Flex Jet read file

[Ludicrous Speed]

While commuting to work, I overheard some regional pilots complaining (as any good professional pilot must do) about their pay & work hours - which sucks, we know that. They deserve more ? a lot more. But I wanted to interrupt them & ask, ?Wait a minute - did you do any research before you signed up? Or did you rely solely on what the University was spoon feeding you? Heard of the ?net? 25/30 years we didn?t have that. Anymore there?s no excuse to not know about the industry. If you can find a picture of your ex-girlfriend?s third cousin posing topless with a Columbian drug lord while tweeting about what you ate for breakfast, you can find out about your future employer.?

In between trips to Cabo - on his Gulfstream ? Uncle Kenn is popping in to Dallas to say hello to his new business partner & best friend ? You ? his Luxury Buddy. He?s a good speaker ? motivating with positive outlooks & all. Listen to him, ask questions, maybe read his book he?ll be passing ?round. Enjoy the moment, enjoy the honeymoon. But always, always, always: remember to do your research before you start holding hands and signing ?I Honestly Love You?.

Here?s what he?s sayin?: ?The reason why Flight Options pilots are paid so low is because they have a Union?. Ummm. Well, no. That?s not correct. But here?s something that is: ?Flight Options? CEO Mike Sylvestro announced two weeks ago that this quarter, they?ll have to meter sales!? Think you should ask about that? Maybe: Did he mean neutered sales? BTW - WTF are metered sales? Why would any company, or one of his companies need to meter sales? Especially in the fourth quarter? Are Flex Jet?s sales gonna be neutered? I mean metered?

Very soon, you?re gonna be part of the DAC/Flight Options family. Welcome aboard ? we?re glad you?re here. Don?t be alarmed - there?s bound to be some chop along the way. There always is. We know this, ?cause we?ve already lived through it. Keep your eyes ?n your ears open ?n do your research.

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Divide 'n conquer

Maybe I'm the one hearing helicopters overhead...

Uncle Kenn is positioning himself. With the FJ deal, he remains aloof as the union presses for single carrier status. His current scenario - keeping both companies separate - is good for him. But the union could argue scope & DAC's LOA & go for a combined seniority list. Uncle Kenn 'll fight it, but not too much. 'Cause a merged list works for him, as well.

With a single carrier status comes The Vote. Uncle Kenn absolves himself by claiming, "Blame the 1108! I wanted to keep the companies separate!"

The pilots - divided by years as former competitors, different aircraft, massive pay disparities, and now separated by newly invented luxury & value labels - courtesy of Uncle Kenn himself - are further divided by promises of returning furloughed pilots (aka: the Citation Air deal) to one company and shiny new jets to the other. Undecided FO pilots are seduced with the 'possibility' of higher wages - if they split. FJ pilots are scared with the 'possibility' of lower wages - if they don?t.

If the 1108 is banished, scope becomes something to chuckle about & so he starts another fractional - call's it Flex Options International - & finally puts 3 or 4 Gulfstreams or Globals - that he's been makin' noises about for years - on its certificate. The top 25 of his 40 Flight Options Loyalists (formerly known as Senior Flight Officers, now called Kennbots) are invited to FOI. With a nice pay bump. The other 15 or so Kennbots get management positions at FJ.

Uncle Kenn waves his magic wand & writes some simple new work rules - which are more guidelines than actual rules. (It's a gray area.) Also written are fences between the two former companies. FJ pilots keep their pay. They've already been crowned the 'Luxury' brand & they live happily for a few months. Until one of the Kennbots, thinking he can make a name for himself, introduces the Optimizer to their operations.

The top 100 FJ pilots are Loyalists, albeit to another Caesar. But he won't have to do anything about them: As long as they keep their pay & PIC slots on the Challengers, they don't cause any trouble.

Nextant - Uncle Kenn?s baby - continues to sell to FO, but sells heavily to competitors as well, thereby stunting FO's growth. FO pilots - those junior, ungrateful, 'Value' added, union lovin' basterds of the fractional world - look forward to years of low pay, flying remanufactured Beechjets & King Airs. (Legacy, X, & Hawker share owners have long since transferred to FJ, the planes quickly discarded. Much like the pilots', contract.)

Time passes and the furloughed pilots time-out on recall rights. But there's no union to reset the clock & Uncle Kenn gets a break on payroll by hiring off the street.

Incredibly - & in a twist of cruel irony - the biggest losers are the hard core anti-unionists. There are about 50 of 'em. Seniority-wise, they're junior to the Kennbots, but senior to everyone else. They get stuck with the rest of us at Val-u-Jetprop, flying the company's flagship - the Phenom.

Hooray.

P.S. "I know it's 3am & you don't duty on 'til 6, but you're our only option. How soon can you be wheels up?"

 

[OHGOON]

Maybe I'm the one hearing helicopters overhead...

Uncle Kenn is positioning himself. With the FJ deal, he remains aloof as the union presses for single carrier status. His current scenario - keeping both companies separate - is good for him. But the union could argue scope & DAC's LOA & go for a combined seniority list. Uncle Kenn 'll fight it, but not too much. 'Cause a merged list works for him, as well.

With a single carrier status comes The Vote. Uncle Kenn absolves himself by claiming, "Blame the 1108! I wanted to keep the companies separate!"

The pilots - divided by years as former competitors, different aircraft, massive pay disparities, and now separated by newly invented luxury & value labels - courtesy of Uncle Kenn himself - are further divided by promises of returning furloughed pilots (aka: the Citation Air deal) to one company and shiny new jets to the other. Undecided FO pilots are seduced with the 'possibility' of higher wages - if they split. FJ pilots are scared with the 'possibility' of lower wages - if they don?t.

If the 1108 is banished, scope becomes something to chuckle about & so he starts another fractional - call's it Flex Options International - & finally puts 3 or 4 Gulfstreams or Globals - that he's been makin' noises about for years - on its certificate. The top 25 of his 40 Flight Options Loyalists (formerly known as Senior Flight Officers, now called Kennbots) are invited to FOI. With a nice pay bump. The other 15 or so Kennbots get management positions at FJ.

Uncle Kenn waves his magic wand & writes some simple new work rules - which are more guidelines than actual rules. (It's a gray area.) Also written are fences between the two former companies. FJ pilots keep their pay. They've already been crowned the 'Luxury' brand & they live happily for a few months. Until one of the Kennbots, thinking he can make a name for himself, introduces the Optimizer to their operations.

The top 100 FJ pilots are Loyalists, albeit to another Caesar. But he won't have to do anything about them: As long as they keep their pay & PIC slots on the Challengers, they don't cause any trouble.

Nextant - Uncle Kenn?s baby - continues to sell to FO, but sells heavily to competitors as well, thereby stunting FO's growth. FO pilots - those junior, ungrateful, 'Value' added, union lovin' basterds of the fractional world - look forward to years of low pay, flying remanufactured Beechjets & King Airs. (Legacy, X, & Hawker share owners have long since transferred to FJ, the planes quickly discarded. Much like the pilots', contract.)

Time passes and the furloughed pilots time-out on recall rights. But there's no union to reset the clock & Uncle Kenn gets a break on payroll by hiring off the street.

Incredibly - & in a twist of cruel irony - the biggest losers are the hard core anti-unionists. There are about 50 of 'em. Seniority-wise, they're junior to the Kennbots, but senior to everyone else. They get stuck with the rest of us at Val-u-Jetprop, flying the company's flagship - the Phenom.

Hooray.

P.S. "I know it's 3am & you don't duty on 'til 6, but you're our only option. How soon can you be wheels up?"

Very possible...

Sad that Unky Kenny knows he can get away with this because he knows his audience will never see the person sitting next to themselves as a colleague but rather as a competitor for whatever scraps fall off the stage.

 

[doh]

WTF are you answering your phone before you duty on? If you're in rest, turn it off.

 

[993_Pilot]

WTF are you answering your phone before you duty on? If you're in rest, turn it off.

Most don't answer their phones when Off duty, but before the union was on property, it used to be that after 10 hours off duty, you were expected to answer your phone. It was even written policy in our company manual and approved by our FAA Certificate Management Unit (which might be why they keep our certificate in Binghamton, NY, and not Cleveland). Even to this day, they still send our releases with the wording "Expected duty-on date of DATE, TIME z", and they will attempt to call crews to change them, if it meets their needs. Fortunately, we are no longer obligated to answer that phone after 10 hours.

KR may have written a book called "Management by Trust", but it is almost pure fiction. If/when KR offers to send all you Flex pilots a copy, take him up on the offer, read it, then go ask a few Flops pilots about what you read. Ask them if it was even remotely true. He should have written a book that he actually knows something about, called "Management by Fear and Intimidation". What he really does is use the Carrot and Stick Method. He is a good speaker and will paint a big rosy picture for your future, then have his 'Yes Men' managers push the pilots into the grey area and beyond. A few pilots who will always do what the company wants, fly broken airplanes, long days, narc out other pilots. etc., will become "Senior Flight Officers" with special uniforms, special privileges, and extra pay. A few hard liners that want to follow the rules, and (unforgivable sin) make waves about being pushed, will get quietly fired. Then the majority who still want to follow the rules, will be too scared for their jobs to step out of line, and will me more easily coerced into doing what they want. It will be an insidious process that slowly creeps in, and one day you will wake up and realize that it is the new reality at Flex.

All you Flex pilots have No Idea what you are in for, and this is why we have the Teamsters on property at Flops today. It isn't always the perfect solution, but it is so much better than not being represented. With the exception of the former Senior Flight Officer, a.k.a. "Fair-haired golden boys", even most of the once anti-union pilots at Flops now recognize the benefits of working under a CBA. Good luck guys, you will need it.

 

[FR8DOG777]

Ludicrous you bring up many valid points. However, it is a waste of time at this point. Might as well let the shoe drop, no more wasted breath for me talking to flex guys in the fbo. I do find it ironic however, that flex pukes enjoy the spoils of war of a hard fought union contract from netjets and a substandard contract fought for with some work rule gains by us at flops. To those clowns at flops playing into lord riccis hand pushing for the toothless in house I hope you all crash and burn. Engine plug ed and his followers are complete idiots that couldn't get a job elsewhere if there life depended on it.

 

[notapilot]

Quit and find a new job, you choose to stay.

 

[FR8DOG777]

So uncle Kenny can keep on Raping and pillaging and plundering. You are exactly the fnin worthless a$$ ki$$er they are looking for. Did you get a sfo position yet?

 

[notapilot]

Ok you're the hero. Now I understand. Good luck with that.

 

[FR8DOG777]

I am not a hero to anybody, just a reliable safe pilot that has been abused for far too long. Go Blow yourself never a pilot!