Ops Review??

[NJAowner]

What is an "Ops review"? Over the past few months, I have had several lengthy departure delays due to an "Ops review". What is it and how serious are they?

Thanks.

 

[NJAowner]

Thanks but it wasn't any of those. All of the flights were between city pairs we fly often and are larger airports. So nothing unexpected. Each time the flight was the first in the a.m. for the plane and crew and on the flight positioning the plane for our departure. About 2 hours before the flight we get a call from owner services that says an "Ops review" is delaying the flight. Sometimes the same plane makes it in, just later, other times it is a new tail ferried in from somewhere else.

Thanks

 

[NJAowner]

Griz ... let's cut that cr@p here so this may be a constructive board. I have proven to atleast 1/2 dozen of you I am for real.

Many of you have said on this board, in response to my posts, that you do no think owner services tells us the whole story. I agree with that .. that is why I am asking on the board. The answer has been "the pre flight software check has shown an issue which needs to be reviewed for safety". My concern is (1) is this accurate, (2) could it have been avoided by starting to position the plane earlier in the day or the night before. If earlier operations could have avoided the delay, I want to express my concern but I need some facts so I don't get a b.s. answer.

Thanks.

 

[x402]

In addition to the items Gunfighter has posed there might have been issue with the aircraft, certain MELs might preclude the use of that a/c. Notams to the arrival airport could be an issue. I have had to be the bearer of bad news to the owner, too many times, to discount your claim. I'm sure that owner services knows how to cya with the best of them. Hope you sort it out.

 

[FatesPawn]

Griz ... let's cut that cr@p here so this may be a constructive board.

I think the bottom line is that pilots have never heard of the term "Ops Review" so we can't help you define it. Any help would be speculation.

Sorry.

 

[NJAowner]

It hasn't been weather or notams since they were able to either send in another plane from a different airport an hour or 2 later or the same plane could come an hour or two later. It always happens when the crew comes on duty and "checks out the plane".

BTW, what is a MEL?

 

[cgmason1]

Seems like a reasonable question to pose to Owner Services...not here on a bulletin board. But then again, you have to be an owner to use that option.

Griz
You are 100% Correct.
Pose these questions to Owner Services.

Fly Safe
Chuck

 

[Diesel]

Doesn't really matter what owner services say they will probably lie or blame the pilots. Actually it will be both.

I'd call a program manager if you want the real truth and not the crap owner service comes up with.

Ops review could also mean scheduling snafu.

 

[LR45JI]

Ops review could also mean scheduling snafu.

BINGO!

I think OS probably has a book on how to distort the truth and make a scheduling disaster sound like a failed mission to Mars just for justification purposes.

 

[RJL]

Ask the company you hired to fly you in the first place. Any professional pilot or customer service rep or salesperson would tell you the answer (they are the only people that could review the records and communications to see what REALLY happened).

I can't imagine why you would ask these questions to a bunch of strangers on the internet before asking the people you are paying $$$ to fly you in the first place.

 

[FalconPilot69]

To answer your last quesiton.

An MEL stands for Minimum Equipment List. It is the list that tells pilots, if something breaks, if they can legally fly or not. It does sound like a scheduling snafu though.

 

[GREAT LAKES]

NJA Owner

If this problem has happened several times before, and they call you 2 hrs prior, why not just ask what is causing the delay? They need to give a reason other than ops delay or whatever it is called! After all it is your plane, or share of.

 

[irapilot]

NJA owner - some of these guys are right - if you have a problem call your rep and get an answer. If it still does not sound right - take it upstairs - you are, after all, an "owner". I am not a fan of fractionals at all but NetJets is the best out there. I am sure that scheduling is hell and that things go wrong - but here is not where you will find truth and clarity.

 

[flexpilot]

Is there a chance that "NJA Owner" is actually a line guy going through the trash at the FBO? He finds an old brief sheet that says KXYZ airport is overdue for an ops review?

That is my guess!

 

[ScoobyDoo]

I was flying a charter trip for Netjets a few months back and it was requested that I position to TEB 3 hours early "in case of a possible 'Ops Review'". I called EJM dispatch and asked what that was...I thought I was going to get "ramped" or something.

Dispatch told me that an Ops Review is a term they (I don't know who They is) use if there is a maintenance issue. In other words, if I arrived into TEB and had a mx problem, they would have to find another aircraft, which I believe is the definition of an Ops Review.

It seems like it is a baffling "beat around the bush" term Netjets gives to customers because it sounds better than saying "Your plane is broke, we're scrambling to find you another one."

Fly Safe

 

[NJAowner]

Thanks Scooby

Thanks. You answer seems to make sense ... and at least I am not the only one who has heard this term from NJA.

 

[beytzim]

Scooby Doo has got it right. A lot of times, airplanes break. They usually break in the first flight of the day. This is due to several reasons:

1. New crew to the airplane, just finding something new wrong
2. Airplane sitting there for several days
3. The most thorough prefilght is done on the first flight. If there is something wrong, it will usually be found then.

Many times, we are on "hot-standby", where we just sit at the airport, perhaps with the APU on, waiting for a possible trip. This is most often done to back-up other trips. I was in SBA a few weeks ago with a 6:30 am show for a ferry to JAC and we met another crew that morning that was ASAP'd to the airport just to back up our ferry flight! This often happens when an owner has been hit with too many successive "ops reviews" and they are not very happy.

The point: Ops Review sounds a lot better than: Your airplane broke.

One more point. You mentioned MEL's. Airplanes breaking are not always black and white. For example: During the preflight, the pilot finds that one of his AC inverters is not turning on. First, he'll probably shut the airplane down, and restart it to see if it turns on. If not, he'll open the MEL book and consequently contact the PM about the problem. The PM with maintenance may try to troubleshoot the inverter problem on the phone with the pilot. If they can't get it to work, they'll MEL it. However, when an item is MEL'd, there are various limitations placed on the aircraft. The aircraft may not be able to fly at night, maybe it can't fly through icing, maybe it needs longer runways etc. So now the pilot and the PM must review the flight and see if the new limitations affect the flight. During this time, owner services may contact you and tell you an 'ops review' is happenning. Then delays, different aircraft take the trip, you get the picture...

Hope that helps,

beytzim