NetJets Pilots to Picket Meeting of Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders

[T34Mentor]

"When you mix raisins and turds, you've still got turds." Charlie Munger


Thanks for the quote. The insurance business vs fractional jet business. Hmmm....

 

[Ace-of-the-Base]

And if I owned a NetJets fraction I would want to know why the hell Marquis Card holders were helping overide the QS tails and ultimately drive down re-sale values.

Which makes me think, if I were a fraction owner, I'd wonder everytime they stuck me in some old charter plane, if there were some Marquis guys flying around in QS planes. Ever think of that??

Ace

 

[Majik]

Yaaak,
The money is there internally, Santulli just chooses to spend it on expanding NJE and funding NJI/EJM.

He's following Buffet's guidance - "I don't need the cash, I need you to grow the company." Santulli's following that guidance and growing our company like a bad weed. I don't believe he has to raise management fees to increase our salary. He only has to slow the growth a bit and start searching for a reason to reduce some of the mammoth waste that occurs around here on a daily basis (over which pilots have no control).

The only thing missing in this equation is the motivation for Santulli to invest in his pilots. ASAP is trying to apply that motivation. Some of their words may seem like propoganda to you but the truth is that they have the strong support of the majority of NJA pilots and are willing to take it as far as necessary to force Santulli's hand.

There are a lot of arguments posted on this board by some NJA pilots that I don't agree with. Some tend to get emotional after this long struggle and I understand their frustration. Time will tell if we are successful. Enjoy watching from the wings and thanks for wishing us luck.

 

[Schrode]

"I'm not one of them, but I do think any battle is better-fought if you use weapons that give you an advantage. In your case, cutting waste, finding the money internally, or convincing owners to pay more. " - Yaak

If you have read and understood the Union's position with the company, you would know that these are the EXACT "weapons" that they are using.

We identify waste, look for cost-saving measures and the owners do pay more (more than all of the other fractional ownership companies). My biggest problem with NetJets as a company is that they use the pilots (specifically, their salaries) as a reason to increase the monthly management fees to our owners. These fees have been increased each year since 1998 to provide for the increased salaries of the pilot group . . . which never reached the pilots. The owners believe, rightly so, that we are "Well paid professional pilots." This is simply not the case.

We are "Well paid" as compaired to what? Now that is the real question. Compared to Yaak? No. Compaired to a 300hr American Eagle FO? Yes. I think I am somewhere in between these two. As a professional pilot of over 20 years of flying, I think $50,000/year is an insult.

And yes, like many others here at NetJets, we can and will go elsewhere. Just waiting to see what the company will pay - hate to jump ship then find out I left a $125,000/year job for a $35,000/year one! I am sure that with 5 years at NetJets, flying 600 hours a year we could find a good position flying charter ops, or maybe a good corporate gig - hate to be that flight instructor with my eye on a job when 2,000 NetJet pilots hit his market. And if NetJets goes down, so will Flight Options, FlexJet and Citation Shares. A combined total of about 4,000 pilots hitting the market.... time will tell.

 

[netjetwife]

I agree that many of the pilots want to "wait and see", but for some it is more than that. There are those, like my husband and others, that are committed to the fight and are making a stand based on principal, as well as money. Pilots are professionals that should be treated with respect and compensated for their contributions to the companies they fly for. Those in leadership positions within the union are giving up their free time because of a deep sense that NOW is the time to make a stand and it is the RIGHT thing to do.

I know that some of you here don't like my "emotional" comments and I do agree with you that logic will win the battle. But I don't sit at the table, so I'm free to discuss the human interest side of the situation. No one can deny that the whole saga generates strong feelings by those directly involved. To ignore those "emotions" is to turn a blind eye to what actually motivates those on the front line of the contract battle. Just as pay wasn't the only problem with the failed TA, there is more than money at stake in the pilots' dispute with RS, BB and Co. Many of the pilots are driven by their sense of self-worth as professionals to stand up for the respect they have already earned and do deserve. They haven't walked away because they are fighting for a cause they believe in. Those who look beyond the pay issue will recognize the integrity that is at the core of the argument being made at NJA.

 

[Grizz]

Save your arguments made for CatYaaak - got a pretty good tip this week that he's actually a pilot for NJME. Once you consider that possibility, all things make sense.

 

[netjetwife]

So the Cat may be a snake?!

What a thought! That's lower than a snake's belly!! If it's the case, then the very pilots he regularly refers to as "whiners" have been subsidizing the salary he's so satisfied with.

 

[aeronautic1]

Geez

You guys and gals are about as bad as the person who buys a house near and airport and then complains about the noise.

Look, the majority of you hired into this company knowing full well that the pay sucks, the hours long, lousy representation, preditory boss and pie in the sky ambitions.

Fish or cut bait. Better yet, you all should have sent your wives to the stockholders meeting to picket. That would have garnered more media than a sniveling pilot group. They are the ones with the heuvos in the family.

You want action - Shut 'em down... or at the very least divert to Rifle on a regular basis and make the "owners" hire a cab to Aspen.