FlexJet / Flight Options / SkyJet

[FR8DOG777]

I know you were not looking to pick a fight. I say we call the vote tomorrow, cuz if the unions out it will accelerate my retirement plans. Uncle has sucked enough life out of me already. Yes there was a time our leadership was cocky and thought they knew everything, after a few slices of humble pie they have simmered down a bit.

 

[BlueNose]

I know you were not looking to pick a fight. I say we call the vote tomorrow, cuz if the unions out it will accelerate my retirement plans. Uncle has sucked enough life out of me already. Yes there was a time our leadership was cocky and thought they knew everything, after a few slices of humble pie they have simmered down a bit.

Yep, they've been 'Ricci rolled' a few times now.

 

[V1 Rotate]

I know you were not looking to pick a fight. I say we call the vote tomorrow, cuz if the unions out it will accelerate my retirement plans. Uncle has sucked enough life out of me already. Yes there was a time our leadership was cocky and thought they knew everything, after a few slices of humble pie they have simmered down a bit.

The part I struggle with is trying to understand why on Earth would KR come in and turn our world upside down? And the reason I say that is because for the most part our morale is decent, with the exception of the long upgrades for our FO's. Flexjet attracted him because we're a money making machine. If anything, why wouldn't he want to bring Options up to Flexjet levels instead of bringing us down? We all held our breath when our pay and benefits were announced and again last week when the fleet plans were announced. So far he hasn't bent us over. Not saying he won't, but so far so good. If anything, you guys should be demanding that 1108 get the heck out of your way and negotiate in good faith with KR for what we have. And if you're still not satisfied, then bring in another union. What do you have to lose? I just tend to believe that if it were me and I had been beaten down for years like you guys that I think I'd try something different. I'm neither 100% pro nor anti-union. I believe that the company's culture dictates that need.

 

[DirtyBeech]

Perhaps. Admittedly, my comment was based on my own pulse of what I hear from our guys and the Options guys I run across. But I also have a feeling that if 1108 thought for a minute that the tide was in their favor that they'd be out front encouraging their members to support them in their efforts for a single system. Just my thoughts. Not looking for a fight.

Don't trust your pulse. Do the math. A combined pilot group vote ( with their furloughees voting) requires pretty close to 401 votes ( 50% +1) to decide the issue. Suppose that 25% of the Flex guys voted in favor of having a union. That leaves you with about 252 Flex pilots against. You now need 150 ish votes from their side to decertify. That's 31% of their entire group. Their union was voted in at close to an 80% clip, so now you need an additional 11% of their pilots to vote against their union versus the original vote.

Certainly it's possible, maybe even probable, that a union vote would be 65/35 on their side. But it sure as heck isn't a slam dunk, and it becomes far less certain for Flex guys seeking decertification if more than 1/4 of our group votes for a union. I personally think that that number would be closer to 1/3 if the votes were taken tomorrow based on what I've seen on th road. All that to say that I don't think either group, pro or against, is in any real hurry to vote because it's not a sure thing.

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

V1 Rotate - If anything, you guys should be demanding that 1108 get the heck out of your way and negotiate in good faith with KR for what we have. And if you're still not satisfied, then bring in another union.

If the 1108 was “out of the way”, exactly what legal means would we have for negotiating with Uncle? What legal responsibility would he have to negotiate – in good faith - with us?

Bring in another union? What “other” union? Even if there was another national, it took 4 years of negotiating – through the Great Recession – just to get a TA. And that doesn’t include the years spent prior to voting in the union.

Finally, if the “what we have” refers to FlexJet’s pay & work rules, you don’t really “have” anything. You’re an at-will employee. Everything is subject to change at a moment’s notice & at management’s sole discretion.

 

[FR8DOG777]

We have every intention of fighting ricci to be brought up to your level, with the protections of a union contract behind us. It was apparent they had no intentions of bringing us up to your level, because they could have reopened negotiations instead of extending the last year of the contract. We will have to fight uncle tooth and nail for a 10 cent raise. He does not want us to have the contract protections which is why he is fighting so hard to abolish our union. No one here wants you to be pulled down to the cesspool were living in. Ask yourself this, what are your options when Ricci starts micromanaging you guys, comes looking to lower your salaries, and starts piling on all these extra sentient and spinnaker trips killing your qol on the road? We live it every day for 1/2 the pay.

 

[hammer2]

After the meeting I came away with the sense Ricci's loyalty lays with the Option's pilots. I'm starting to think the union is the least of our concerns.

 

[jetwash]

After the meeting I came away with the sense Ricci's loyalty lays with the Option's pilots. I'm starting to think the union is the least of our concerns.

Its not all the options pilots.

It is just to his handful of select pilots. That is why the pilots who are not the "select few" seek protection in the form of a CBA.

 

[hammer2]

Its not all the options pilots.

It is just to his handful of select pilots. That is why the pilots who are not the "select few" seek protection in the form of a CBA.

Maybe not the pilots so much as loyalty to Option's as a whole. With Options getting our older airplanes and the implementing of our operational logistics, we're left with nothing more than estimated projections of growth and a smaller fleet. It feels like we're being sucked dry...in fact, the first thing I thought of when I saw the slide show was that he's setting us up to suffer a similar fate that citation air suffered.

I could be wrong and hope I am. There's so little information being given and so many questions that its hard make an educated guess of what's up right now. But I'll say it again, the union is the least of our worries right now. Union or not it won't make a damn bit of difference, Ricci's going to do what he's gonna do.

 

[Fresh Air]

I could be wrong and hope I am.

I hope you are too, friend. You're right, there's no way of knowing for sure what Kenn and DAC might do.