eggman76 said:
Absolutely not true. I am not a traveller that always cares about lowest fare, remember I own an aircraft. This certainly is not the cheapest option. I have the resources and the will to never give this company my business again.
I used to do some flying for my employer back in the time building days. Fortunately, I was smart enough to gain their trust one flight at a time.
I was partnering on a Cessna 320 Skyknight with two other guys and the company re-embused me for time on the plane plus, paid me for working. At first there were several skeptics. After a couple trips where I brought some of the "enthusiasts" along, I actually had people coming down to talk to me by my tool box to see if the cost v. time thing was do-able for a trip they needed to do.
I worked as a mechanical assembler for a company that built slitters, scorers and knives for the corrugated paper industry, but I always volunteered to go out and do field service for them once in a while. I laid like a snake in grass for a long time keeping this twin secret from my co-workers and management. This was a job I took up after I went to 141 school for ratings and needed it to help anchor me financially while I built up flight time on the side.
Eventually, a trip came up where taking the twin made sense and I made them a proposition. They bit on it and me and a co-worker wound up going on a two week field service trip to Mishawaka IN and Ben Salem PA. It was the deal clencher and Fosber America had the beginings of a coporate flight deparment.
Since I had access to a very nice rental Cherokee Six, I had no problems with scheduled and unscheduled trips in the event my partners had the twin booked or it was in getting maint performed. I used the rental Cherokee Six quite a bit for trips where I was going alone to perform field service or where two of us would be going. It can be competitive with commercial to go from Green Bay to MSP, two up in a Cherokee Six, especially if you don't know if you are returning early Sunday morning or late Saturday night. Keep in mind that most of the people that rode with me, wanted to get home as soon as possible...not wait on the airline shuffle or a predetermined flight itself.
I'd like to say that there was a most memorable flight...but they all were very uniquely interesting. I miss those days.
On one flight to the Detroit area in the twin, I had myself, the production floor manager, the installations department head, the director of training sales and a big wheel from the sales department on board. It only took us little over an hour to get there from Green Bay and since I called ahead, the rental van was waiting for us at the FBO...we were on our way as soon as I could get the fuel order in.
We hit that corrugated plant running. The guy from sales was upstairs selling a new production line, the training sales guy was selling them on training programs for their employees, instalations was resolving some install problems on the current production line and me and the production floor manager had slipped into our coveralls and were wrenching on the corrugated knife they were having a problem with. It was rock and roll and I was happy guy.
We spent some time working there, then got together to go out for dinner. We went back to the plant, wrapped things up, said goodbye and were home in our beds by 11:00 PM.
One trip they scheduled a day after the twin went in for annual, so I booked the Cherokee Six. Since I had already flown several good trips in the Six...they didn't seem to mind the aircraft swap. I re-explained the differences in the planes and how we would use a different route to get to Mishawaka IN and that plan flew as well. It was summer time and the weather was nice. Planned to go along, were people from the install department, including the department head and this time the company president!
A couple of days before we were scheduled to go, a field service tech walks up to me by my tool box and asks if he can hitch a ride one way to Mishawaka...I asked how much weight he was bringing and found it would leave us within limitations. Ka-ching! Saved the company another one way ticket. That trip was grand...choosing the right altitudes netted us a tailwind both ways, the skies were blue and the ride was smooth.
Eventually, I laid a Pilatus PC-12 brochure on their desks and started networking with the guys at the Perini company down the street. My goal was to get them to buy or lease the PC-12 together, maybe even bring in a third partner and manage the aircraft for them. Possibly contracting myself as a mechanical field service tech/sales rep to them, doubling my income making potential. They liked the idea...be that as it may, I had three 135 interviews come up in the same week and off into commercial aviation I went.
I know that doesn't relate to your horror story on the airlines, but maybe it does. I really enjoyed my time flying for the Fosber America company...they were a great bunch of guys and they had fire in their bellies, most of the management people had founded the company, so they were positive thinkers and highly motivated about their product.
Be careful out there if you do fly on your own, I had over 2,000 hours when I first started flying these guys around and had obtained all my ratings in a regimented 141 school. I had also taught at an accelerated flight training facility, where 10 day instrument ratings were their specialty. I realized the dangers and liabilities of flying private aircraft with co-workers and management on board and took the opportunity very seriously.
Good luck eggman, be careful out there!
