Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

The Accidental CEO

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web

gutshotdraw

ZERT Wilson CQB User
Joined
May 6, 2005
Posts
3,226
Since it's unlikely I'll run across you on the road any time soon for that 3 beer conversation G4Dude, this is for you.

You asked a little while ago what's so bad about NetJets management in general and our CEO in particular. Well, let's review, shall we?

Since his ascension to CEO in the wake of the scandal-plagued departure of the last one, our boy wonder lawyer has:

Driven two previously non-union employee groups to organize and demand a collective bargaining agreement (resulting in distracted management, negotiation expenses, lost productivity, and angry, frustrated employees);

Declined to extend the existing pilot collective bargaining agreement for 3 years (resulting in distracted management, negotiation expenses, lost productivity, and angry, frustrated employees);

Destroyed long-standing relationships with original equipment manufacturers, maintenance vendors, and fuel and services providers (resulting in higher costs, lost aircraft productivity, flight delays, and angry, frustrated vendors);

Decimated internal infrastructure including maintenance control, owner services, dispatch, and crew services (resulting in disasterous service failures, hundreds of apology letters to customers, and angry, frustrated owners and card-holders);

Botched negotiations with a major fuel vendor so badly that we pay RETAIL at our number 1 hub--the one with a NETJETS sign on the building (resulting in substantially higher fuel costs, safety-compromising fuel tankering releases, and angry, frustrated FBO employees);

Lost a major court case with a different fuel vendor regarding volume discounts (resulting in more of the same....);

Embarrassed every single employee on the property repeatedly with laughable public statements and a totally clueless understanding of our industry, safety standards, and financial realities (IBID....);

Commoditized a premier, luxury service to the general aviation equivalent of a bottom-feeding, passenger-abusing discount airline (need I type it again?);

And finally, jeopardized the future of a once-proud organization with short-sighted, insulting, and ultimately counter-productive negotiating demands that ignore the realities of the industry, the business model, and human nature.

I KNOW that others will add items that I have forgotten to this list.

By any objective, intellectually honest evaluation, he is a complete failure. In almost any other industry, he would have been fired by now. Unless and until he is replaced, NetJets is truly at long-term risk as a viable business entity. The more WE can do as pilots to help Omaha realize the EPIC FAILURE of our CEO and hasten his departure, the better.

That is why you and many of our colleagues (former NJI and NJA alike) need to exhibit at least SOME support for the renewed efforts of the Association.
 
Last edited:
I am just spit balling here, but when I was hired in 2006 I believe Netjets controlled 80% of the market share. I do believe that due to a new CEO who was clueless and has let Kenn Ricci over at Options eat his lunch, Netjets controls only 60% of the market share today.

The management philosophy of whip them till they bleed and fire anyone who disagrees with me, has led to a brain trust drain in every aspect of the company.

I would be curious to ask long term customers if they have noticed all the novice new faces from the person they deal with on the phone to the pilots sitting up front explaining why it took three airplanes and nine hours to recover from the original departure time they had requested.

The fall season will be an epic failure of gigantic proportions with only one person who should be held directly responsible. (Ok, two, Warren has some blame here.)
 
You forgot let Flexjets go to Ricci with the Gulfstreams :D

Argggggg!!!!!

I KNEW I forgot something big.....

TRUE DAT

We have just ceded a few dozen, if not more, diehard Gulfstream customers to a competitor. Moron.
 
Last edited:
Argggggg!!!!!

I KNEW I forgot something big.....

Don't forget the lawsuit against the IRS

Or the lawsuit against the Intellijet charter company that cost us our trademark on the Intellijet software - and that happened in a Columbus courtroom. If you can't win in your own backyard what does that say about your judgment in picking battles?

Or slapping the name "Global" on everything and thinking that will drive economies of scale?

Neutering the managers, directors, and VPs, taking away all decision making ability and creating gridlock as a result, since he thinks he is the only one wise enough to make a decision.
 
Last edited:
Like I said, I knew there were other things that people would add to the list.

Keep 'em coming.

They all add to the legacy of futility and failure that the boy wonder has created at Bridgeway.
 
Since it's unlikely I'll run across you on the road any time soon for that 3 beer conversation G4Dude, this is for you.

You asked a little while ago what's so bad about NetJets management in general and our CEO in particular. Well, let's review, shall we?

Since his ascension to CEO in the wake of the scandal-plagued departure of the last one, our boy wonder lawyer has:

Driven two previously non-union employee groups to organize and demand a collective bargaining agreement (resulting in distracted management, negotiation expenses, lost productivity, and angry, frustrated employees);

Declined to extend the existing pilot collective bargaining agreement for 3 years (resulting in distracted management, negotiation expenses, lost productivity, and angry, frustrated employees);

Destroyed long-standing relationships with original equipment manufacturers, maintenance vendors, and fuel and services providers (resulting in higher costs, lost aircraft productivity, flight delays, and angry, frustrated vendors);

Decimated internal infrastructure including maintenance control, owner services, dispatch, and crew services (resulting in disasterous service failures, hundreds of apology letters to customers, and angry, frustrated owners and card-holders);

Botched negotiations with a major fuel vendor so badly that we pay RETAIL at our number 1 hub--the one with a NETJETS sign on the building (resulting in substantially higher fuel costs, safety-compromising fuel tankering releases, and angry, frustrated FBO employees);

Lost a major court case with a different fuel vendor regarding volume discounts (resulting in more of the same....);

Embarrassed every single employee on the property repeatedly with laughable public statements and a totally clueless understanding of our industry, safety standards, and financial realities (IBID....);

Commoditized a premier, luxury service to the general aviation equivalent of a bottom-feeding, passenger-abusing discount airline (need I type it again?);

And finally, jeopardized the future of a once-proud organization with short-sighted, insulting, and ultimately counter-productive negotiating demands that ignore the realities of the industry, the business model, and human nature.

I KNOW that others will add items that I have forgotten to this list.

By any objective, intellectually honest evaluation, he is a complete failure. In almost any other industry, he would have been fired by now. Unless and until he is replaced, NetJets is truly at long-term risk as a viable business entity. The more WE can do as pilots to help Omaha realize the EPIC FAILURE of our CEO and hasten his departure, the better.

That is why you and many of our colleagues (former NJI and NJA alike) need to exhibit at least SOME support for the renewed efforts of the Association.
This makes a lot more sense of what the real problem is as opposed to having to pay part of your health care like the rest of the world. That stuff would p1ss me off too. Again I wish you guys the best and hope this ends in a win-win situation so the bottom of the list doesn't have to back to YIP and fly aged out junk again.
 
Like I said, I knew there were other things that people would add to the list.

Keep 'em coming.

They all add to the legacy of futility and failure that the boy wonder has created at Bridgeway.


Here's another one -

Developing and implementing a plan to sell access to NetJets fuel prices that were negotiated with the FBOs. He did that over the objections of the team that had negotiated all of those deals for 10+ years. He then filed lawsuits against Signature, Atlantic, and Landmark, trying to force them to let NJ sell fuel to third parties under the NJ agreements with the FBOs. That predictably failed and caused the loss of agreements that saved NJ tens of millions of dollars each year. It also caused the entire fuel department to quit and leave the company. Many of them are now working with the FBOs helping them negotiate against NJ.
 
Wheels up would not exist today if Hansell was not at the helm.
More market share lost due to his complete lack of experience.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top