What's really up at Flexjet?

[Imissmypilot]

I know plenty of pilots who are married to former FA, dispatcher types.

I think we wouldall be surprised how many wives lurk on these boards. I post under such a dorky name as it was opened by my wife and I am too cheap to pony up the $10 to get my own. I could give a rat's a$$ about the name. She lost interest years ago o only wish she was still interested

My vote is she is female posts are too long and detailed and grammactically precise but she is definitly a pilot or av background not just a wife

 

[unclepetey]

I'm guessing you didn't read the post all the way through. No one is complaining -- simply wondering why it is happening so much when it's several crews on the same aircraft seem to be overkill. Seems more like a punishment.

I think my husband is very concerned about the 85 missing pilots. It's why he refuses OT. But from what I'm hearing, not everyone is, and that directly threatens his job.

I am only trying to gather information so I can be more supportive. He happens to be VERY VERY close to the next round of cutoffs/downgrades. I would like to do anything I can to see that not happen, but he has been told by more than a few it's just as likely for it to happen as not since hours are so low and so many are willing to pick up extra days when needed.

His sentiment (and I agree with him) is that ALL cost cutting should have been done before any furloughs but it seems the opposite happened and in someways it appears "cost-cutting" measures were planned long before any economic downturn became a good excuse.

Furthermore, is it really prudent to spend so much extra money on first flight travel and a hotel room in the same city for a few days when the cost is double what the salary of some of the furloughed's daily rate was? Why spend ANY money on charter if the situations that create the charter can be easily fixed? One charter flight is a few months FO salary, right?

Is it rare or how many times have you traveled to a plane when there wasn't even another crewmember available. I've heard it happens a lot. That's wasted money.

I don't work there, I'm only going on what he tells me, what his flex friends have said when I've seen them or their wives. I think a lot of what's happended regardless of reason has been in FR's handbook for a while has it not? If I am wrong, tell me so.

I sincerely believe my husband and most of the people he works with (including some management) want to make Flex the best it can be. Why are you so threatened by a little discussion? Hopefully it is this same discussion that will bring back the Flex 85, stop future furloughs and improve QOL for everyone.

I'll bet we are closer to the same page than you think.

I agree with you, especially as one of the 85 on furlough. Once Fred Greed got to Flexjet things went downhill fast. I wonder what kind of bonuses and incentives he gets for "improving" the operation.

 

[X-rated]

Dude, if you are going to post that fluff, at least have the stones to not hide behind a skirt. A drunk cowboy riding by on a gallopping pony would know your post ain't written with a feminine hand.

Yeah, I disagree. I think she's a chick.

Flex*Wife, you can prove it by posting an avitar of yourself like NJW did with her boot.

Hey, your husband doesn't have a GSX600R does he?

 

[EatSleepFly]

Hey, your husband doesn't have a GSX600R does he?

heh heh heh.... imp:



Seriously though, it would be nice to get some kind of update from the company once in awhile but I don't think anyone is holding their breath.

 

[doh]

I think a lot of the anxiety is due to the disappearance of the CAB. It was not the perfect vehicle for communication, but at least there was some form of communication. Now, dead silence.

 

[GSXR600]

Yeah, I disagree. I think she's a chick.

Flex*Wife, you can prove it by posting an avitar of yourself like NJW did with her boot.

Hey, your husband doesn't have a GSX600R does he?

Nop....I don't think so!
My girlfriend has no clue about airplanes and life of a pilot, in fact she still thinks that flying a small corporate jet makes me a student and that someday I will fly the big ones and make the real bucks.....ja ja ja ja

And about the OT comment, I think flex has a lot of guys that just think about themselves and no one else. If there is OT available, believe me THEY will find pilots that will be more than happy to work. You will find guys that won’t admit working overtime just to look good in front the rest, but the bottom line is that they will take any OT if offer.

 

[ProFracPilot]

Maybe I'm the smelly dude at the business center at TEB you are waiting on to get off the PC so you can check your email.

Likely the case. You really shouldn't stretch wearing the same shirt out to 3 days in a row.

My wife follows my work fairly closely. She is familiar with both ICAO identifiers and the phonetic alphabet. But as often as I'm in Teterboro, to her I'm in NY (or I could be in West Palm Beach, or L.A. for all she cares). You see, she just knows I'm not home. And "QOL"??? She works for one of the premier accounting firms where maintaining their employee "Work-Life Balance" rating is uber important (it is a recruiting tool for them and makes her employer a great place to work). In most buisnesses, this has become the more common description of what we call "QOL". I believe this acronym is used more in aviation than anywhere else.

My calling you out is in no way meant to diminish the problems at Flex. It's just that I don't understand why someone who, by nature of the anonymous board, gets to hide behind a sreen name (we all do) and then blatantly ALSO hides behind another false identity. It detracts from the cause.

Good luck to all at Flex.

 

[flex*wife]

My job (or at the very least an important part-time one) is being my husbands wife so if I use terminology that is familiar to him or that I have become familar with after years of reading this board, don't use that as a reason to derail the purpose of my posting to begin with.

My credibility is not nor should be the issue. If I have said one untrue thing or raised one non essential or salient point, then call me out on that.

What in the heck is so wrong at Flexjet that y'all would rather discuss this "fluff" than the real issues. My entire family's financial future rests on what Flexjet does next so don't go down the road of making me feel like I don't have a right to be here or have to pretend to be a dumb a$$ man to be heard. Do you think if I really was a man or a dumb a$$ pilot I would pretend to be something I would know would immediatly discredit me in the eyes of 60% of the sexist idiots that post here.

My husband warned me this was a waste of time. But still I care to perservere.

Why doesn't management explain the charter $$ issue. If it is contract fees, fine. But if it was avoidable why not share with the pilot group each case so you can all learn from the circumstances and avoid them in the future. Why is even the simplest info so cryptic and closely guarded?

Why have any attempts from pilots to point out a cheaper flight or hotel or FBO met with ire or at the very least ambivelence?

Why does dispatch claim they have no idea what they are doing with you tommorow but AA already has your ticket purchased in your FF account?

Management does not trust a single one of you and tells you want they can either get away with or what they think you will believe. Those that believe you are one of the special few who is not in that group I have a bridge to sell you. Fact is if you don't go to waterview everyday, you are not part of the elite group that will either know all the facts or be protected when it all hits the fan. If it were any different there would be more transparency.

At my "real" job we have a monthly bonus program where we get 10% of whatever we can prove we saved the company over previously billed expenses. Why not institute a similar program at Flex? Why does this company take away in domicile hotels for first light mid rotation shows and standby crew meals but send guys to half crewed airplanes to sit in a hotel @150 a night? That is almost half an FO's daily rate and I'm sure it happens enough to have saved at least a few jobs. Even 80 would be better than 85 would it not?

Sorry for such a rant but you have pissed me off enough to feel compelled to respond on my iPhone and it's too hard to edit back down on this thing. You know technology and us girlie types... (And please catch the sarcasm for you idiots that will use that as proof of my manliness)

 

[unclepetey]

Back to the original question. Does anyone have any updates???

 

[Imissmypilot]

Anyone know the real or rumored reason Monica was let go? I know it wasn''t because she was playing favorites with me but still sad to see anyone lose their job. As long as she wasn't spending half her day on the internet I hear that's better than some of the other office grunts I dont need to her personal business but thats a $hitload of longevity to be fired for something simple. Should make us all a little worried if it was.

 

[unclepetey]

Anyone know the real or rumored reason Monica was let go? I know it wasn''t because she was playing favorites with me but still sad to see anyone lose their job. As long as she wasn't spending half her day on the internet I hear that's better than some of the other office grunts I dont need to her personal business but thats a $hitload of longevity to be fired for something simple. Should make us all a little worried if it was.

News to me. She's a nice person. Was a little overwhelmed at times or they just threw too much at her. Like you say she was there for a while.

 

[dbman]

oh you done pissed her off now

is it just me or is anyone else feeling hot now dbman loves it when their angry

 

[netjetwife]

Flexwife, my husband also warned me that there can be a strong gender bias here at FI, but I chose to persevere, as you have. I'm glad I did as I have made friendships here and have learned a lot from participating in the discussions.

GF, lots of AF wives use pilot lingo like DNIF and TDY. My posts are regularly sprinkled with CMH (learned from my husband's emails) and TEB is used here a lot so it's easy to pick that one up. PFP, I often use QOL in my posts. I don't think it's just used by aviation, but regardless, it's easy to pick up here and sure saves a lot of typing. I agree that the spelling is a good clue that FW is female and so is your point, Imiss, about the lengthy, precise posting style. It seems that a wife posting here has to work doubly hard just to gain acceptance

My thanks to those of you who are willing to discuss the situation with us without all the unfair distractions. I agree with Imiss that a lot of wives probably read the board and have the same questions that FW does. I bet many NJ wives are also looking at how NJA is spending money these days with the same threat of furloughs hanging over their heads.

Doh, good point about the CAB (to borrow your lingo). Why has it disappeared? In times like these, communication is very needed to dispel rumors and keep morale up.

 

[FastJP4]

The messenger attacks and lack of respectable responses is very telling. Flexjet is definately going places - it's to bad the direction is they're going is backwards. You can thank FG and the complicit a$$ kissers on the upper half of the list for that.

 

[tomcat]

This is waay too fired up and specific to be someone's wife.

What in the heck is so wrong at Flexjet that y'all would rather discuss this "fluff" than the real issues. My entire family's financial future rests on what Flexjet does next so don't go down the road of making me feel like I don't have a right to be here or have to pretend to be a dumb a$$ man to be heard. Do you think if I really was a man or a dumb a$$ pilot I would pretend to be something I would know would immediatly discredit me in the eyes of 60% of the sexist idiots that post here.

My husband warned me this was a waste of time. But still I care to perservere.

Why doesn't management explain the charter $$ issue. If it is contract fees, fine. But if it was avoidable why not share with the pilot group each case so you can all learn from the circumstances and avoid them in the future. Why is even the simplest info so cryptic and closely guarded?

Why have any attempts from pilots to point out a cheaper flight or hotel or FBO met with ire or at the very least ambivelence?

Why does dispatch claim they have no idea what they are doing with you tommorow but AA already has your ticket purchased in your FF account?

Management does not trust a single one of you and tells you want they can either get away with or what they think you will believe. Those that believe you are one of the special few who is not in that group I have a bridge to sell you. Fact is if you don't go to waterview everyday, you are not part of the elite group that will either know all the facts or be protected when it all hits the fan. If it were any different there would be more transparency.

At my "real" job we have a monthly bonus program where we get 10% of whatever we can prove we saved the company over previously billed expenses. Why not institute a similar program at Flex? Why does this company take away in domicile hotels for first light mid rotation shows and standby crew meals but send guys to half crewed airplanes to sit in a hotel @150 a night? That is almost half an FO's daily rate and I'm sure it happens enough to have saved at least a few jobs. Even 80 would be better than 85 would it not?

Sorry for such a rant but you have pissed me off enoug h to feel compelled to respond on my iPhone and it's too hard to edit back down on this thing. You know technology and us girlie types... (And please catch the sarcasm for you idiots that will use that as proof of my manliness)

With all (due?) respect, I do not for one minute believe that the skepticism comes from sexism. The fact that you use that as a cop out is absolutely nuts. I have no doubt there are plenty of female pilots on this board who simply do not have to justify every post with "I'm a female pilot." The problem is that we have seen many posts by (fill in the blank fractional)wife for years. All of a sudden, there is a new (fill in the blank fractional)wife whose posts, when not saying "my husband says XXX" or "I hear XXX," sound just like a ranting pilot at said fractional. Further incriminating is the fact that the new fractionalwife decides to edit for grammar after a post gives them validation for proper spelling and grammar.
I'll crawl back into my hole now. Game On!

 

[flex*wife]

I'm tired of trying to prove something I can't so can we please just move on to the issues at hand and have real discussion about what is really going on at flexjet now.

If you have any respectful suggestions as to how I can prove I am in fact just a wife and you think it would add credence to my pleas for information, then by all means tell me. Otherwise just pretend I'm another pig of a man and answer the questions please.

 

[netjetwife]

Oh pleeeasssee...guys How many frac wives are out there? How many read this board? Imiss thinks many do and I agree. Some of them have even PMed me with questions over the years. I think more wives would post if they didn't get subjected to this attitude when they dare to discuss the issues with frac pilots. Ohhhh...I see...this is the way some of you go about trying to keep wives (not necessarily women) out of your self-perceived Pilot Members Only club? :erm: Not cool.

With all due (yes, TC, due ) respect, could we just focus on the issues? There are lots of frac pilots with families already furloughed and many more that are facing the very real possibility. A serious discussion of the current events would be more in keeping with their situation, wouldn't you agree? So.. to get us back on topic in a non-discriminating way...

Do frac pilots and/or their family members (see how easy it is to be inclusive...) think that the Preventive Measures package at NJA has raised expectations (to any degree) of what managers should do before they begin furloughing? Do you think it has helped the situation any at the other fracs? Is there an agreed-upon method in the industry of how the pilots think furloughs should be handled, including severance pay, seniority order, recall rights, etc? How about cost-savings that you expect to see first, such as reduced schedules, show-at-home, etc? My thanks to those of you willing to discuss the issues with frac wives. NJW

 

[HA25]

It's amazing, the woman comes on here, posts some legitimate questions and 2/3's of the thread is about whether she's who she says she is.. Welcome to the forums Flex*wife

 

[bmxandjets]

flex*wife, if it matters, i hope i one day have a wife who gives 10% the sh!t you do.. good on ya.. kudos to you too NJW.

 

[Flyingdog1]

flex*wife, if it matters, i hope i one day have a wife who gives 10% the sh!t you do.. good on ya.. kudos to you too NJW.

I think you may change your mind after you're married. You'll wish she'd go out and get her own job and mind their own business like NJW's and Flex wife's husbands do.