FlexJet FURLOUGHS

[BigFlyr]

Re: laid off again

He said this wasn't a furlough but it was being done in order of seniority? Sounds a lot like being terminated. Time to start sending out resumes again.

It's a good thing that its not a "furlough" because otherwise we wouldn't be getting severance pay! Whether or not they call us back will depend mostly on whether or not they sell more airplanes... Who knows? If Bombardier's upper management doesn't see Flexjet as a money-maker maybe they'll do away with it all together! I sincerely hope not.

 

[wheelbarrow]

last time

The last time they furloughed it was in conjunction with a Bombardier wide layoff and every division was required to cut (just after 9/11)
All those "furloughed by seniority" I believe were brought back rapidly. I think that Bombardier is in the same mode now and I would not be surprised if the the outcome is the same.
I think Flexjet tries to staff as lean as possible and the staffing needs don't suddenly disappear (like an airline) so it is likely that those furloughed are still needed.
But hell, I am usually wrong about most everything.

 

[fracman]

Re: Re: laid off again

Whether or not they call us back will depend mostly on whether or not they sell more airplanes... Who knows? If Bombardier's upper management doesn't see Flexjet as a money-maker maybe they'll do away with it all together!

I understand Flex just hired a new VP of sales & marketing. Sounds like the plan to continue selling for a while.

 

[Snakum]

Just curious ...

A 30+ year veteran at Bombardier is in the office with us this month and he says they were, at one time, able to put one CRJ out the door every day. He says right now they have around 300 orders and are only putting one out every 1.5 days due to a number of issues. He says there are shortages of men and materials from a number of cost-cutting initiatives and the production line is suffering as a result.

He also says that Bombardier is courting potential buyers of the LearJet operation in Witchita, and are also considering selling off the De-Havilland operation. All this to focus on the CRJ and it's derivitives, which is becoming their bread and butter.

So, I'm wondering if they are not investigating whether or Flex is going to be a long-term money-maker or not. Would Bombardier sell it, or just close up shop, if they decided that it just can't be sustained?

Minh

 

[LXJ31]

I can't comment on the sale of various divisions within Bombardier as frankly, I just don't know much about it. But I do know in business everything has a price and the company is in business to make money. American Airlines is not in business to offer employment to pilots and mechanics, it exists to make money for AMR. As far as Flexjet goes, its been profitable the last two years in terrible economic conditions which is a plus. My take is that Bombardier rightly views Flexjet as another way to sell airplanes, no more, no less.

I would like nothing more than to see people like Bigflyr and others back with us soon.

 

[Snakum]

Yeah ... think that's logical. Does anyone know, or have an opinion as to, how a company/division like FlexJet would be dismantled if it proved to no longer be profitable for it's parent? I certainly hope that doesn't happen in this case and having met FlexJet pilots my opnion is that they're a great group of guys - very personable and gladly answered all my beginner questions and I'd be honored to work with them one day - and I hope Flex pulls thru and everything's back to normal quickly. But if a parent company (Raytheon, W. Buffet's group, etc.) did need to divest themselves of a fractional operation, how would that most likely be handled? Would they sell it, or is that even an option in today's climate? Or would they liquidate the assets? I'd imagine they couldn't due to the customer contracts, and would need to divest incrementally as contracts terminated and hopefully furlough in seniority order. Just curious.

On another note, I know another Bombardier engineer who worked on the CRJ project before it was a CRJ and learned alot of interesting stuff about the aircraft. He (an Aero Engineer/Designer - Structural; orginally from Egypt, now a Canadian citizen) said that the CRJ began as a replacement for the Falcon 20s that FedEx started flying with. But that in the end it wasn't going to meet design specs (if I remember correctly) and so Regional/National airlines were approached with it. The rest, as they say, is history, for better or worse, depending on your view. I'd always heard that it was designed by Bill Lear as a business jet from day one. Anyone know?

Thanks for indulging my curiosity ...

Minh

 

[flyboycpa]

.

 

[NJA Capt]

The Challenger (600) and the CRJ are only distant relatives. The Challenger was developed by Canadair in 1978. Bombardier developed the CRJ in 1989, after buying Canadair.

Some of the original CL600 out there have a canopy type entry door (lifts up like a cargo door) with fold out steps. These were the ones FedEx had wanted. Sort of strange looking to see the door hinge up.

This site has some good history on both products, but leaves out the FedEx connection.

http://home.ca.inter.net/~rapickler/

 

[414Flyer]

The Challenger is actually a Bill Lear design. I think it was going to be called the Lear Star 600, but the design was sold to Canadair who made a few changes to it and it became the Challenger, but retained the 600 designation

 

[BigFlyr]

Back on the original subject of this thread... According to the information I was sent from "company" there were 39 pilot positions at Flex "selected for layoff," leaving 343.