NJA Strong Union Negotiator Summary--Part 1

[Lake Alice]

It sounds like you guys are way far apart. It also seems that being far apart if VERY good for Netjets. Being this far apart means that negotiations are going to stall, or at least take a very long time. Isn't that just what the company would want? You aren't going on strike, so what possible downside is there for Netjets (other than a PR issue).

Negotiations have stalled a bit or atleast it appears so. As for time who knows. The company is losing a considerable amount of money and owners. The owner retention rate is down significantly and the new owners/marquis card holders has slowed as well. The DNIF rate has hit an all time high and we are seriously short crews and especially captains. I recently quit and was asked to please stay on an extra month to help the October/November season.

Its hard to tell what the company wants. NetJets is certainly run by the kind of people with gigantic ego's. NJA would rather spend more money on sell-offs and lose owners than ever pay anything the union asks for. Unless the union agrees to the company's salaries demands the contract will never get settled. Its all about ego.

As for strike, probably not. Its not totaly ruled out but unlikely. For the pilot group it would be a much quicker solution but the work the pilot group is doing with write-ups, DNIF's, etc is creating incredible havoc on an already disorganized scheduling/maintenance department.

Lastly, the PR issue is getting to the company as well. Owners have recently chartered their own aircraft because they believed NJA was on strike. Also, due to the rash of recent chartered A/C crashed many owners refuse to fly on a non QS tail. Its in owners/Marquis contract that sell-offs are part of the deal but many are putting their foot down.

Recently the budget for media campaigns has been significantly increased so you can expect that will make a difference as well. The richies don't want bad press when they are boarding the jet to fly to Aspen. The bad press is causing problems with attracting new pilots. If your best friend cant recommend the job to you.....? Classes have been cancelled.

Lastly, the quality of the product has simply declined. The airplanes are filthy, full or write ups and MEL's and most crews just dont care anymore. Items that would have been fixed in the past are being deferred and the owners are getting pretty upset. Flying cross country without a LAV or DVD/CD player is unacceptable. Paying to an aircraft with an APU and having one show up in 90 degree weather is the norm. It might sound a little silly were not the ones paying an exorbitant amount of money for a plane. And regardless of anyones opinion on salary the pilot group has been waiting 4 years that will lower anyones moral which affect performance.

All in all it is a very difficult place to work right now.

 

[abenaki]

Lake Alice--

A well-written and succinct summary of how it is.....nice job........

As an added note, as long as the FUD campaign continues, the natural result will be more DNIF and fatigue calls.....intentionally inducing negative emotions has the unintended consequence of increasing the DNIF calls.....they can't have it both ways......

 

[You're right]

....... but the work the pilot group is doing with write-ups, DNIF's, etc is creating incredible havoc ..........

Lastly, the quality of the product has simply declined.

Wanted to make certain everyone understood the "legal" work slowdown was having no impact on OUR owners.

 

[Lake Alice]

I wouldn't call it a slow down at all, in fact its not. Pilots are simply using their sick time more often. When guys/gals would go out for 5 days, get 2 days off and go out for 6 they are calling in sick. Who wouldnt.

Indirectly the DNIF rates affect the owners as well. Right or wrong, less crews means less planes available and more sell-offs.

 

[You're right]

Wanted to make certain everyone understood the "legal" work slowdown was having no impact on OUR owners.

Okay, let me correct myself, there is definitely no slowdown going on at NetJets.

Our pilots are just much sicker and the planes (average age 4.7 years) are getting old.

 

[TheTruthCMH]

"pilot group is doing with write-ups, DNIF's, etc is creating incredible havoc on an already disorganized scheduling/maintenance department."

Also sounds like no confidence in the Union MEC, for if they did, they wouldn't need to resort to this... Seems like the pilots are bargaining outside of the CBA.

TTC

 

[Fracster]

Also sounds like no confidence in the Union MEC, for if they did, they wouldn't need to resort to this... Seems like the pilots are bargaining outside of the CBA.

That is by far one of the dumbest comments I have ever read. So stupid in fact that anyone with common sense could figure out the truth.

the planes (average age 4.7 years) are getting old.

And this comment, well, you couldnt be more ignorant if you tried so I will try to educate you. Follow along now, I know its hard for you but focus.

Simply put, these corporate jets were never designed to fly the amount of legs and hours we use them for. You puzzle palace know it all's think we write these planes up for wings falling off. We write them up because they cant hold hydraulic pressure, accumulator pressure, lights dont work, FMS tubes fade out, O2 masks break, emergency lights break, gear doors dont stay closed. The interiors, which the beloved owners use, have broken lights, broken seats, dvd/cd players, toilets, window shades,filthy carpets, I can go on, and on, and on. We have to try to keep these pos's in the air.
We have to write this crap up so it can get fixed. It NutJets had any common sense what so ever they would fix stuff over night but they dont. "get one more leg out of it" is the motto.
Now crawl back to your hole and educate some of your fellow dummies.

 

[You're right]

And this comment, well, you couldnt be more ignorant if you tried so I will try to educate you. Follow along now, I know its hard for you but focus.

Simply put, these corporate jets were never designed to fly the amount of legs and hours we use them for. You puzzle palace know it all's think we write these planes up for wings falling off. We write them up because they cant hold hydraulic pressure, accumulator pressure, lights dont work, FMS tubes fade out, O2 masks break, emergency lights break, gear doors dont stay closed. The interiors, which the beloved owners use, have broken lights, broken seats, dvd/cd players, toilets, window shades,filthy carpets, I can go on, and on, and on. We have to try to keep these pos's in the air.
We have to write this crap up so it can get fixed. It NutJets had any common sense what so ever they would fix stuff over night but they dont. "get one more leg out of it" is the motto.
Now crawl back to your hole and educate some of your fellow dummies.

Fracster, I truly want to believe in all the constructive feedback you provide, but I just saw the NJA Maintenance availability posting by fleet for todays activity and then called my friends down in Hilton Head to find out there figures---- the numbers are as follows:

NJA average availability = 66% (which is a good day lately)
NJI average availability = 85% (which, I am told, is an average day)

Under your tutelage above, this leads me to believe the availability difference must be a management issue. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Diesel]

actually a large part of the difference is they fly gulfstreams and we fly cessna's.

I'm sure GV will even agree that the gulfstream is built to the next level while the cessna's barely make it to the lowest level.

One of my last flights in the ultra had 10,000hrs on it and it was only 6 years old. That thing was a POS. I bet you can put 10,000hrs on a gwhiz and it will just keep on truckin.

compare a 800xp's line stats to a X or a ultra. it will make you cringe.

Look at the 650's. I've never seen one fly... it just goes from service center to service center.

Are the pilots flying their aircraft more carefully? I hope so. But you're comparing a cessna pos to the flagship of the buisness jet world. Common man.

 

[TheTruthCMH]

We write them up because they cant hold hydraulic pressure, accumulator pressure, lights dont work, FMS tubes fade out, O2 masks break, emergency lights break, gear doors dont stay closed. The interiors, which the beloved owners use, have broken lights, broken seats, dvd/cd players, toilets, window shades,filthy carpets, I can go on, and on, and on. We have to try to keep these pos's in the air.
We have to write this crap up so it can get fixed. It NutJets had any common sense what so ever they would fix stuff over night but they dont. "get one more leg out of it" is the motto.
Now crawl back to your hole and educate some of your fellow dummies.

Yeah, I am sure we have plenty of mechanics waiting to fix these planes in the out of the way places where the planes are being written up after being ferried in. For the rest they have an MEL don't they? They don't get grounded for MEL's do they? And it's pretty amazing that the emergency lights worked before they departed...

TTC