New Rumor

[Tommy Boy]

TAG is buying Flight Options.

any takers......

 

[ghostrider64]

That would be great for FO pilots...Tag is a good shop

 

[Dep676]

Would not surprise me one bit. We run like a big charter company now anyway. Getting more and more people on the JetPass card. That is nothing but a charter anyway. We get told by dispatch "it's only a JetPass customer" when we bring up stuff that is watch listed or MEL'd in the cabin. So that shows how much they care about our customers.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Tag

The company that owns TAG...also owns part of Citation Shares.

 

[Spooky 1]

I doubt it. There will be a TAG "present" comming your way though within the next couple of weeks.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Would that "present" be Bob Tyler? If so, its arrived.

 

[Spooky 1]

Bingo! Now for the rest of your story, why do you believe it to be a possibility. Just not likely from my vantage point.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Word around the campfire was "The Present" was coming here to prepare.....but Ive been hearing buy-out rumors for 5yrs, only one of them came true.

Whats the scoop on him? Good for us or bad? TAG pilots definately get paid and treated better than us....they just haven't hired me yet.

 

[Spooky 1]

TAG is a great organization in my book. Don't know Bob Tyler real well but I was always treated with respect and he did me a few favors from time to time, that I will always greatful for. I think you have a pretty good man. What happend to his predessor?

As far as TAG and FltOps? I don't think it is logical. TAG does own 25% of CS and that is down from the original 49%. Since CS, Flt Ops and NJ are all in the red to some degree, one would wonder why TAG would want to increase it's exposure to a business model that has yet to perform to the satndards originally concieved. The underlying owners of TAG are not fools. They invest wisely and in spite of that have gotten burned more than once. I just don't see your scenorio plying out. None the less, I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Tommy Boy]

I don't think it will either, just was curious if someone else had heard it. Raytheon has made it clear that they want to get rid of us and that lends at least and eyebrow raise to any rumors.

Other guy was fedup with the company, ie management, and stepped down to just fly the line again.

 

[ProFracPilot]

Other guy was fedup with the company, ie management, and stepped down to just fly the line again.

Not exactly true, Tommy my Boy. The outgoing VP of Ops was in the position on an "interim" basis all along. He was previously Dir of Ops, and stepped in when Salata punched out . The long term plan for the last couple of years years has been for him to return to the line.

 

[Fedmagnet]

Flops Director of Operations

Was J Christensen, but things got hot when the FAA explained to him that he was responsible and could not pass the blame to some nitwit like J Salata. Salata held no position on the certificate but yet told everyone how it was going to be legal or not. The company has been using unsuspecting puppets to put their names on the certificate but have no authority to change anything. K Combs learned this same thing as Chief Pilot. When K Combs disagreed with the family clan members, he was no-longer invited to the meetings yet still had the responsibilitys to the FAA. K Combs left for a real flight department.

 

[rice]

................................As far as TAG and FltOps? I don't think it is logical. TAG does own 25% of CS and that is down from the original 49%. Since CS, Flt Ops and NJ are all in the red to some degree, one would wonder why TAG would want to increase it's exposure to a business model that has yet to perform to the satndards originally concieved. The underlying owners of TAG are not fools. They invest wisely and in spite of that have gotten burned more than once. I just don't see your scenorio plying out. None the less, I wish you the best of luck!

Spooky,
Agreed!
But I'm sure TAG would love to help them (owners) manage their aircraft as they bail out on FLOPS. Not trying to flame you guys just making a point, FWIW I wish you all the best and that Bob make a vast improvement over there. Never got to meet him but heard he's a stellar guy.

 

[Voice Of Reason]

...Makes sense....

I don't think it will either, just was curious if someone else had heard it. Raytheon has made it clear that they want to get rid of us and that lends at least and eyebrow raise to any rumors.

Yeah, I find that that when companies want to "get rid of" an affiliate, they like to just go ahead and buy a supermajority share. Always easier to get out of it that way... :smash:

 

[TurboHonda]

Yeah, I find that that when companies want to "get rid of" an affiliate, they like to just go ahead and buy a supermajority share. Always easier to get out of it that way... :smash:

Off course they stop short of 100%, so they don't have to extend their benefits and retirement.

 

[Voice Of Reason]

Precisely....
(yet not indicative of wanting to get "rid of" on entity)
Just the usual corporate greed BS

 

[AeroBoy]

Since TAG is foreign-owned (Swiss), it can't own more than 25% of any fractional that conducts some flights under Part 135 rules, hence the reason Cessna had to take another 25% share in CitationShares when it launched the Vector Jet Card program (taking Cessna's stake in CS to 75%). TAG could outright own a frax operating solely under Part 91K (no foreign-ownership rules exist for Part 91 ops), but it wouldn't be able to offer jet cards since those flights must be conducted under Part 135 rules.

So...Flight Options would have to eliminate its JetPass program, as well as turning in its Part 135 certificate, before TAG could ever buy a majority share in the frax provider. It could buy a minority stake in FO, but why would TAG do this after Raytheon stiffed the existing FO minority shareholders with its latest recapitalization? Before the recapitalization, Brantley owned about 18% of FO; afterward, that share went down to about 1%, taking its equity stake from about $8M to less than $500,000. That's less than a fifth of what it originally invested in FO in 1998. What a great ROI!!! TAG would be better off just burning a pile of money for heat...