Warren Buffet report on Netjets

[fischman]

The reason NetJets is now profitable is that finally the NJA pilots are behaving like professional pilots instead of like professional union thugs. I am very happy about this, but for the union pilots to congratulate themselves for not misbehaving is disengenuous to say the least. In my opinion.

Just to be clear, the Union NEVER endorsed or called for ANYTHING illegal to happen.

We follow(ed) the FAR, CBA, and FOM to the letter. That's all.

 

[CALRepublic]

what's wrong with asking a question that's relevant to this thread?

actually, according to this, netjets made 278M, and flight safety made 269M, for a total of 547M. http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=26432612&sort=postdate

sorry man, I was trying to quote someone else.

 

[acaTerry]

Just to be clear, the Union NEVER endorsed or called for ANYTHING illegal to happen.

We follow(ed) the FAR, CBA, and FOM to the letter. That's all.

Beat me to it.

 

[netjetwife]

The reason NetJets is now profitable is that finally the NJA pilots are behaving like professional pilots instead of like professional union thugs. I am very happy about this, but for the union pilots to congratulate themselves for not misbehaving is disengenuous to say the least. In my opinion.

This is faulty reasoning. Perhaps you're on the outside looking in? Are you a NJA pilot G4? As a reminder, profits were being shifted from NJAmerica to subsidize NJEurope, at the expense of the pilot group. At the same time Mr. Santulli had left management of NJA to Boisture. Mr. Moisture (inside situational joke) stupidly used sticks like punitive scheduling instead of carrots like professional pay. Suffice it to say that things went to hell in a hand basket. It's no coincidence that shortly after the 2005 CBA was signed Boisture left. It appears he got the black boot... and then things starting heading in the right direction.

The NJ pilots can verify this, but I've heard that Mr. Santulli made conciliatory remarks to the pilots (in a hangar meeting) to the affect that he let them down by not staying engaged and that it wouldn't happen again. True to his word, upper management was a willing partner in working with the pilots to make voluntary contract improvements--3 years early, no less. As further evidence of his commitment to the concept that motivated pilots are more productive, a few others have also recently gotten the boot for not being team players.

NJE is now pulling its own weight and the joint Union-Management committees established in the 2005 contract have done excellent work at finding ways to make NJA more efficient. In fact, work done by the Union Training committee, who took the lead in redesigning the training program at NJA, saved the Company millions in training costs.

It is indisputable that respect and fair treatment made the difference. The NJ pilots deserve every word of congratulations and appreciation they have been given (from Union and Management leaders) for responding quickly and enthusiastically to the call for partnership.

As a matter of personal speculation, I have no doubt that when their Union leaders call for help in the next big project the NJ pilots will pull on their boots and roll up their shirt sleeves...

Congratulations to the entire NJA team!
Netjetwife

 

[FLYLOW22]

The reason NetJets is now profitable is that finally the NJA pilots are behaving like professional pilots instead of like professional union thugs. I am very happy about this, but for the union pilots to congratulate themselves for not misbehaving is disengenuous to say the least. In my opinion.

That's another opinion. Not the right one, but an opinion.

NJA is making more money now than ever before... not just as compared to 2004/2005.

 

[Publishers]

Did I miss something or was not one of the original problems with the Teamsters and all that resulted in 1108. Until that happened, there was no progress.
Secondly, I believe Santulli and Buffet both were saying that there were multiple problems all at once, probably the most significant was Europe expansion which was having a bigger negative effect than the pilot contract ones.
Lastly Netjets has obviously won the "fractional" game. They dominate it and Europe holds the promise of stablizing things if the US is in a recession and a period of no growth comes. $547 million sounds like a big deal but when you look at the assets employed and total revenues, it is not so awesome. Maitaining the marketshare will be difficult not so much against Flight Options but new business models like XO or those to come.

 

[gunfyter]

The root of any poor performance can be traced to one place:

The (failed) 2004 POS TA ... and the very sorry proposed payscale thereof.

 

[buckeyes95]

Hey B19, you dumb ass. ALL the employees at Netjets are the associates mentioned. Netjets stands as a testament to what can happen when management and the employees (union and non union) work as a team. Maybe someday you will figure that out. Now go crawl back under your rock you piece of sh*t.

 

[G4dude]

That's another opinion. Not the right one, but an opinion.

NJA is making more money now than ever before... not just as compared to 2004/2005.

The rejoinders to my comments are correct, but the fact remains that many union pilots' behavior in response to management is what kept profits from happening. I am not disputing either the cause of union discontent or the validity of the feelings of the union folks. Also, as we all know within the company, union official policy regarding such misbehavior by many crews during those fractious times is not the subject, merely the behavior itself. The behavior caused the lack of profits. Period.
I am very glad y'all got the deal you did, although the higher pay will open the lower end of the fractional market to bottom feeder newcomer companies, because there are pilots willing to fly for peanuts, unfortunately. It is a rather fun job, however. Heh heh.
Meanwhile, the civil discourse is quite enjoyable, and we at NJI are waiting for Gulfstream's announcement of their new plane, the 600 series, I suppose. Secret stuff, how intriguing!

 

[G4dude]

This is faulty reasoning. Perhaps you're on the outside looking in? Are you a NJA pilot G4? As a reminder, profits were being shifted from NJAmerica to subsidize NJEurope, at the expense of the pilot group. At the same time Mr. Santulli had left management of NJA to Boisture. Mr. Moisture (inside situational joke) stupidly used sticks like punitive scheduling instead of carrots like professional pay. Suffice it to say that things went to hell in a hand basket. It's no coincidence that shortly after the 2005 CBA was signed Boisture left. It appears he got the black boot... and then things starting heading in the right direction.

The NJ pilots can verify this, but I've heard that Mr. Santulli made conciliatory remarks to the pilots (in a hangar meeting) to the affect that he let them down by not staying engaged and that it wouldn't happen again. True to his word, upper management was a willing partner in working with the pilots to make voluntary contract improvements--3 years early, no less. As further evidence of his commitment to the concept that motivated pilots are more productive, a few others have also recently gotten the boot for not being team players.

NJE is now pulling its own weight and the joint Union-Management committees established in the 2005 contract have done excellent work at finding ways to make NJA more efficient. In fact, work done by the Union Training committee, who took the lead in redesigning the training program at NJA, saved the Company millions in training costs.

It is indisputable that respect and fair treatment made the difference. The NJ pilots deserve every word of congratulations and appreciation they have been given (from Union and Management leaders) for responding quickly and enthusiastically to the call for partnership.

As a matter of personal speculation, I have no doubt that when their Union leaders call for help in the next big project the NJ pilots will pull on their boots and roll up their shirt sleeves...

Congratulations to the entire NJA team!
Netjetwife

I am at NJI, spoiled rotten as my flight attendants will attest!

 

[fly4funcrj]

There will always be a few rotten apples whether there is a union or not. If/when we get rid of these pilots, netjets will become even better.

 

[knowone]

Just to be clear, the Union NEVER endorsed or called for ANYTHING illegal to happen.

Everyone knows the union never endorsed for anything illegal to be done, but you would have to be naive to believe that the same grounding items always happened every day on every aircraft type.

Also isn't it amazing that after the contract was done that the airplanes became more efficient. Was it because NetJets hired in a better maintenance staff?

Now back to the present, it is great to hear that the union and management are working together again (rather than against each other) and allowing the pilot group to enjoy some of the profits.

 

[gunfyter]

Just shows how much more efficient the new CBA ws than the 1998 CBA

 

[netjetwife]

...the fact remains that many union pilots' behavior in response to management is what kept profits from happening. Fact? I beg to differ. You have it backwards, G4. There were poor decisions made by Boisture/management that had nothing to do with pilots. Selling off the core fleet while promoting the Marquis Card caused problems and hurt profits. Overbooking charter flights to cover the holidays only to have NJA pilots sit around FBOs while vendor$ flew their pax was a waste of money. Ignoring pilotgroup efforts to save money in daily operations is a costly mistake. I am not disputing either the cause of union discontent or the validity of the feelings of the union folks. Thank you for that. Also, as we all know within the company, union official policy regarding such misbehavior by many crews during those fractious times is not the subject, merely the behavior itself. Human nature as it applies to labor relations has been studied by behavior experts and some truths have emerged. Low morale lowers productivity and high turn over has a steep price tag. The behavior (of management) caused the lack of profits. Period. Short-sighted, penny-wise/pound-foolish decisions made by Boisture hurt profits and morale. Labor experts advise managers that a motivated workforce is necessary for success. That point was again made by an author/consultant NJA recently brought to CMH. I am very glad y'all got the deal you did, (Thanks, the pilots earned every dollar of it.) although the higher pay will open the lower end of the fractional market to bottom feeder newcomer companies, because there are pilots willing to fly for peanuts, unfortunately. Are you suggesting pilots should not raise the bar.. Every worker would rather get the going rate than be underpaid. Again you have it backwards, G4. The NJA contract sent the Options pilots to the bargaining table to pull up their wages and both times ('05 and '07) CS has found it in their best interest to offer their pilots more money. Meanwhile, the civil discourse is quite enjoyable, ... And on that point we both agree.

Good luck on the upcoming announcement at NJI.

 

[Some guy]

$547 million sounds like a big deal but when you look at the assets employed and total revenues, it is not so awesome.

Which assets? Are you talking about the owner's airplanes? NJ only owns 1 fractional aircraft. NJ leases the buildings in CMH. For not having hardly any owned assets, I think $250 mil is pretty good.

SG