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It would be curious to see what would happen if the union vote happened today. Would the mix still have a full third of the pilots against the union or would it be higher?
Kind of like the presidential election... the media is loving our new president-elect while forgetting that there are 56 million who wanted no part of him.
The union will bang their drum touting how they had the "majority" vote, and never admit or even make the statement that a full one third of their own population did not want the union, as well as all of the non-pilot personnel because they also knew the turmoil a union would bring. The FLOPS employees that voted "yes" for the union were actually the minority of the entire population of the company.
Hawker 800XP.
I left a non-union fractional to go to Netjets specifically because it had a union.
It has worked out very well for me.
I have not posted much on this web-site! With that in mind I have to say that placing blame on the pilots or current management for recent furloughs is not the answer! The sole blame for this demise sits in the lap of Mike Schitfinger and his cronies(sanjay "may i get you a slurpy" Aggarwal). We need to keep focused on that fact that Mat Slinghoff is doing an incredible job as well as management negotioning team. This contract will get done soon and Flight options will prevail as a premier fractional in the industry. Along with Netjets! What we need to do is focus on doing our job as safely and professionally as possible.
In lite of the recent lay-offs, things have gotten better for us pilots. Management has gone out of their way to take care of us. I personally feel bad that I still have a job and the co-pilots that I have flown with in the last eight years do not. However this is the fault of schitfinger and may he rot in hell for his selfish attitude towards our clients and pilots. He has now screwed up two companies in aviation. Let's hope that there is not a third.
For people like B19 to blame the union for our demise is insane. He has not helped the situation. Not to mention the Net Jets pilots union that after begging us to join their cause abandon us when we needed them most! The unity in our union is stronger than ever and when the economic crisis turns upward we will still be there. Hopefully with the 104 pilots that has just been laid off!
In closing we all need to do are parts to make this company work and also support the union. Ask Mat Slinghoff and he would agree. But this anti-union and anti-Flight Options crap has got to stop. Our competitors would love see us fade into the dark. That is the true reason why Net Jets union hung us out to dry and made there own union. The more we work together the stronger we will be. We will fight on till we close the doors. I think a year from now we will be setting a new standard in the industry union and management alike.
I appoligize for all the grammitcal mistakes and spelling in advance.
There is no way
Flying airplanes safely is the pilot's job. Signing and retaining customers is management's job.
That is exactly what I have been advocating. If you are not happy with being in a non-union company, go and find a union job that fits you.
There are 33% of those pilots at FLOPS (plus the rest of the company) that didn't want the union.
The demise isn't BECAUSE of the union, but the union will prevent future success by removing the ability for the company to adjust to the changing business climate.
It remains to be seen how the "industry leading contract" will fare through these rough times.
If two years from now we are looking at non-union fracs as being stable finanicially as well as a peaceful work environment compared to prolonged and bitter contract negotiations at NJ for concessions to their "industry leading contract" and FLOPS for the contract that never happened, then we'll know just how successful the union infiltration was.
I still predict that the "industry leading contract" will be in complete turmoil by this time next year.
I hope for 19's sake Unions survive... otherwise he will be out of a job.
That makes Flight Options a Union Company
That is exactly what I have been advocating. If you are not happy with being in a non-union company, go and find a union job that fits you.
There are 33% of those pilots at FLOPS (plus the rest of the company) that didn't want the union.
You're an idiot. I defy you to name one single company that had 100% support for the union. Go ahead..... I'm Waiting.......
Maybe we should do our presidential election over again too, because 100% of the people didn't support Obama. No matter where anyone went, there would not be 100% support for the union. Why should the majority of the pilots leave instead of trying to make their life/employment better?
It is the minority who should leave if they are not happy!
If they did that, we could have avoided the layoffs!
Unions don't "infiltrate" Companies, they are the result of Management Failures to keep the workers satisfied with their treatment by Management.
Not true. 1108 has made it a mission to unionize the entire fractional industry even though it has been made clear that many of the fracs want no part of them or any other union.
As an Original Flight Options Pilot (pre-merger), there was no way we would have ever considered a Union at that time. We were treated well in our eyes.
Then Uncle Kenn lost control of the Company and we were exposed to just how evil and predatory a Management Team could be. Many of the parts of that Team still exist at Flight Options including the Vice President of Flight Operations (you might know him Bob19), and the Program Managers for both the Large/Mid Cabin and Small Cabin Programs.
Perhaps if Uncle Kenn Ricci were to Fire all 3 of these gentlemen, maybe this Pilot Group might take a second look at whether or not we need a Union. But with these gentlemen still in place, along with several other evil PSMs, not to mention Options puppet of a Chief Pilot, you can forget about the thought of the Union going away.
Even if these dirt bags were removed, the Flight Options Pilots know there would be nothing to stop Uncle Kenn from bringing them back. We have already seen what it is like to work unprotected under these Predators, and I don't know of many Fight Options Pilots that wish to spend the rest of their careers exposed to these Predators, without the protections of a Contract.
So you want the Union to go away Uncle Kenn? Truthfully, it ain't gonna happen. This Pilot group has just been burned too deeply.
But nowhere near as deeply as the clients that are flown everyday are going to be.
Freedom is Not Free
So you want the Union to go away Uncle Kenn? Truthfully, it ain't gonna happen. This Pilot group has just been burned too deeply.
But nowhere near as deeply as the clients that are flown everyday are going to be.
The union mongers are attempting to make their own lives better at the expense of others that are usually relatively happy. It's a small group when compared to the overall population of the company. . . Those that voted it in are the minority in respect to the entire "population of those that care", and are the invaders. Unions like to plant themselves like a cancer even into companies that clearly don't want them.
Flight Options Pilots were legally Represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
That makes Flight Options a Union Company.
With that fact in mind, if you don't like working for a Union Company, perhaps you should take your own advice Bob19 and leave? I mean, that is what you are advocating![]()
As for your illogical logic, no company has ever had a 100% vote in favor of a Union. In fact, most votes are very tight in the 52-48% range. The fact that 67% of the Flight Options Pilots voted for representation is considered a landslide in management/labor circles; but you know that already.
The only question now at Flight Options is whether or not Management will sign the dotted line on a Fair Contract. Management at NetJets wouldn't sign their bottom line, until it became more cost effective for them to do so than not. And I wonder what employee group influenced that dynamic?I agree with you in one respect: To expect an Industry Leading Contract vs an Industry Standard Contract under the present economic conditions would be unreasonable.
I think you will find the Flight Options Pilots perfectly willing to simply accept a Contract on par with our primary competition: NetJets.
Now, go ahead and tell me how unreasonable I am being.
Freedom is Not Free
I guess this latest balloon (Flight Options Pilot vs Flight Options Pilot) Bob19 and his cronies tried to float out there in yet another attempt to Divide and Conquer fell flat on its face, again.
Nice try though Gentlemen.
Freedom is Not Free
none of the FLOPS pilots are satisfied with the progress made.
Wrong again Bob. I think the 1108 has made HUGE progress and I am in the Majority!