What's really up at Flexjet?

[netjetwife]

Welcome to the board, Flexwife!

FW, please don't be put off by the somewhat rocky reception. If it's any consolation, I faced the same doubt when I started posting here, too. When there's distrust of management it can easily make the pilots wary of sharing their complaints publicly. Some are slow to trust an outsider because union-busters (and even some managers) routinely use under-handed tactics to undermine labor groups... So that's bound to make some in your group doubly cautious. Be patient and when the issues are discussed --prudently--you will be able to show your support for the Flex pilots. I'm sure many posting here are interested in learning more about the circumstances facing the Flex pilots and their families. Those who have gone through similar events are usually quite willing to lend their moral support and share observations on what one can expect to see from management (punitive scheduling, intimidation, FUD, etc) when they are trying to squash organizing efforts. Hang in there and welcome to the board, FW!

Food for thought for those of you being excessively doubtful: Reading this thread took me back to my early days of posting here. It took a lot of posts just to convince some of the pilots that I truly was only an informed wife who wanted to discuss the issues affecting my family. There's obviously a Netjetwife, so it makes sense that there's also a Flexwife. I know you guys have heard that saying ...behind every good man there's a good woman. FW's on your side so her husband is too.

When pilots share their concerns at home, no one should be surprised that their wives take the situation as seriously as they do and want to compare notes with others in their group. Think about it.. when criticizing management openly by posting here, a family member doesn't face the same risk of negative consequences that the pilots do so we wives are in a good position to bring up the issues. And we certainly have lots of experience trying to raise a family on sub-par aviation wages! I can still remember my agitated posts from 2004. I was trying to rally the troops and then get the POSTA defeated because the NJA FO pay at that time was so low that some of our families qualified for govt assistance and punitive scheduling was disruptive to family-life. For too many frac families out there things are still very bad and I doubt very much that their management is sharing the pain of this recession equally. At the very least, pilots and their families deserve to know that if furloughs are required they will be done fairly-- by contract rules.

If the Flex pilotgroup is going to stand up for themselves, they will need the full support of their families and it will take a lot of discussions to get the entire group on board. An informed spouse is a great ally. A big reason that the grass roots movement at NJA grew into StrongUnion was because the leaders actively encouraged family support, knowing that it would be critical for success. Best wishes to the Flex pilots and their families! NJW

 

[netjetwife]

My BS detector is pegged. Nope. It's broken...

Now we'll go through 10 pages of "flex*wife" trying to convince everyone he's someone he's not.

Hopefully not. Having made that mistake myself when I began posting here, I will advise Flexwife to ignore the naysayers... and stay focused on the issues, instead. Club, I don't think FW writes like a pilot. In fact, she spells much better than many of the pilots posting here.

Joking aside, it is not at all surprising that a concerned wife wants to talk about issues that her husband has been discussing at home. Actually, the topic of how a company handles finances at a time they also furlough pilots is a subject that merits industry-wide attention. It has already, or could in the near future, affect all of the frac pilotgroups. It costs (read wastes) a lot of money to send pilots out on the road, only to have multiple crews sitting around the FBO. In FW's position (next in line to lose her family's income) I'd have started asking questions, too. The fact that NJA is leaving a lot of pilots at home to save money makes the Flex practice look even worse. I don't see the concern and effort to prevent furloughs that we're seeing (so far) at NJA/I. That's too bad. I'm sure the Flex pilots have also worked very hard (it goes w/the job) and deserve better treatment. Unfortunately, too many times managers will just take the easy way out and get rid of pilots rather than working harder to save money and jobs. If that is happening, I would hope that more Flex pilots/spouses would speak up. Discussions like this can also remind those at other fracs to pay close attention to operations these days and to compare notes with each other ---like FW is trying to do.

 

[flex*wife]

Thanks!

And I'm also raising my BS flag. You write/sound like a pilot and not a pilot's wife

I think I should be insulted, but instead I'll just assume you are self absorbed enough that in your world I should consider it a compliment.

 

[bunman45]

Ever see the "crying game"!

 

[gunfyter]

I think I should be insulted, but instead I'll just assume you are self absorbed enough that in your world I should consider it a compliment.

I think the mistakes you have made are subtle.... You slip by using pilot "lingo" here and there in your posts. For example using TEB instead of Teterboro. Its sort of like someone from NYC trying to hide that fact by faking a Mississippi accent. My wife was an Air Force flight nurse on C-130s and C-141 ... she wouldn't use TEB in a post.

Of course, if you happen to be a private pilot or have some other aviation background ... that would explain why you could sound like a pilot trying to cover up that fact.

On the other hand ... you write and spell too well to actually be a pilot. :laugh:

 

[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.