NetJets Pilots Get TA

[CALRepublic]

i voted yes (for several reasons)

but regardless of how you voted, i think we all can agree that this gets everybody pulling in the same direction

 

[realityman]

It's a good package. Not perfect, but good nonetheless.

How's that old saying go? You could vote in a package that only makes us work on Wednesdays and pays $1 million, and there'd still be a few who'd say, "Yeah, but EVERY Wednesday?!".

It's actually supposed to be about QOL, not money. It's supposed to incentivize the company to schedule more evenly and reduce unnecessary fatiguing scheduling (such as the dreaded 0400 show for the 1000 go time). Some are already criticising that it hasn't changed QOL at all. I can't argue that too much, but it's only been a few weeks since we signed the agreement. This is Netjets. The wheels of change turn slowly. Very slowly. Personally, I'm giving them AT LEAST six months before I pass judgement on whether QOL has changed at all, one way or the other.

Meanwhile, I'm making MORE money for the exact same work I was doing before the agreement, putting more money in my 401K beyond the standard amounts, and generally enjoying the ride.

I do think a few people's expectations are a bit unrealistic. Some are looking for very large changes in QOL. I don't see that happening, nor do I think that's what this agreement was structured to do. Some people seem to think the agreement should net us 8-hour duty days, max, or something similar and if it doesn't do that then it's a failure. However, I think the changes will be more subtle, but impactful. For example, I'm on the CC76 schedule. It allows the company to "borrow" days from another month and schedule me up to 21 days in one month. Those months suck even though I ultimately end up with a shorter month later. But they use that option as often as they can right now. Hypothetically, what if this agreement causes more efficient, and smarter, scheduling as well as gets some of our, ahem, "less productive" members to fly a bit more? If the company sees an overall increase in productivity brought about by this agreement, they may not need to schedule those 21-day months very often. A nice QOL improvement! No, it's not a massive, glaringly obvious improvement, but the kind of thing I think this agreement was meant to do. And three are a lot of other small improvements I can see eventually happening that taken together will equal a decent improvement in QOL.

Meanwhile, we're making more coin without having to work harder for it. Seems good to me.

 

[gunfyter]

......Hrs...FDPP hrs... $FDPay

1	24	11.9	$1,404.20
2	19.6	7.5	$885.00
	43.6		$2,289.20

I'll take that every month. Doing EXACTLY what I would have been doing anyway. I told you guys, this was a good deal for us.

 

[old*art]

I hope someone puts a value on the NJ health program in these discussions. I would be interested in how much the other fractional pilots are still paying out of pocket. I am retired on Medicare now with a supplement paying out of pocket and fondly remember those NJ days when healthcare for me and my family cost me $0.00. Plus if you develop a grounding condition like I did the payout is nice too. Lot of intangibles at NJ that I hope you never have to use but sure am glad they were there. +/- a million in my NJ 401k takes some of the sting out of it too.

 

[Hogprint]

So, almost 9 months in the FDP...

What’s your averages? I’m on the cc sched and averaging around 14-18...last two hit 12 even Steven. QOL is marginally better...maybe two sit down meals at night during a tour. They seem to shoot for 12 on 12 off w me. Of course there is the 10-11 off mixed in that...yeah I get it’s $ we wouldn’t have before but still...It’s about QOL at this point...

At least it seems like management is leaning forward in the saddle for a change...

 

[realityman]

It's been a mixed bag for me. I'm on the CC schedule as well. So far, I've been getting longer tours, which means the ability to rack up more hours per hour. My average is around 19 hours per hour.

But my September schedule is looking like a bunch of shorter tours (5 and 6 days) with no 7-day tours at all. We'll see how it goes.

QOL for me has gotten worse. To put it in perspective, though, my fleet had a decent QOL before the IBI. At least, I was experiencing it. Others may have a different story. I was already flying a fair amount (about 420 hours each year), but since IBI my yearly rolling total is up over 100 hours. Not entirely happy about that.

However, when discussing QOL it helps to take a look at the bigger picture. Recently, the company has agreed to allow the pilots to use all 12 accrued PTO days instead of the previous limit of 7. They've also eliminated a bunch of blackout dates. This is a huge improvement in our QOL, and I believe it's happened because of the increased productivity achieved through this IBI. The company has previously dug their heals in on this issue. Now after IBI results are rolling in, they're suddenly agreeable to allowing full use of our PTO days.

The point being, there are different ways of looking at QOL. Personally, I'd hoped for more QOL improvements in our daily life on the road. These improvements have been much more modest. But taking everything as a whole, perhaps we did okay with the entire QOL thing.

-RM



So, almost 9 months in the FDP...

What’s your averages? I’m on the cc sched and averaging around 14-18...last two hit 12 even Steven. QOL is marginally better...maybe two sit down meals at night during a tour. They seem to shoot for 12 on 12 off w me. Of course there is the 10-11 off mixed in that...yeah I get it’s $ we wouldn’t have before but still...It’s about QOL at this point...

At least it seems like management is leaning forward in the saddle for a change...

 

[bluepost]

My QOL has improved substantially. Rarely get less than 12 hours off, most is 13-15 hours off. This week had 3 days less than 9 hours. Still flew over 28 hours. Long shows automatically changed to hotel duty for a portion. I know a few 7and7 captains pushing $250k this year, small cabin...not counting the 30k signing bonus. 300k is achievable for those willing to work the long schedules. I’m personally over 30k up YTD from the new pay provisions (night, NDFP, FDP, etc). Large cabin has a “400k club”...it’s a thing.

 

[gutshotdraw]

$400K? Unless you're an SDP "Bubba" on the CC76 and extending like a wild man, that's a fantasy.