Our "Team" leader out to lunch

[Rubber Ducky]

I think B19...

"Bad management can be changed overnight". I think B19 just said we need to get rid of someone in management. I think he is startyng to see the light. Come on over buddy, the waters warm.

 

[B19 Flyer]

B19, that was a pathetic attempt to draw sympathy for your rediculous cause. Basically, the logic you're trying to pass is: unions = "unwarranted" events = people killing themselves. You're just as mentally ill as your "friend" was.

This individual was forced into a situation of circumstance that would have never occured in a non-union environment.

There are but a handful of people that have really made a difference and changed the fabric of the industry from an operational point of view. This person was involved in that changeover, and any pilot that has flowed through a regional airline can thank him for the changes that were made. And but for that one item alone, you can take your opinion of him and shove it up your union butt. That is the one and only time that I'll come close to revealing any of my former employers.

Using the "Reason" model of events, the last hole to line up was the union action. I was able to recover from my two layoffs, but I wasn't facing what he was at the time.

I'll never work again for a company with a union on the property. I'll never take that risk.

 

[bchjetdrvr]

You don't just deserve a beer. You deserve the whole damn keg to yourself. :beer:

The company lost when it put in place a CEO that doesn't know anything about aviation. There is a union on the property for no other reason than the fact that Michael Sheeringa was placed in charge. Anything you want to blame on the union, you must first address why it came into reality. Anything you want to blame on the union, you must first blame Michael Sheeringa, who is single-handedly responsible for the union's existence.

He is the sole, primary, number one, singular reason:
-a union was voted in
-why Flight Options is the least profitable fractional provider in the nation
-why the company has historic employee attrition
-why the company has historic owner attrition
-why Flight Options can't attract new pilots
-why the FAA is investigating an infamously corrupt maintenance department
-why the company's reputation has been ruined
-why Cleveland is dysfunctionally incompetent
-why Flight Options employees are the lowest paid in the fractional industry, and the hardest working.

Most pilots didn't want a union at Flight Options. Obviously, things got so bad that it became the lesser of two evils. Michael Sheeringa is the only reason that happened.

To oppose the Union presently, means you support Michael Sheeringa and all of the points made above. To oppose the Union and support Michael Sheeringa means you support pencil-whipping maintenance, it means you support dangerous and abusive scheduling practices, it means you support pitifully low standards of living, it means you support pitifully low pilot wages, it means you support robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul, it means you support stepping over dollars to pick up dimes, and it means you actually support all of the things that this one man has done to hurt a lot of people and their families.

It is a full-grown man's responsibility to provide and protect his wife and children. Thats the #1. When someone or some thing threatens your wife and kids, you don't sit on your hands, you do something. Since no one would listen to any of the pilots, or take any of them seriously, they were forced to organize in order to get their voices heard and their families better provided for. Period. Its that simple.

The company IS its employees. Nothing more. The company lost when Michael Sheeringa stepped foot on the tarmac out front.

why the company has historic owner attrition

Got an email the other day. Here's a sickining fact.

Flops Seniority List;
2/2007 - 715
2/2008 - 572

Pilots leaving in one year = 143!

Captains - 53
Co-pilots - 90

12 a month saying GOODBYE! & more to come from the whole Canpass fiasco.

 

[WabiSabi]

Tell that to my friend now in an urn in after he killed himself because of a job loss due to an unwarranted union action.

You have reached yet a new low by using your friend as "material" for your anti-union crusade.

You're so full of integrity!

 

[chingaso]

Bad management can be changed overnight. Many of the most successful CEOs never had a day in the industry.

Once a union is on the property, the entire company is forever threatened.

But B19, dont you see that its too late? You're trying to shut the barn door after the cows have gotten out. Your logic is the same as having contempt for the fire department because the house was on fire. You said that management can be changed overnight? How? How does a group of pilots effect a management-change without organizing?

You're missing the point, amigo. You're putting the cart before the horse. You're focusing on the symptom and not the cause. Unions don't pop into existence because they're fun to do. Unions are a result of abusive management. I know a lot of unions aren't good, but neither are a lot of solutions to bad problems. But a solution is better than no solution. The lesser of two evils. A person might not like violence, but will use it if it means protecting their loved ones. Most people don't like lawsuits, but will turn to one when it's their only recourse. A pilot group might not like unions, but will turn to one if its the only way to protect their jobs.

You're right, there are a few successful CEOs without a day in their respective industries. Michael Sheeringa isn't one of them. I'm sure thats obvious even to you, and I seriously doubt you are actually supporting that man. His greatest claim to fame is bankrupting airlines. The best CEOs, even the idiot-savants in their respective industries, understand, and practice, the term 'primus inter parus' (remember your college Latin? haha).

But seriously, B19, I don't see what single alternative the pilots at Flight Options had. I don't like unions either, but it was our only choice, other than to resign, which hundreds have done.

I don't think anyone should have to resign from a company they've worked so hard to build. Most of us were here long before Michael Sheeringa came in stated that our company was 'no longer a retirement destination for pilots.' How does a career pilot at Flight Options supposed to take such a statement? If thats not a career-threatening statement then I've never heard one.

Flight Options is a revolving door for CEOs, a career pilot shouldn't have to quit just because the current installment is an organizational and operational cripple.

But again, and I'm asking this very respectfully because I really want to know: how does a pilot group effect a change in management without organizing?

 

[netjetwife]

So your friend was weak and couldn't handle the situation that he had put himself in. So the only cowerdly thing to do is suicide. hmmmm. Don't look for any sympathy here

I have lots of sympathy for all involved IF any tragedy actually took place, but real suicides result from a lack of hope (there's always another job out there so that doesn't apply) and numerous personal problems compounded by the lack of emotional support. Furloughed workers are typically offered lots of sympathy so that doesn't fit either. DL, your instincts to doubt a fishy story are valid. Given B19's prejudice against unions and his refusal to answer questions about his present job, his claim is highly doubtful. The reality is that Union Busters and FUD-Spreaders routinely resort to fear-inducing lies and bogus scapegoating.

 

[mxpilot2]

Message from the far sidelines-

"Bad management can be changed overnight"

Only if those in position ABOVE bad management see a problem and remove the bad managers. Obviously, there are heads in the sand while this ship is being sunk by bad management. I can't blame the pilots for going Union to try to save what was built- on the sweat of their efforts.

 

[dime line]

I have lots of sympathy for all involved IF any tragedy actually took place, but real suicides result from a lack of hope (there's always another job out there so that doesn't apply) and numerous personal problems compounded by the lack of emotional support. Furloughed workers are typically offered lots of sympathy so that doesn't fit either. DL, your instincts to doubt a fishy story are valid. Given B19's prejudice against unions and his refusal to answer questions about his present job, his claim is highly doubtful. The reality is that Union Busters and FUD-Spreaders routinely resort to fear-inducing lies and bogus scapegoating.

Sorry no sympathy here

 

[Whoosh!]

My union butt is just fine, B19... doesn't need anything else in it but thanks for thinking of me. You're obviously very sensitive about your suicidal mental case hero of a friend. But, instead of seeking counseling, you've decided to go on this union hating crusade. That's why I/we all say how irrational and stupid you sound in your posts. Let me break this down for ya. *B19, who remains this mystery flightinfo.com poster, who no one knows anything about, where he works, his identity, etc, thus having no credibility among his peers, isn't going to make a damn of difference in how the world thinks.* Get it? Probably not but, that's okay. You're good for a laugh when we all talk about you. Might as well drop the dead union victim friend thing though 'cause no one gives a sh1t.

 

[netjetwife]

Excellent points, Chingaso, Mxp, and Whoosh! Here's to you! :beer:

DL, I understand. The story was too flawed and obviously self-serving to be believable, thus it doesn't find a sympathetic audience. You guys are good at spotting the hidden agenda and dodging the FUD being flung at you. NJW

Boots are good for wading through the FUD to reach solid posts grounded in reality.