cosmotheassman said:
Hey, I was just busting your ball$ a little! What do you think will be the substance of the meeting next month?
Hey be nice -- my ball$ are blue-bellied enough thanks to the lovely 6/4 pattern I seem to be stuck in...
I am getting the impression that they will do something, just not anywhere close to what most are hoping for. Management seems to be pretty concerned that matching NJA, let alone exceeding them will leave us in a financially precarious position, so...
I don't discount their fears but IMHO fractionals are pretty low risk business -- most of the expenses are passed on to the owners who will not give up the luxuries our business affords them so hopefully they are considering this. I believe I am paraphrasing Warren Buffet here on why he was so keen to purchase NJA to begin with. As far as flex goes we provide a FAR SUPERIOR experience for our owners and so therefore I think they would be willing to pony up a little more... I'm not being company gung ho -- we a just flat out a better bang for the buck from an owners POV. This coupled with a increased push on our card program might be all we need to match NJA.
I do think what will happen to the fractional industry as a whole is that as costs increase, owners will have to fly 350 or less hours per year (versus the current 400) to make a fractional a good choice otherwise owning outright will be more financially viable. But that stills leaves plenty of room for growth for everyone... And some high volumn owners simply don't want the hassle of fleet managment or see the potential of limitless plane availibilty for the price of a single plane too good to pass up... Listen, I think sometimes a monkey could sell the idea behimd fractionals -- it makes so much sense.
Also, we waste a TON of cash for the benefit of unneccesary flexibility. I think if audited some of our practices we could save a ton of $$. I cannot tell you how many times I have airpassed 1200 mile trips into one airport to sedan to another to be there "just in case" when they could have just waited a couple hours and flown me into the right airport for $300-400. Inceasing gateways might help with this... Also restructuring our catering plans might help -- I know we spend a lot of unneccesary cash there too. I appreciate being fed, but a $30 ham sandwich is overkill. Also, they might considering partnering with some of these big hotel chains -- like 10 hour jet cards to award their top execs in exchange for $50 room rates across the system for on duty flex pilots.
I think we will see at a minimum a decrease in duty days with an equalizing bump to keep salaries at current projections. 1 day or 4 days -- who knows. I think they will also kick in either some additional bankroll to the HSA or reduce premiums -- don't know. I'd love more -- we deserve more but I don't think anything more than that right now... I will have some big decisions to make come Decemeber.... What do you think?
By the way -- what's the skinny on when were were promised to always make more than NJA -- I was not at that meeting and the details I have gotten from others are mixed...
