Management and Union throwing ROCKS
likely not lead to AVIATION SAFETY SOLUTIONS
Below are two reports displayed in the order of their publications. The first is a strongly worded accusation by NetJets’ management directed to allegations that the Shared Aircraft Pilots Union is deliberately hurting operations. NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots responds in equally pointed terms asserting that management’s charge deters their members from reporting safety concerns and urges them to fly when fatigued. Both positions are well described in the articles; please read both to form your own view.
This post does not attempt to determine who’s right, rather the goal is to offer the right process for resolving their dispute.
Though aviation has developed multiple systems to capture and analyze SAFETY DATA, the results of these programs are not always BLACK or WHITE. Individual perspectives can perceive a gray that is contiguous to black on this aviation spectrum, while another might see a lighter shade of gray.
What degree of risk is one component of this analytical exercise, all involved in an air operation then should share thoughts on the most appropriate antidote to the identified risk. The plots of possible solutions may be displayed in multiple dimensions- efficacy, speed of implementation, alternatives, long term sustainability of the option, clarity of the message, availability of the needed resources and cost. These factors are not readily written as hard numbers; THUS, OPEN CONSTRUCTIVE EXCHANGES ARE ESSENTIAL.
Discussions of AVIATION SAFETY need be conversations and dialogues, not vehement debate with accusations tossed between the parties. SMS is designed to flag risks and collaboratively reach a solution. The heated exchanges may somehow meet the internal needs of both parties; little was advanced toward a safety solution.
REPEATED MECHANICALS, as a trend, is a valid subject for an SMR. Data is data and it should identify maintenance problems or not. FATIGUE is a condition for which there are measures and well-developed solutions. Delete the loud charges and get to agreed upon solutions. It might be well to include a gifted moderator to keep issues not directly tied to SAFETY.
Continued rock throwing is not conducive to safety, no matter what position may be right. Likely, there is some truth in both.
NetJets’ profits, operations being hit by pilot disruptions
Increases in fatigue calls and maintenance write-ups by pilots at NetJets are part of a union negotiating effort, according to the company.
By Doug Gollan, January 22, 2024
NetJets is alleging THAT A CONCERTED EFFORT DRIVEN BY NJASAP, the union representing its pilots, is impacting operations and the bottom line of the world’s largest private jet flight provider.
NJASAP stands for NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots.Executives at the Berkshire Hathaway unit say actions by the pilots have meant an increase in off-fleet flights, boosting expenses to fulfill guarantees for fractional owners, lease, and jet card customers.
The pilots’ behavior in this regard has been none-too-subtly encouraged in a series of NJASAP communications to its members. NetJets is aware of as many as a dozen messages that suggest – using the typical union code words for self-help – that pilots should take action to reflect their unhappiness with the state of voluntary negotiations.
– NetJets letter to NJASAP
NetJets tells Private Jet Card Comparisons, “Supported by a review of COLLECTED DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS, NetJets believes there have been unlawful, concerted activities aimed at disrupting our flight operations. We have shared this data with NJASAP, which clearly shows a STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN ACTIVITIES. In order to maintain our unwavering commitment to the safety and service of our owners, NetJets has taken action to mitigate the impact through growth in our fleet and the incurred expense of supplemental aircraft. NetJets’ Owner retention rates and satisfaction continue to be at an all-time high, and we will continue to take necessary measures to preserve these.”
NJASAP-NetJets dispute
The latest round of fire between both parties came after the union issued a press release Friday evening in response to a letter sent by the private jet company to NJASAP.
In the press release, NJASAP said NetJets had “failed to provide any evidence to substantiate that any pilot called in fatigued when they were not, in fact, too fatigued to safely perform flight operations, failed to provide any evidence to substantiate that any pilot documented maintenance issues on aircraft that did not actually exist, and failed to provide any evidence to substantiate that any pilot refused to work extra days simply to impact the company’s operations as opposed to their own personal reasons.”
UNION PRESIDENT CAPT. PEDRO LEROUX said, “NJASAP adamantly denies that it is engaged in any concerted effort to condone or to encourage such a slowdown, and we have issued a communication to our members to cease and desist any individual efforts to do so.”
He added, “We view NetJets’ letter and threats as its latest attempt to censor NJASAP’s ability to communicate with its members about important matters that affect flight crew and owner and customer safety.”
NJASAP did not provide the letter or accompanying documentation as part of its press release.
Write-ups, Fatigue Calls increase
However, A REVIEW OF THE LETTER AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS PROVIDED TO PRIVATE JET CARD COMPARISONS SHOWS A NUMBER OF IMPACTS ON THE AVAILABILITY OF AIRPLANES AND FLIGHT CREWS.
The pilot-sourced break rate, which measures how often pilots submit write-ups that ground aircraft, increased from an average of 36.8 per day in early 2023 to 50.5 per day in December and early January.
The number of monthly fatigue calls stood at between 200 and 400 from Oct. 2022 through May 2023. Over the past four months, there have been at least 600 fatigue calls each month.
From Sept. 1, 2023, through Jan. 9, 2024, there was an average of 23 daily fatigue calls, up from 14.3 from July 15 through the end of August.
Damaging NetJets’ reputation
According to the NetJets letter to the union, “Flight delays are up, especially in the last two months.”
The fractional operator told NJASAP, “These delays cause irreparable damage to NetJets’ brand and service reputation.”
Executives say customers are not being impacted, but the decrease in availability means increased expenses for replacing the impacted aircraft and crews, including needing to source replacement aircraft from third-party operators.
The letter to NJASAP stated, “The pilots’ behavior in this regard has been none-too-subtly encouraged in a series of NJASAP communications to its members. NetJets is aware of as many as a dozen messages that suggest – using the typical union code words for self-help – that pilots should take action to reflect their unhappiness with the state of voluntary negotiations.”
Self-help refers to one party in a labor dispute taking action to apply pressure on the other party.
Cease and Desist
Following the letter from NetJets to NJASAP, the union issued a notice to its members both denying it has advocated or condoned members “engage in slowdowns or other concerted activity to negatively impact NetJets’ operators…”
The NJASAP memo to its pilots added, “Any pilot or group of pilots engaging in such unlawful activities should immediately cease and desist.”
The current contract runs through 2026, with NetJets having a unilateral option to extend it through 2029.
The current negotiations, which apparently broke down in November, represent a mid-contract negotiation.
Since the beginning of 2023, NJASAP has been holding information pickets at major sporting and cultural events and Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting.
More recently, it started an ad campaign in The Wall Street Journal using quotes from Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett.
NJASAP says NetJets risks losing its most experienced pilots to the airlines as they seek to fill open spots created by retirements during the Covid travel slowdown.
NetJets had been silent until recently when it detailed its side of the negotiations, including an offer that would have boosted pay and benefits by 52.5%.
NJASAP said that the raise wasn’t presented as a formal offer.
However, it still wasn’t enough.
The union, according to a previous statement, wants parity with pilots at the major airlines, noting, “To simply reach immediate pay parity with the major airlines, NetJets would have to agree to a 60% base pay increase on day one.”
The flight provider has also said it has been able to hire and train a sufficient number of pilots to fill open slots. Earlier this month, it implemented a mandatory retirement age for pilots, which removed under 100 aviators from its roster.
NetJets’ sterling safety record at risk as Fractional threatens litigation against its Pilot Union
PR Newswire
Fri, January 26, 2024
SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP)
NJASAP expresses concerns regarding ‘chilling effect’ on safety culture
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — NetJets Aviation, Inc., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), recently alleged that by DOCUMENTING MAINTENANCE ISSUES on NetJets aircraft, its pilots were deliberately engaging in a WORK SLOWDOWN. The company also accused its pilots, in a letter to the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) on Jan. 15, of purposely calling in FATIGUED MORE FREQUENTLY as part of the ALLEGED SLOWDOWN. NJASAP is the union that represents the 3,200-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets.
In an ad placed in the Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, edition of The Wall Street Journal, NJASAP emphasizes the critical role professional pilots play in identifying maintenance issues, pointing out NetJets has threatened litigation against its pilots for the frequency with which they are documenting maintenance issues on owner aircraft. When pilots are afraid to document maintenance issues, air travel becomes less safe.
“At a time when aircraft safety is receiving heightened scrutiny – and deservedly so – it is outrageous that NetJets would question its pilots’ dedication to prioritizing safety and their informed decisions when it comes to documenting identified aircraft maintenance issues or determining they are too tired to safely fly an aircraft,” NJASAP President Capt. Pedro Leroux said. “NJASAP pilots have a long and established history of ensuring that safety is the number one priority as
they provide private air travel to owners flying with the luxury carrier.”
NetJets, after alleging that pilots are engaging in a work slowdown in an attempt to negatively impact the Fractional’s operations, DID NOT PROVIDE ANY EVIDENCE to substantiate its extraordinary allegations. “The company’s threats about the frequency of pilots reporting maintenance issues on the aircraft they fly represents A GRAVE THREAT TO THE SAFETY CULTURE AT NETJETS – the very safety culture that aircraft owners, passengers and flight crewmembers depend upon for their
lives every day,” NJASAP Vice President Capt. Paulette Gilbert said.
The Union believes NetJets’ letter will all but certainly have a chilling effect on the safety-focused decisions each pilot makes throughout the duty day, ushering in new patterns of behavior that could have catastrophic consequences. NJASAP is working tirelessly to prevent such an outcome. “In the event of the unthinkable, pilot decision making and fitness for duty will be matters of intense scrutiny,” Leroux said. “The very nature of aviation leaves zero room for professional pilots to be browbeaten into changing their safety-related behavior. Such a tactic should be beneath NetJets, and NJASAP will not allow this intimidation to go unchecked.”
To that very end, for NetJets to infer that pilots fulfilling their legal duties is unlawful in some way conveniently glosses over what the Union believes is the company’s own inability to overcome sustained challenges that have negatively impacted its maintenance infrastructure. “For almost two years – and well before the start of midterm bargaining – the NetJets COO has lamented to pilots attending recurrent training the hardships posed by increasing maintenance issues and the time-consuming process of addressing them since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Leroux explained. As 2024 begins, the blame for those continuing challenges has found a new source: the NetJets pilot group. “My members and I will not be used as scapegoats because NetJets is unable to solve long-standing maintenance issues,” Leroux said.
The NJASAP Membership is very proud of the direct role it has played in shaping the sterling operational safety record that has long distinguished NetJets and been viewed as one of the Fractional’s most compelling marketing tools. “Rather than attempt to throttle the immediate documentation of maintenance concerns and to call in fatigued when a pilot is no longer fit to perform duties on the flight deck, NetJets should honor our crewmembers’ decisions that have and continue to sustain NetJets’ unprecedented operational safety record,” Gilbert said.
In a letter sent to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson earlier this week, the NJASAP Executive Board asserted the most sensible course of action is to work in partnership to address maintenance, fatigue and other concerns, emphasizing NJASAP is wholly committed to the same and ready to begin immediately. The Union has yet to receive a response.
About NJASAP Founded in 2008 as an independent labor advocate, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) represents the professional interests of the 3,200-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary. For more information, please visit our websites, www.njasap.com and www.genuineqs.com, or find us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/njasap, Instagram, www.instagram.com/njasap, and Twitter, @njasap.
Cision
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SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP)
