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Mach92

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2001
Posts
315
Scheduling draws pilot ire at NetJets
by Chad Trautvetter

While the fractional providers said publicly that switching to the more stringent rules of Part 91 Subpart K on February 17 was a nonevent, a look behind the scenes at NetJets reveals a somewhat more chaotic transition. It appears that the duty-time and crew-rest limitations of the new rule threw a proverbial monkey wrench into operations.

Since mid-February, scores of NetJets pilots have been forced to sit idly at FBOs for their entire 14-hour duty day, even if there isn’t a company airplane available for them to fly. The unionized NetJets pilot workforce called the practice “punitive scheduling,” viewing it as retaliation for their rejection last fall of a tentative agreement that would have provided the company with more scheduling flexibility under the new 91K rules. NetJets management does not comment on negotiations and did not respond to AIN for this report.

At press time, the Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots, or ASAP (International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1108)–which represents the NetJets pilots–and company management had yet to finalize a temporary written agreement to limit stagnant time (which NetJets calls “crew rot”) at FBOs to six hours. The agreement, which will have an expiration date, also has provisions for standby duty at home or at hotels.

Still, what incensed the NetJets pilots most was that while many of them were idle at FBOs keeping chairs warm, the company was “selling off” flights–in other words, outsourcing work to charter companies, mainly to sister company Executive Jet Management (EJM)–on low-demand days in violation of the existing contract. The pilots have filed a class-action grievance regarding these sell-offs, and some in the ranks are speculating that the company is conducting trials to see if it could maintain normal operations if the pilots ever went on strike.

Contract Negotiations
The possibility of a strike draws closer each month. While the mediated negotiations that restarted in mid-February initially went well, management had not yet responded to several written proposals the union offered during those talks. At press time, the two parties were preparing to meet again, and an ASAP spokeswoman told AIN that the negotiating team is “optimistic yet realistic,” given that contract talks have thus dragged on for more than three years. She added, “There definitely could be a standoff over pilot pay.”

The once-a-month mediated sessions will end in June. If there’s no tentative agreement reached between the two sides by then, either the contract negotiations will be put on hold indefinitely or the pilots will be released for self-help after a 30-day cooling-off period. If the latter occurs, then the pilots could strike as early as late July.

On this note, ASAP told AIN that it has begun strike preparations, in case talks do go sour. A union spokeswoman said that “informational picketing” will begin this month at or around some FBOs, as well as other locations. Pilot representatives are also urging the rank-and-file to get their finances in order in case it comes to a strike.

Meanwhile, ASAP’s lawyers are filing for single-carrier status at NetJets. If the move is successful, it would have wide implications for the company by combining the pilot rosters at NetJets; NetJets International, the non-union arm that flies fractional Gulfstreams; and EJM. Pilots at the three operations would thus then be unionized under ASAP.
 
A Good Summary!

Mach92, thanks for posting the article. I hadn't read it yet, but I'm living it...:) "Crew Rot"....I've heard that! The LOU limiting it to 6 hours is helping, but the pilots are still working a lot of very long days. Many of us are heeding the call to get prepared and a lot of volunteers work equally long days at home on SU projects. As for filing for single-carrier status ---the NJ pilots are just calling it like they see it!
 
Does it really look like NetJets will let a strike happen? I can't imagine that happening. Seems like it would absolutely put the 135 market in an uproar and tick off quite a bit of NetJets owners.
 
"If there’s no tentative agreement reached between the two sides by then, either the contract negotiations will be put on hold indefinitely or the pilots will be released for self-help after a 30-day cooling-off period."


On hold "Indefinately"? What the heck does that mean? Could the mediator just arbitrarily decide that the status quo is kosher and not do anything else? WTF?
 
WrknStff said:
On hold "Indefinately"? What the heck does that mean? Could the mediator just arbitrarily decide that the status quo is kosher and not do anything else? WTF?

I was curious about that myself. Where does the RLA allow for that?
 
netjetwife said:
Mach92, thanks for posting the article. I hadn't read it yet, but I'm living it...:) "Crew Rot"....I've heard that! The LOU limiting it to 6 hours is helping, but the pilots are still working a lot of very long days. Many of us are heeding the call to get prepared and a lot of volunteers work equally long days at home on SU projects. As for filing for single-carrier status ---the NJ pilots are just calling it like they see it!

Don't you have breakfast to cook or a bridge party to host? Something a little more "up your alley"?

What a pitiful sight. Even more pitiful is the haggard look on your husband's face, and it's not from the goings on at NJ, of that I'm certain.:rolleyes:
 
RJFlyer said:
I was curious about that myself. Where does the RLA allow for that?

The Railway Labor Act requires that the NMB authorize a proffer of binding arbitration. If either side declines the binding arbitration, a 30 day cooling of period starts followed by the right to engage in self-help. The NMD has sole discretion as to proffer arbitration or not. Without the NMB authorizing the proffer of binding arbitration and with the suspension of mediated negotiations, the parties can be left in a "recess" mode to operate under the status quo provisions of the RLA and the current contract.

The RLA was the first major labor act (It became law in 1926) but it had some serious limitations built into it to protect interstate commerce. The Wagner Act passed in 1935 authorized a much more fair set of labor laws but some folks were left out of it's protections - the biggest group being folks already covered under the RLA.

That's where we are as pilots. If we are unionized, we fall under the RLA and we must play by its rules. It's definitely not a perfect playing field, but for me, it's a hell of a lot better than being an at-will employee in this industry. (And yes - I have done both)

The current NMB is decidedly pro-company and it puts the employees at a serious disadvantage during negotiations. That's also one of the reasons that the current contract talks have stalled for so long at NetJets. It's only now that 91K is seriously impacting their ability to manage crews and to deliver product under our current CBA, that management feels the need to actually bargain with us. Add to that fact, the majority of pilots involved in this fight are at least in 4th year pay or higher, we are in a stronger position to weather the current storm. Had NetJets been really smart they would have moved to impasse two years ago when a lot of guys were broke. As it stands right now, a recess will hurt NJA much more than it will hurt the pilots.
 
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And yes, I had to pull out my old Labor Relations book from college to look some of those dates up. :D
 
Hey Griz, I guess I struggle to see everyones logic that a recess will hurt NJA. I guess I just don't see it.
 

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