NJA announces 1000 applications for pilot positions

[T-1GUY]

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a private pilot license puts their application in. 10,000 applications doesn't mean 10,000 qualified pilots. Netjets is a demanding job. The pager never stops buzzing with schedule changes. It's true some days you don't work 14 hours. The normal schedule is to work twelve hours. Anything over twelve hours costs overtime and scheduling has gotten really good at avoiding overtime. The average rest from engine shutdown to show time tends to be ten to twelve hours. This time includes the time you spend waiting for the taxi or shuttle driver that takes 30 minutes to show, the 20 minute plus ride to the hotel, the line you wait in to check in, and finally the time to actually get to your room. You are lucky to get 6.5 hours of sleep a night. Do this for the first three or four days in a row along with am to pm swaps, time zone changes, etc and you are spent. You are labeled the bad guy because you call in fatigue. But the good guys can be called to cover your trip? Food poisoning on the road? If you haven't got it yet, you will. Page in sick and you have to wonder if management will call you in for one of their special "were here to help you meetings". If you are in management, you know how many requests you are receiving for pilot records. I don't believe for a minute that my 800 pilots looking and applying for other positions is out of line. The pilots have always just wanted to do their jobs for a professional wage and be treated with respect. The current management has destroyed this relationship. I could go on and on. You get the contract that you are willing to fight for. You are seeing just the beginning of this fight....

PS Say hello to Twinkie for me...

 

[ghostrider64]

NJ was the best thing to happen to my career.

And you represent everything that's ever gone wrong with 3000 others.

 

[Some guy]

Twinkie?

Why would the majors keep private pilot resumes on file? Why are commuters paying their pilots $20k if there are no qualified pilots out there? I see a shortage coming, but I don't think we're there to the extent it's hurting anyone.

I never said your job was easy and I agree 12 hour days are the norm rather than the exception. There is nothing wrong with the fatigue. Most of the time it's easy to tell why a crew is fatigued. I'd rather you fatigue than do something risky. I get a little confused when on day 1, on standby at their home base, someone fatigues when called for a trip after being on duty for 2 hours at noon. Yes it happens, along with other similarly silly scenarios. The rate of fatigues has actually dropped a little recently. Likely because the sell offs and those recalled are getting back in the seat are easing the pain slightly.

If you read my past posts, you'll see I've agreed you deserve more. As far as I know salary isn't the primary topic, it was concessions. The big one being healthcare. We used to get it free too. Now I pay less than $100. I could go elsewhere, but I have a pretty good feeling I still have it better than most in the industry.

SG

 

[realityman]

Contrary to your belief, the company just wants you all to do your job. That's it.

Be one of the 3%ers and you're name becomes known fairly quick.

SG

SG,

Most of your points are well thought out and salient. You seem to have a pretty good handle on most of the technical aspects of our jobs on the road. T-1 has it pegged about what's going on its us, and in fact he was being kind. He's left out an awful long list of things this EMT has been doing or cutting to intentionally make our lives miserable out there. And scheduling is just plain off the hook crazy. Mostly they are just trying to keep up and fill holes in the schedule, but I've been here too long and experienced too much not to also be able to recognize punitive scheduling as well.

But I wanted to focus on what you wrote above. I do believe there is a misunderstanding with that. In fact, the company does NOT want us to just do our jobs. Why? Because part of our jobs is following the regulations, and in fact is REQUIRED by the law to do so. Unfortunately, there is HUGE pressure from the company to not do that. Wish you could be out here when I go to write up a problem with the plane and get massive pushback from maintenance about it. The excuses from mx start flying, they invent procedures and standards (yes they do, and they back off quickly on that crap IF you call them on it. "Oh, sure, I'll try xyz if you fax me the FAA APPROVED guidance that says this is legal and acceptable and sign your name with it.". Amazing how fast it always becomes "Just write it up.")
Our current CBA allows for no-questions-asked fatigue calls. Recently, the company has started willfully violating that section by bringing people who fatigue "too much" (I put that in quotes because they REFUSE to clue us in on what they're using as a definition of "too much") into CMH for questioning. Yes, the union is challenging this issue, but it takes time. Meanwhile, it's intimidation, plain and simple, to do something that's A) in violation of the CBA and B) could just as easily be handled by a phone call if they were so worried about our health (as they claim is the reason for bringing folks in for questioning).
And heaven help you if you call in sick just before or after a vacation. Now, before you tell me some may be abusing the sick calls in order to extend their vacations, let me say I agree with that observation. However, please remember that most of our crews have reached the max of 4 weeks of vacation. If you look at it, that means there are 8 tours (out of 22 worked every year) that bracket vacations. That's more than 25% of our tours that touch a vacation period. So isn't it possible that if we come down with an illness there's a decent chance it will impact a tour either before or after a vacation? After vacations are especially vulnerable as we've just spent three straight weeks in contact with our kids who are regular petri dishes. And yet, the company has sent out a very blatant message of intimidation that calling in sick just before or after a vacation will result in being out on NQC status for an investigation, and in fact have already fired someone for a post-vacation sick call.

After having typed all that, my point is that the FAR's REQUIRE we self-evaluate our fitness for flight. Calling in sick and/or fatigued is REQUIRED by the FAR's if we don't feel fit for flight. Yet the company, by it's actions, has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt, that they do NOT want us doing that part of our jobs along with the write ups.

Now let's get back to that 3%. Unfortunately, a lot of pilots are caving to the company's intimidation tactics. They carry, or flat out ignore, maintenance issues, and never call in sick or fatigued. So what happens when someone who simply does their job per the FAR's gets a plane after someone who is "just doing their job." (as defined by the company)? I'm not talking negotiation work tactics, as you might call it. I'm just talking about doing the job like the law says it MUST be done. Well, here's what happens. I am almost grounding a plane a day during my tours anymore. Why? Because I'm a union thug? No, because other crews are not writing up planes when they should be, so when I get them I have to do it. I'm not talking about obscure crap that you really have to dig for, I'm talking obvious stuff that you'd have to close your eyes during the preflight to miss. Seriously! I'd take a swag that better than 60% of what I find should have been found by a previous crew. That's sad and scary. So I do what I am REQUIRED to do and the result is I'm probably listed at B'way as one of the 3%'ers. I can't tell you the number of sick days I've burned in the past 2 years because I get paired with idiots who come to work sick and inevitably infect me. So the guy who "gets the job done" (at the expense of his coworkers and pax) is making the company happy while I, who actually call in sick when I'm sick, get to become a 3%'er.

So please don't be so quick to peg the 3%'ers as the folks who like to make waves and just don't want to fly. Like I said, I know there is a very small handful of pilots who are on a vendetta, but statistically are really insignificant.

Furthermore, the company loves it when we focus on the "troublesome 3% who just don't want to fly.". That way, we aren't paying attention to those who are flying when completely fatigued but who NEVER make that call. The ones who NEVER write up planes when it'll impact a pax trip, no matter the problem. The ones who horde sick days to sell back at the expense of infecting everyone around them. These are the guys who make the company happy, right up until they kill someone. These are the folks who worry me far more than the very rare abuser of the system who may cause my day to be a few hours longer.

 

[Some guy]

Reality man,

I sit nearby the schedulers. My time and experience with them with them tells me punitive scheduling doesn't happen, but I'm not in your shoes to say it doesn't feel that way to you. Most of the day they are trying to keep up with the changes and don't have the time to nitpick at people. In the evening as the operation winds down, we get calls from crews on standby asking if they're still needed. This is a good thing. Many times they aren't needed and they get shutdown asap. The reason it took the crew calling is because they're still working on other things and the focus isn't there yet. If they are still needed, they will be told "you're backing up xyz and when it departs, we'll shut you down".

You may be getting questions on maintenance gripes, but you should be getting no pushback. In fact the direction is given that unless a MM reference is available to prove something is still airworthy, they should not and cannot refuse a discrepancy. You hear aggravation in their voice because they too are understaffed and the phone never stops ringing. Escalate to the ACP or the MAB if you're etting pushed.

I'm sure there are significantly more than 3% whom never call off, fly tired, squawk mx, etc. if you're picking up aircraft that have mx issues, that's a problem too. Just because you break an airplane doesn't put you in the 3%. Most of the items are confirmed and repaired. The issues you speak dont put you in 3%. The 3% I speak of create enough waves that affect many people trying to do their jobs. Those who you agree are on a vendetta are the ones I speak of. It's probably not even 3%...and I agree the abusers are rare, but out of 2700 rare can be dozens.

If you agree that there are a select few, are there any ways to 'self police' these guys? It would seem to me that these few would actually hamper the ability for your group to attain its goals. They get the focus while you're getting beat to death on the road.

SG

 

[G4dude]

SG,

Most of your points are well thought out and salient. You seem to have a pretty good handle on most of the technical aspects of our jobs on the road. T-1 has it pegged about what's going on its us, and in fact he was being kind. He's left out an awful long list of things this EMT has been doing or cutting to intentionally make our lives miserable out there. And scheduling is just plain off the hook crazy. Mostly they are just trying to keep up and fill holes in the schedule, but I've been here too long and experienced too much not to also be able to recognize punitive scheduling as well.

But I wanted to focus on what you wrote above. I do believe there is a misunderstanding with that. In fact, the company does NOT want us to just do our jobs. Why? Because part of our jobs is following the regulations, and in fact is REQUIRED by the law to do so. Unfortunately, there is HUGE pressure from the company to not do that. Wish you could be out here when I go to write up a problem with the plane and get massive pushback from maintenance about it. The excuses from mx start flying, they invent procedures and standards (yes they do, and they back off quickly on that crap IF you call them on it. "Oh, sure, I'll try xyz if you fax me the FAA APPROVED guidance that says this is legal and acceptable and sign your name with it.". Amazing how fast it always becomes "Just write it up.")
Our current CBA allows for no-questions-asked fatigue calls. Recently, the company has started willfully violating that section by bringing people who fatigue "too much" (I put that in quotes because they REFUSE to clue us in on what they're using as a definition of "too much") into CMH for questioning. Yes, the union is challenging this issue, but it takes time. Meanwhile, it's intimidation, plain and simple, to do something that's A) in violation of the CBA and B) could just as easily be handled by a phone call if they were so worried about our health (as they claim is the reason for bringing folks in for questioning).
And heaven help you if you call in sick just before or after a vacation. Now, before you tell me some may be abusing the sick calls in order to extend their vacations, let me say I agree with that observation. However, please remember that most of our crews have reached the max of 4 weeks of vacation. If you look at it, that means there are 8 tours (out of 22 worked every year) that bracket vacations. That's more than 25% of our tours that touch a vacation period. So isn't it possible that if we come down with an illness there's a decent chance it will impact a tour either before or after a vacation? After vacations are especially vulnerable as we've just spent three straight weeks in contact with our kids who are regular petri dishes. And yet, the company has sent out a very blatant message of intimidation that calling in sick just before or after a vacation will result in being out on NQC status for an investigation, and in fact have already fired someone for a post-vacation sick call.

After having typed all that, my point is that the FAR's REQUIRE we self-evaluate our fitness for flight. Calling in sick and/or fatigued is REQUIRED by the FAR's if we don't feel fit for flight. Yet the company, by it's actions, has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt, that they do NOT want us doing that part of our jobs along with the write ups.

Now let's get back to that 3%. Unfortunately, a lot of pilots are caving to the company's intimidation tactics. They carry, or flat out ignore, maintenance issues, and never call in sick or fatigued. So what happens when someone who simply does their job per the FAR's gets a plane after someone who is "just doing their job." (as defined by the company)? I'm not talking negotiation work tactics, as you might call it. I'm just talking about doing the job like the law says it MUST be done. Well, here's what happens. I am almost grounding a plane a day during my tours anymore. Why? Because I'm a union thug? No, because other crews are not writing up planes when they should be, so when I get them I have to do it. I'm not talking about obscure crap that you really have to dig for, I'm talking obvious stuff that you'd have to close your eyes during the preflight to miss. Seriously! I'd take a swag that better than 60% of what I find should have been found by a previous crew. That's sad and scary. So I do what I am REQUIRED to do and the result is I'm probably listed at B'way as one of the 3%'ers. I can't tell you the number of sick days I've burned in the past 2 years because I get paired with idiots who come to work sick and inevitably infect me. So the guy who "gets the job done" (at the expense of his coworkers and pax) is making the company happy while I, who actually call in sick when I'm sick, get to become a 3%'er.

So please don't be so quick to peg the 3%'ers as the folks who like to make waves and just don't want to fly. Like I said, I know there is a very small handful of pilots who are on a vendetta, but statistically are really insignificant.

Furthermore, the company loves it when we focus on the "troublesome 3% who just don't want to fly.". That way, we aren't paying attention to those who are flying when completely fatigued but who NEVER make that call. The ones who NEVER write up planes when it'll impact a pax trip, no matter the problem. The ones who horde sick days to sell back at the expense of infecting everyone around them. These are the guys who make the company happy, right up until they kill someone. These are the folks who worry me far more than the very rare abuser of the system who may cause my day to be a few hours longer.

I've never been pressured to do anything illegal or unsafe. And what is all this about sick days before a vacation? If they investigate, show them what the doctor said. What are you, a bunch of 11 year old girls? Your feelings are hurt and you think life is SO UNFAIR.
You should see what the world outside NJA is like. Pretty rough in most cases. Paychecks bouncing, pressure to violate duty and maintenance regs, being on the edge of losing one's job as your company struggles, having your company bought and ravaged by another. Having to pay much of your medical coverage, finding out the company has been cooking the logs to cheat the owner who leases back the plane to your company, having to wing your checkride training because they are too cheap to send you to Flight Safety. Getting no hard days off at all, constantly on call. Being told no paycheck is coming because we are going out of business.
What a bunch of WHINERS. It's embarassing. NJA is bad compared to what?

 

[realityman]

I've never been pressured to do anything illegal or unsafe. And what is all this about sick days before a vacation? If they investigate, show them what the doctor said. What are you, a bunch of 11 year old girls? Your feelings are hurt and you think life is SO UNFAIR.
You should see what the world outside NJA is like. Pretty rough in most cases. Paychecks bouncing, pressure to violate duty and maintenance regs, being on the edge of losing one's job as your company struggles, having your company bought and ravaged by another. Having to pay much of your medical coverage, finding out the company has been cooking the logs to cheat the owner who leases back the plane to your company, having to wing your checkride training because they are too cheap to send you to Flight Safety. Getting no hard days off at all, constantly on call. Being told no paycheck is coming because we are going out of business.
What a bunch of WHINERS. It's embarassing. NJA is bad compared to what?

G4,

Congratulations on the dumbest post of the year! (and we're only 12 days in!)

So, because YOU haven't received any pushback or pressure, the rest of us haven't? The logic of a 5-year-old hard at work.

Sorry, I don't go to the doctor when I just have a cold, but I still call in sick. So what am I supposed to do if the company decides to investigate me? Anyway, you obviously make no real effort to keep up on things, as the blatant ignorance of your post attests to. One of the guys recently fired DID have a very valid excuse from a doctor. But, since it was on the end of a vacation the company chose to ignore it and fired him anyway. Yes, it'll be contested and he'll probably get his job back, but it's a process that can take a couple years. By the way, it's not rumor. Call a steward and talk to them. They'll tell you what they can. It's not good and IS a very valid reason for concern.

The rest of your post is just crap. There are worse jobs out there so we should just suck it up? Stupid reasoning. Why are you comparing us to worse jobs? Why don't you look at BETTER jobs and see how we stack up? I know the majors don't treat their crews like this. I also know of a few corporate gigs who treat their crews better. I'm more interested in looking at the better jobs and saying, "We should try to become more like them." than looking at the worse jobs and saying, "Well, at least we're not them.".

Do you think when a pilot at Delta calls in with a maintenance problem he's told to just go taxi the plane around and see if it goes away? Do you think if that same pilot calls in sick right after a vacation he's put on administrative leave until the investigation is complete?

And lastly, this WAS a good job. If you can't see where the trend is taking us (more and more towards becoming one of those crappy jobs you talk about) then you're not paying attention. You seem to think that because it's not an instantaneous change that the things we talk about here aren't really happening. We're just whining. Or you believe they don't matter. Well, good for you and your rose-colored glasses. The rest of us will still continue the fight to improve things, and even try the (almost) futile attempt to get folks such as yourself to see what's going on, and through education, maybe even save your job here when one of those things you think we're being whiny about should happen to you.

Good luck!

 

[realityman]

PS-You can quit with the condescending attitude. Newsflash buddy, most of us have had plenty of jobs in the "outside world". Been ground up in the shredder of those crappy jobs you mention. Which is exactly why I can see the trend of where we're headed. Good sales, a growing company, and new planes does not equate to a good job.

 

[pilotyip]

You should see what the world outside NJA is like. Pretty rough in most cases. Paychecks bouncing, pressure to violate duty and maintenance regs, being on the edge of losing one's job as your company struggles, having your company bought and ravaged by another. Having to pay much of your medical coverage, finding out the company has been cooking the logs to cheat the owner who leases back the plane to your company, having to wing your checkride training because they are too cheap to send you to Flight Safety. Getting no hard days off at all, constantly on call. Being told no paycheck is coming because we are going out of business.
What a bunch of WHINERS. It's embarassing. NJA is bad compared to what?

This is why you will soon have 2,000 resumes, and after that 3,000 resumes. NJ has only recently announced that it will be hiring. NJ is not bad compared to most other places.

 

[doh]

Reality man,

I sit nearby the schedulers. My time and experience with them with them tells me punitive scheduling doesn't happen, but I'm not in your shoes to say it doesn't feel that way to you. Most of the day they are trying to keep up with the changes and don't have the time to nitpick at people. In the evening as the operation winds down, we get calls from crews on standby asking if they're still needed. This is a good thing. Many times they aren't needed and they get shutdown asap. The reason it took the crew calling is because they're still working on other things and the focus isn't there yet. If they are still needed, they will be told "you're backing up xyz and when it departs, we'll shut you down".

You may be getting questions on maintenance gripes, but you should be getting no pushback. In fact the direction is given that unless a MM reference is available to prove something is still airworthy, they should not and cannot refuse a discrepancy. You hear aggravation in their voice because they too are understaffed and the phone never stops ringing. Escalate to the ACP or the MAB if you're etting pushed.

I'm sure there are significantly more than 3% whom never call off, fly tired, squawk mx, etc. if you're picking up aircraft that have mx issues, that's a problem too. Just because you break an airplane doesn't put you in the 3%. Most of the items are confirmed and repaired. The issues you speak dont put you in 3%. The 3% I speak of create enough waves that affect many people trying to do their jobs. Those who you agree are on a vendetta are the ones I speak of. It's probably not even 3%...and I agree the abusers are rare, but out of 2700 rare can be dozens.

If you agree that there are a select few, are there any ways to 'self police' these guys? It would seem to me that these few would actually hamper the ability for your group to attain its goals. They get the focus while you're getting beat to death on the road.

SG

Pilots don't "break" airplanes. That is negative office rhetoric of the most offensive kind. The airplane has the defect because of use or a defective part. Pilots note the discrepancy and then office people run around saying the "pilots broke the airplane!!" That in itself is subtle intimidation and false blame. It happens at my company too, and it is disgusting.