranges.

 

[CA1900]

Perhaps the reporter and their readers do not feel that is an important question to ask, since the vast, vast majority of working people pay a share of their healthcare.

As do the Netjets pilots. Just because it's not a line item on our pay stub doesn't mean we aren't paying for it. We negotiated full medical in lieu of a substantially higher salary number.