Video from CNBC-Santulli CEO NetJets

[Dooker]

A few threads ago you were whining like a little girl about the older pilots....now this. Sounds like my tenage daughter.

Have her PM me. I'd be happy to have a nice heated exchange of ideas with her ...

 

[doh]

Rush Limbaugh says something like " the host of this show makes more sense than what anyone else is saying". RTS just took his place. What a great "straight shot" presentation! I hope he took their names, cause he certainly kicked their asses!

 

[doh]

Have her PM me. I'd be happy to have a nice heated exchange of ideas with her ...

You talk a good game, but your wife would have the last word on that exchange!:laugh:

 

[netjetwife]

Don't hold your breath for the bolded sentances. I'm not. Waste and the fundementals in CMH are probably here to stay. Time will tell. But I don't see much changing on the road.

I agree that it's hard to see the progress sometimes, but if you look at the way things are now (LMRP and JPMC) with both sides working in joint committees to find fair, creative solutions to tough situations and compare that to the contract battle days of Bridgeway One arrivals (carpet dance) for minor infractions, and an "us vs them" mind set, then the improvements are easier to see. I think making it thru the hard times together, as a team, will do a lot to build trust in the relationship, just as it did for the pilotgroup.

Now is the time for positive reinforcement (cheerleading..., if you will) and kudos for how far we've come. Speaking of, what's this I hear about an ICOM?

 

[ozpilot]

Speaking of, what's this I hear about an ICOM?

Part of that ICOM refers to "confidential competitive information". Lets not post it on Flightinfo.

 

[netjetwife]

I just read the ICOM on the NJ board. I understand the numbers are not for public eyes so I'm just inviting comments on the overall tone. I like the fact that right away RTS recognized the value of the labor-management process, and it seems that we're heading in the right direction--yeah! on saving jobs. (Yes, that was a cheerleader yell...)

I need to post a disclaimer about my suggestion to Reality that pilots could opt in and out of the Paid Leave Bank (PLB). I was envisioning that as extra, uncounted help (meaning initially opted out) that would still allow hardship cases to participate on a level they can afford, say giving the extended days and after-midnights, but keeping the holiday pay.

The report does show that it all adds up, and pilots are, indeed, helping other pilots. With that in mind, I strongly encourage every pilot/family (hardship cases excepted) to participate in this unprecedented effort. The JPMC can clearly save jobs, strengthen NJA and the labor-management relationship, as well as set a positive example for the other frac managers. It's truly a win-win-win! (more cheerleading...) I'm proud that my family is associated w/NJA and NJASAP! Cheers, NJW

 

[RNObased]

I agree that it's hard to see the progress sometimes, but if you look at the way things are now (LMRP and JPMC) with both sides working in joint committees to find fair, creative solutions to tough situations and compare that to the contract battle days of Bridgeway One arrivals (carpet dance) for minor infractions, and an "us vs them" mind set, then the improvements are easier to see. I think making it thru the hard times together, as a team, will do a lot to build trust in the relationship, just as it did for the pilotgroup.

And this has what to do with waste??? It is hard to see the progress of them slowing down the waste because it hasn't happened. That is why it is hard to see.

 

[gutshotdraw]

To a certain extent, RJS is fulla crap. So's anyone who thinks what we do is any more indespensible than, say, staying at the Four Season versus a Hilton, or taking a sedan versus a good ol' taxi.

Our business is a luxury. Period. And as much as I hate to admit it, since my very livelihood is tied up in it, the fractional industry is fairly emblematic of just how skewed things get after about twenty years of tax policy that favor the wealthy and corporations at the expense of the middle class, combined with deregulation of the financial services industry to the point of folly.

These people we fly around have been the beneficiaries of all of this largesse while we (meaning, middle-class chumps like us) have been asked to buy into a "trickle down" theory that really hasn't trickled down much at all.

Uncle Warren said it best when he appeared before the Senate to testify about the need to raise taxes on the wealthy a couple years ago.

"For the past twenty years, the rich have been on a space ship, while the middle class has been on a treadmill."

Or words to that effect.

Like I say, it's a little painful for me to say this, since I make my living flying these spoiled wealthy ********************s around for a living, but let's face it: haven't we all rolled our eyes more than once when we see what goes on back there? At the supreme arrogance of wealth? At the disgusting excess of privilege?

At the kid who will never know the joy of taking his shoes off to clear security? Or have to worry about getting into a decent school, because he was in the day he was born?

At the mom who still feels the need to travel with a nanny, even though she's only got one kid?

At the Bentleys and Maybachs that meet us planeside that cost much, much more than the homes we live in?

Am I the only one out there with these mixed thoughts? Who wonders how in the world so few people in this country managed to get their hands on so much of its wealth, and so quickly? Who wonders if the rise of the very industry in which he works might signal something more ominous for the nation as a whole?

I never planned on driving corporate jets--always thought I'd wind up an airline pilot, hauling around folks a lot closer to my own tax bracket. To my mind, there is still something honorable in that. But this turned out ot be the path of least resistance, so here I am, whoring myself out for the top one percent.

If it all went away tomorrow, I'd be bummed, because then I'd have to find a real job. But I can't say I'd be devastated.

Dooker, you've written some funny stuff in the past so I'm assuming you're kidding. Right?

Are some of our clients using our service as a luxury? Absolutely. Guess what? It's their freaking money.

Do some people misuse a corporate jet? Absolutely. But people misuse valuable tools every day. Cars (drunk driving). Guns (people waving a .45 in a road rage). Kitchen knives (John Wayne Bobbitt ring any bells?)

But the fact is, for a great many businesses, fractional shares and corporate flight departments ARE invaluable business tools. The client I flew yesterday did important business meetings in three major cities on both coasts in less than 48 hours. NO WAY that happens on United. Santulli made GREAT points about how many of our corporate client flights are mid-level managers doing business in small towns with limited or non-existent airline service. Business that would be IMPOSSIBLE, WAY MORE TIME CONSUMING, and MORE EXPENSIVE OVERALL using Delta (insert favorite airline here).

And as for trickle down. Yes, it clearly works. You WOULDN'T HAVE A JOB if it didn't.

 

[netjetwife]

It's a building block approach, RNO. The pilots can lecture non-stop, but if it falls on deaf ears nothing will ever change. At least now they are starting to listen; before the two groups were barely even speaking. The ICOM mentioned cutting costs and reporting on their efforts (to become more efficient) in the near future. I think we're seeing the influence of NJASAP there, backed by vocal pilots, such as yourself. Kudos to you!

I see opportunities in these tough times. Now that management is asking for "right sizing" help, that gives the pilotgroup a vested interest in how money is spent, in a way that was not there before. NJASAP demands to end waste are even more legitimate now and ignoring you guys will get harder, I think. Along with right-sizing comes restructuring and the EBoard will be there representing NJASAP's interest. NJA pilots have long been bothered by the NJA/I redundancies. Now that saving money has finally become an issue for management, perhaps we'll see the integration moved up? Maybe that's the soon-to-be-announced project that will maximize efficiency across the operations?

 

[RNObased]

You are killing me with this stuff....

It's a building block approach, RNO. The pilots can lecture non-stop, but if it falls on deaf ears nothing will ever change. At least now they are starting to listen; before the two groups were barely even speaking. The ICOM mentioned cutting costs and reporting on their efforts (to become more efficient) in the near future. I think we're seeing the influence of NJASAP there, backed by vocal pilots, such as yourself. Kudos to you!

I see opportunities in these tough times. Now that management is asking for "right sizing" help, that gives the pilotgroup a vested interest in how money is spent, in a way that was not there before. NJASAP demands to end waste are even more legitimate now and ignoring you guys will get harder, I think. Along with right-sizing comes restructuring and the EBoard will be there representing NJASAP's interest. NJA pilots have long been bothered by the NJA/I redundancies. Now that saving money has finally become an issue for management, perhaps we'll see the integration moved up? Maybe that's the soon-to-be-announced project that will maximize efficiency across the operations?

Doesn't matter if there are two senority lists or 12, the waste is in two ops centers. Not the senority list.

Or the BBJ for example, how many managers do you need to get two of those in the air??

Have you read the union board today?? It is on fire, people are pissed.