Flex's Good, bad, and uglier>.....

[Iam3rd]

Flex does have a floating rest buddy. If your trip on day two cancels before you leave the hotel, you my friend are not on duty, that means you have a floating rest. If the company is not going to put you on duty, than say ok re-up your room, than call you at 4:00 pm give you an hour and half to show at the airport than buddy you can work 14 hours. If that is not floating rest, than what is?

Yea, but the example you are using usually takes place first thing in the morning. Then you can just request a late check out and hang out at the hotel. Earliest you would have to leave hotel is 12 and maybe as late as 1500. Worst case you have to go hang out at the FBO for a few hours then head right back the the hotel. Or just hang out in the lobby of the hotel for an hour or 2. Granted, its not ideal, but its a whole lot better than NJ's requirement.

 

[Wiggums]

Then you can just request a late check out and hang out at the hotel. Earliest you would have to leave hotel is 12 and maybe as late as 1500.

First, are you even online yet? If so you can't have worked more then a few tours. So isn't is a little early to be weighing in with your anti-union rhetoric and examples of how Flex runs things? I don't what information you are basing your opinions but why not work a few months, and talk to some NetJet pilots.

Worst case you have to go hang out at the FBO for a few hours then head right back the the hotel. Or just hang out in the lobby of the hotel for an hour or 2. Granted, its not ideal, but its a whole lot better than NJ's requirement.

What is NJ's requirement? Have you read there contract? Did you know that their duty time is fixed when they go off duty? That means that if you you are slated for a noon trip they don't call you at 0415 with changes. In fact, they don't call you in rest period. Things can end up much worse then the your worst case scenario. How about you go to bed early for a 0500 on time and then your trip gets changed to a red-eye? That's a perfectly acceptable change according to FlexJets work rules.

 

[kab1027]

Floating rest at Flex. Yep we have it. About the layoff 5 yrs ago. It was not a layoff, it was a termination. Ask any of the guys that came back and they'll tell you their seniority date changed to the day they came back. 2-3 years with the company, gone! Start over.
Things that make you go hmm....

 

[FraxJockey]

I was one of the guys terminated and lost a whole......5 months ...BFD. Get your facts straight.

 

[bailey3083]

OK so lets put it this way..For the NJA guys we suck you rule for the Flex guys Unions Suck Unions Suck Unions Suck. Regardless where you work there are people who are miserable and people who drink to much Kool Aid. Just be happy we have jobs and not have to suffer like the pilots at the airlines.

Baiiley

 

[Wankel7]

I had floating rest with the company I was doing charter work with...fun stuff.

So, how often do you you guys get the screws put to you with the floating rest?

Wankel

 

[walshsfly]

I had floating rest with the company I was doing charter work with...fun stuff.

So, how often do you you guys get the screws put to you with the floating rest?

Wankel

I have only had my rest changed maybe and thats a big maybe once every other month. I can't remember the last time I got an early wake up call. can it happen yes, does it happen yes, does it suck yes, is it better than always having min rest just to sit standby at an FBO YES!

 

[Av8tor]

If you are on or off duty, does not mean you are required to sit an FBO. All it means that you are NOT contactable before your show time. Once you are contactable, you are than on duty. Simple as that. The only reason Flex has the floating rest, is that Mangement has the UPPER hand. They are not required to hire more people to staf us appropriately. Hence the 3.8 pilots per aircraft. It is all a money issue and once again the pilots are the ones to suffer. Floating rest has to stop at Flex, that is what this whole 91k thing is about.

 

[pilotpat]

I'm not on with a fractional yet...but my charter company does both floating rest and FBO standby. Let's see, sleep being disturbed at 6am to tell you to go back to sleep because now you're not coming on duty til 4pm to do a 6pm departure out of TEB to BUR on a Friday afternoon when you know damn well you're not getting a release time until sometime after 8pm. Wind up (after fuel stop) in BUR around 2am EST, close up shop and get to hotel by 3am EST only to get a phone call from the office around 8am because no one knew you were on the West Coast. Yeah...that's happened a couple times before.

I'll take the sitting at the FBO with my friggin' laptop watching movies all day thank you very much.

 

[ProFracPilot]

Wind up (after fuel stop) in BUR around 2am EST, close up shop and get to hotel by 3am EST only to get a phone call from the office around 8am because no one knew you were on the West Coast.

WHY in the WORLD would you answer the phone?? Oh, yeah. No enforceable work rules. Only FAR's to ignore. I can see that you don't advocate this type of scheduling, but your comments illustrate the problem very clearly.

I used to be a company guy. I'd bend the 10 hour rest rule or go an hour or two over 14 (thereby negating the 10 hours of rest in 24 lookback provision). I'm mission oriented, and want to complete the trips for the folks paying the freight. I've learned that not only is this illeagal, but it is unsafe. Management will exploit the lack of firm work rules and will attempt to invoke the so-called "interpretations" of 135.267 that claim to allow this rule to be bent. The day will come when these "interpretations" will be fully vetted in a court of law, likely after a fatal accident. I, nor my estate, will be a defendant in this lawsuit.

When I'm released from duty, and especially when I'm moved to the back side of my circadian clock, I go stealth. The only way anyone can reach me is to bang on my door. If this happens before my scheduled Duty-On time - regardless of the amount of scheduled rest, my 10 hour rest clock starts all over again.

Floating rest is illegal and unsafe. In the words of Nancy Regan, Just Say No. Better yet, I'll let my Union speak for me.