dsptchrNJA said:
What you call "strictly following the rules" I would call an ethical problem if it means you or other crewmembers are accepting pay for serving the company's needs while engaged in looking for reasons to not accept flights.
I am paid to evaluate the airworthiness of the plane, evaluate the weather, and the ability of the crew to safely conduct any flight assigned to me. That is exactly what I am doing.
By looking for reasons I mean looking for loopholes or embelishng an a/c issue in order to write it up when otherwise you wouldn't have given it a second thought. I won't debate the legalities with you, I don't believe crewmembers have done anything illegal that I am aware. I don't think Santulli, or anyone else, has a problem with you staying legal - question is, why weren't you before?
In the past I was guilty of carrying a minor issue (meaning I felt it was safe to continue the flight, even if, by the FARs, I should write it up as soon as I discovered it). Why? Because I thought it would benefit the company, a company that Santulli promised he would make the best job in the aviation industry. 4 years later, I realized he was not a man of his word. I realized he would continue to drag contract negotiations out as a cost savings measure to fund expansion. I watched the company more than triple in size and watched the number of times the company violated the current contract by over 1000%. I decided that Santulli was not a man of his word and that I needed to adopt his negotiating strategy if I stood a chance at making this the job I was led to believe it would be. In other words, fight fire with fire.
Your motives are the key issue with ethical issues. If your motives are merely to hurt the company rather than the sole pursuit of safety or legality, then you've got a problem. Perhaps there are crews calling in sick now when they are not. Perhaps they are calling in tired when they are not too tired to fly. I would consider this unethical and a good way to get fired, but I wouldn't call it a slowdown. I wouldn't call it "following the rules" for that matter.
Our motives are to legally use any and all legal leverage to obtain the contract that Santulli promised. He promised great pay, a great home basing system, and scope that included bringing the Gulfstreams to NJA. Our motives are to make him a man of his word and, just like him, to use any legal loophole we can to accomplish our objectives. I think his strategy was legal but unethical. If think we can still achieve our goals without rising to his level but it will require leverage. Legal leverage.
BTW, it's not working. Too many good people (pilots) at NetJets that won't stoop to pathetic games while the company is actively engaged in the bargaining process. It's just a bitter few. I know this with certainty because I see most all our crews working their butts off everyday with pride and enthusiasm. Thanks to all the great pilots at NJA - keep up the good work.
I think it's too early to judge. We have not yet begun to fight. Four years seems to be the magic number as far as pilots starting to finally realize what it's going to take to motivate Santulli to keep his word. Let's see what happens when more and more pilots adopt an active negotiating strategy and the busy season gets here. You, being in CMH, could help us by being an observer and letting us know when the pressure starts to be felt in the Crystal Palace. Until then, I'll take your word for it that the company hasn't even felt the effect of a few pilots following the rules. That means we need to crank it up a notch
