Jack Henry

[Cloudroller]

I know several people that have interviewed their (i have not). And people that fly for them. From the what i have been told by everyone - The CP is a young arrogant ass, who did fall into the position. Everyone else is really nice and easy to get along with. My advice it go interview and you will see for yourself.

 

[FlyFlyFly]

Visualization, Critical Self-evaluation, and Health Habits

Sounds like Communist indoctrination pure and simple. The chief pilot must be a real jewel.

Sounds like an accident waiting to happen...

 

[yfly]

This sounds like one more example of the idiot rising to the top.

 

[dontscrewurbudy]

Dear HawkerF/O,

You said you are friends with John Arvin (chief pilot) at Jack Henry. You think he is a stand up guy. You are wrong. John used to be very respected by his co-workers. He has sold out! Brian Hunter (Department Manager) only promotes those who don’t question his motives or authority. He is the worst kind of chief pilot, one who pretends to be genuine, but the fact is he will stab you in the back. He has made a big mistake in this industry. Interesting fact about Jack Henry's flight department-Nobody there has ever flown for another company, including the department manager, chief pilot, director of training, director of maint. and all the captains and co-pilots. This is their first job in the corporate industry.



A WARNING FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY. During my first month at my new job, I was approached by the chief pilot of my company; he informed me that the Department Manager from Jack Henry left him voice mails. Brian Hunter attempted to sabotage my career with my new company. He has done this to other pilots who have resigned, I know of one pilot who was pulled from his new hire class and dismissed by his new company. The managers of this department love to play together and mess with peoples lives like it’s a game. Anyone who works for this company is stepping into a trap. When you are in training they write in your training syllabus terrible things. It is a form of hazing (like old military) they break you down and then build you up just prior to your checkride. It’s all part of the Critical self evaluation and critique that someone else in this post wrote. When you resign the BS training files are used against you for leaving the company. If the records were real they would never make you a captain. The fact is when you leave this company and attempt to become employed by an airline you will sabotaged with the records. If you think you are a great pilot and fly to ATP standards and that nothing false or exaggerated will be written about you, you’re wrong; it’s all part of the game. The guy that was suspended a few weeks ago because his friend quit was fired for not being a proficient pilot. He was captain for at least 6 years and was a professional and reliable pilot. All BS....

I was a captain at this company for several years. The day I resigned it felt as if I escaped prison.

 

[757BBJ_Capt]

I don't think Hawker F/O said he was friends with John Arvin. He said he did not know him too well. Right? If what you say is true about your friends, why did your friends not litigate this issue? I can assure you that would get someone's attention at JH and the flight dept. would probably be audited. Most execs ASSUME the guy they have running the show is safe and on the ball. Telling the CEO that "training in house" will save the company lots of money does nothing but make B. Hunter look good. If the CEO knew how that saves the company $ but signifigantly decreases safety, maybe he would initiate some changes of his own. If Hunter trashed your friends, then your friends should go get a tag team of lawyers and initiate bankrupcy proceedings down in Monett, MO.

Dear HawkerF/O,

You said you are friends with John Arvin (chief pilot) at Jack Henry. You think he is a stand up guy. You are wrong. John used to be very respected by his co-workers. He has sold out! Brian Hunter (Department Manager) only promotes those who don’t question his motives or authority. Brian keeps John Arvin’s balls in the top drawer of his desk. “Stand up guy”. Yeah, stand up and bent over. He is the worst kind of chief pilot, one who pretends to be genuine, but the fact is he will stab you in the back. He has made a big mistake in this industry. Interesting fact about Jack Henry's flight department-Nobody there has ever flown for another company, including the department manager, chief pilot, director of training, director of maint. and all the captains and co-pilots. This is their first job in the corporate industry.



A WARNING FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY. During my first month at my new job, I was approached by the chief pilot of my company; he informed me that the Department Manager from Jack Henry left him voice mails. Brian Hunter attempted to sabotage my career with my new company. He has done this to other pilots who have resigned, I know of one pilot who was pulled from his new hire class and dismissed by his new company. If you are smart you will add Brian Hunter, John Arvin, Kent Vos, and JR Mitchell to your blackball list. These four love to play together and mess with peoples lives like it’s a game. Anyone who works for this company is stepping into a trap. When you are in training they write in your training syllabus terrible things. It is a form of hazing (like old military) they break you down and then build you up just prior to your checkride. It’s all part of the Critical self evaluation and critique that someone else in this post wrote. When you resign the BS training files are used against you for leaving the company. If the records were real they would never make you a captain. The fact is when you leave this company and attempt to become employed by an airline you will sabotaged with the records. If you think you are a great pilot and fly to ATP standards and that nothing false or exaggerated will be written about you, you’re wrong; it’s all part of the game. The guy that was suspended a few weeks ago because his friend quit was fired for not being a proficient pilot. He was captain for at least 6 years and was a professional and reliable pilot. All BS....

I was a captain at this company for several years. The day I resigned it felt as if I escaped prison.

 

[HawkerF/O]

Just some banter from NBAA Airmail that hits oh so close to home. The 75 Capt is correct, I never claimed to be a friend of John Arvin, but, I just dont know him very well, so I would not say I am not his friend either. From what I know of him, I think he is a stand up guy. One can't go through life listening to what others say about someone then take it as the Holy Graile. If there is something fake about Arvin, then I'd like to find out on my own, instead of hearing it from a rumor mill. I am not saying you are not being straight, I am just saying I like to find things out on my own. Until I find out differently for myself, Arvin is ok in my book. Don't know Hunter, but know a few people that do know him. If I ever meet him, I'll then form my own opinion. Sorry your buddys got screwed, but like the 75 driver said, if that is true, they should use the legal system accordingly.

From:Brian Hunter <[email protected]> Date:Wed, 1 Oct 2003 15:45:01 -0500 Message:I guess I would agree completely with all points made in this last message.
As a manager, I would not like to loose any employees, but if the employee
is not happy with the job I think it is better for both the employee and the
company, for the pilot to find a job that suits him better.

Brian Hunter
Travel General Manager
(417) 235-6652 Ext. 1612
Fax (417) 476-3543

10/01/2003 01:52 PM Subject: [NBAA-avmgr]
Pilot Resume History

Question for anyone: We are reviewing a resume for a potential pilot for
our company that seems well qualified. On his most recent past employer
information, he made a comment about will discuss his termination. So we
asked. Here is the basic story:
Knowing that after 2 years with a medium flight department (part 91) he
was
unhappy with the lack of flying he was getting since they seemed to be a
bit
overstaffed on pilots. He gave them a written 4 week notice of resignation
to give him time to find another flight department, and the current
employer
time to find a replacement pilot. Here is the kicker, On a non flying day
he
was in doing Jepps, and around noon went to take his hour lunch. He had
already made plans to go visit a potential employer during his lunch break.
He was back within the hour, and resumed his duties. A short while later
the
gentleman he went to see during lunch called the current employer to
discuss
what was listed on the resume. A furious manager came in after that phone
call, and fired the pilot on the spot. Reason: For doing a job interview
while still working for his company in the middle of the work day. Hence,
it
was his personal lunch break though. So we called the company for reference
as well. That exact same reason was what we were told for his dismissal.
Now I'm not sure we will hire the pilot or not, but I'm just going out on
curiosity to see if that is something that is even legal on firing
procedures. Any comments?

Jack Mason

I don't think Hawker F/O said he was friends with John Arvin. He said he did not know him too well. Right? If what you say is true about your friends, why did your friends not litigate this issue? I can assure you that would get someone's attention at JH and the flight dept. would probably be audited. Most execs ASSUME the guy they have running the show is safe and on the ball. Telling the CEO that "training in house" will save the company lots of money does nothing but make B. Hunter look good. If the CEO knew how that saves the company $ but signifigantly decreases safety, maybe he would initiate some changes of his own. If Hunter trashed your friends, then your friends should go get a tag team of lawyers and initiate bankrupcy proceedings down in Monett, MO.

 

[dontscrewurbudy]

Hawker F/O

You are right, you should form your own opinion about people, but, if someone tells you to duck, you probably would. Or would you get wacked in the head because you wanted to make the decision yourself. All I am saying is all these people who have worked or have friends that have worked at JKHY and have left comments are correct. Rumors are false, Saying he is a stand up guy is false. I am a professional pilot and am only writing this because I want to help my fellow pilot. After all is'nt that the point of this website, To help your fellow pilot find meaningfull employment. If your considering working for this department your making a big mistake. Ask anybody that works or previously worked at JKHY about John Arvin and they will tell you the same thing. We had high hopes for him and he let us all down. He choose to be at the right hand of the devil, instead of in his path. About litigation, that takes time and money, I think most try to move on. If I had lost my employment, I would have hired an attorney.

This will be my last comment about this flight department. I am going to try to forget all about this place. Good luck to anyone who ends up in Monett flying for this department.

 

[ENCOREPILOT]

dontscrewurbudy,

I am not sure who you are, but I have a really good idea. I also was a captain for several years with JKHY. HAWKER F/O you are getting the truth about this company and its politics. I also believe that JKHY tryed to sabatage my job with my new employer after resigning. but, I was unable to find out for sure.

Advice to anyone that is planning on working for this company, you will be trained by a pilot that probably only has around 1500-1800 hours total time. He will be failing your engines on takeoff. You will also be required to do aerobatic training in an old stearman with this guy. A year ago he was still trying to master the art of crosswind landings. The only reason he is in this position is because he hosed his friend and mastered the art of office politics with the boss and the retired boss. I firmly believe that there will be an incident or accident at this company. A few weeks ago the Director of Training landed short of the runway and took out a light or two. (You will be forced to fly red/red and land on the very end) It is too bad that nobody at the company is proactive enough to prevent the inevitible. So my advice is stand back and watch. Your better off working somewhere else.

dontscrewurbudy, send me a private message and we will get caught up on whats going on. Maybe I can help you out, if you need it.

 

[2000flyer]

I become seriously suspect of a past employer who begins divuldging dirt during a reference call. Our department, for professional AND legal reasons, only give out date of hire and date of termination (termination meaning end of employment be it employer/employee instigated) and only details pertaining to performance, ie. when last date of training, etc. Absolutely NO personal insight, feelings, ideas or judgements are transmitted.

I would also weigh what a former employer says with what the perspective employee's references have to say. If there is a difference and the weight leans towards what professional references say rather than the former employer, being an intelligent individual, I can probably smell the stench coming from their old boss.

Remember, we as employees have every right to see our personnel files at any time upon request. Just like our credit report, this is information on US and cannot be witheld from us. During your departure interview (if you have one) or before you depart, you should ask to see your file and either copy it (some companies may have rules against that since it may contain some proprietary info) or take detailed notes on it's contents.

Personally, I feel if an employee is to the point where, for whatever reason, they want to work elsewhere, the management should do NOTHING to stop them. Many times, managers feel they "own" you and that your decision to leave should not be yours alone. I feel, at the very least, a manager should not hinder your job search, especially since he or she has become aware you may be leaving, chances are you've already found another position. Why try to hold on to an unhappy employee who will eventually begin to affect the dynamics and morale of your department rather than give them the opportunity to leave when and and soon as they can. That makes sense, at least to me.

Just when you think the day of the "old-dog" chief pilot, king of kings, God of the airwaves is dead and buried, another rears it's ugly head. I'm sure if ever (and let us hope it doesn't come to this) a John Henry aircraft does go down, you'll have several family members and their respective attorneys beating down the company door with more lawsuits than the chief pilot could ever pay for!

 

[gear_guy]

Just a thought

This thread needs to find it's way to the HR dept before somebody gets hurt.

 

[Oldtimerpilot]

Not only did the Director of Training take out a runway threshold light on landing, he denied that he had done it and let another crew dispatch the airplane. He never said a word to the crew and he never had the airplane inspected.



The low time training captain spoke of by Dontscrewurbudy...He (by his own admission) intentionally stalled an Encore at FL430. The airplane tail stalled and lost a few thousand feet before he recovered.



My point…these two guys are still in the department. Yet, Hunter and Arvin recently fired a pilot of seven years (claiming he wasn’t adhering to the SOPs). He is a safe pilot and has never had an incident.

I can assure you that everything that Dontscrewurbudy and Encorepilot have said about this company, Brian Hunter, and John Arvin is 100% accurate. John Arvin is definitely not a stand-up guy. He is a bend-you-over guy. He isn’t even really a Chief Pilot. He is Hunter’s secretary.

Anybody that is thinking about going to work for them is making a huge mistake. Do what you want. Just don’t say we never warned you.

 

[757BBJ_Capt]

JHA Headquarters
Attn: Jack Prim, CEO
663 West Highway 60
P.O. Box 807
Monett, MO 65708
(417) 235-6652

If you mail it, he wont get it. Fedex or UPS tends to get more attention. If there are truly issues, let them be known. Out of courtesy, copy Brian Hunter on the correspondance. Sounds like they need to bring in an outsider equipped with a broom.

 

[PseudoName]

The only question I have is.....

When with the flight department at Jack Henry be on the cover of ProPilot??
Sounds like they are a winner!!

To add to this post, I know John Arvin.....and have the privilege of getting stabbed in the back by him. It hurt at the time, but was the best thing for my career.......because I didn't get hired at JHA!

 

[bart]

You can also just email their investor relations. They usually land on a VPs desk. Anybody know the CP and DOs email addy?

Update, the DO and CP have been emailed with a link to this post. Perhaps they can help us understand their unconventional methods.

 

[avbug]

I heard from one of their ex pilots is that they require you to sit in the cockpit with a blindfold on and must name every switch.
Its amazing what small town flight departments mentality will dream up.

How is it you're not familiar with blindfold cockpit checks? I can't imagine having to fly with a pilot who isn't blindfold-familiar with the cockpit. I should be able to name any switch, control, or item the cockpit and you should be able to reach out and touch it blindfolded, without feeling for it...weather you're in a J3 cub or an advanced tactical aircraft.

This doesn't mean flying around blindfolded, but it does mean being blindfold familiar with the aircraft you fly. I have always been a staunch advocate of that practice, and it's kept me alive.

Small town mentality? Not hardly.

 

[Dinger]

Just curious, how has that kept you alive?

 

[Dinger]

And for the record AvBug, I do agree with you about cockpit familiarization.

 

[J3 Guy]

Avbug

If the blindfold method is so great why dosent Flight Safety and Simuflite make you learn that?
Like someone else posted The Jack Henry pilots have never flown corporate before, so they dont have any other department to compare to.
Someday they will be in the news with one of their training blunders.

J3

 

[avbug]

Blindfold familiarity has been preached by many organizations for many years.

J3 guy, were you not the person who began posting recently claiming to have nothing more than J3 experience and posting flame bait messages about netjets, et al, regarding your need to be hired? Are you therefore a flame baiting troll, or truly someone with no experience at flight safety, simuflight, etc?

Blindfold familiarity has kept me alive on occasions when the situation did not permit a great deal of time or circumstrance to go heads down in the cockpit...a regular occurence in some of my work.

Since when as flight safety, simuflite, etc, ever been the be-all and end-all of training, or the bastion of safety, for that matter. I'm all for regular, recurrent training, but I've met far too many instructors at either organization (more commonly with flight safety than simuflight) with NO experience in the aircraft and a simulator type. Theirs is the world of the simualted syllabus.

But set that aside, J3. I preached blindfold familiarity in the Cub, too. Not just in the cockpit; let's face it, there isn't much to see or touch. Blindfold familiarity outside the cockpit. When it comes time to exit that aircraft in dark water, upside down, finding latches, pins, struts, and the surface is best facilitated with tactile familiarity with the aircraft, and from that comes the blindfold test.

Any skydiver knows this by heart. Look, to be sure, but feel. Anybody who has ever experienced a floating ripcord, or had to release a capewell latch (dating myself) on an extended riser knows to feel for it (as opposed to those who weren't familiar, felt for it, and held the webbing until impact...a too often occurence).

Pound the company into the dust, if you will, but don't show your own ignorance by tearing them down for a legitimate practice; doing so only makes you look bad, and does nothing to sell your point (whatever that might be).

 

[bart]

Avbug,As a skydiver, I wholeheartedly agree with training muscle memory and thorough cockpit familiarization, whether that is through blindfolds or other methods. I have a hard time with understanding how "Critical Self-Evaluation and Health Habits" dictated by some wet behind the ears CP contributes to safe flying. Those subjects seem straight from a "re-education" camp. I will also say that a lack of formal training, disdain for following a well-executed flow with a checklist and encouraging flying low as a method of weather avoidance is going to one day land someone in a situation that smooching the CP and DOs butt by adopting their criticism and health tips as ones own will not address. Maybe I am wrong, but I have seen operations like this before and not a one has made it to this day without bending metal.