B727DRVR

Welcome back, UTR!

Long time, no talk to. I hope that you are faring well during this crisis, I truly do. It has been a while since we have sparred, but that is probably fitting since a lot has happened since January and there were a lot more important things going on than monitoring and posting on APC. Anyway, I would like to ask the question that I have asked you before (and you never answer) and more and more of your fellow pilots ponder who read these threads wonder about: "What have we ever done to you?" I ask this because in your 16 posts attacking our Company, all negative, you are attacking your fellow pilots and other team members with each post. We often wonder what we must have done to you to have fed your sustained attacks for over a year now, and wonder what has kept you from moving on to other hobbies than just attacking us on APC.. Not even a post on "What's going on with hiring at DAL, AA, UPS, Netjets, etc.. Just flyExclusive, baaadddd. Oh, well...

But since we are back at this old fun game, lets try to answer some of your questions, shall we? First, I don't remember if I said if we are the 7th largest charter operator or not, but who says that you can't still retain your small, family minded company feeling (or ma/pa as you say), even as you grow... The two don't have to be mutually exclusive, and if you ever read my posts you would know that they aren't..

Next, you are concerned with the terminations that happened recently and you say that there was no warning or progressive discipline.. So I guess that you have a mole or bug in the HR Manager or DO's office that you know that to be the case, right? Wrong.. I am almost never elated to see someone let go, but if you lie and try to cover up something, use profanity to other cremembers, CSR's, line personel, whatever, I have no sympathy. It is well known that the Company believes in second chances if you tell the truth and admit to your error, and show a sense of contrition. Often, maybe even usually, they will give you another chance. But if you lie or try to cover it up, game over. I am not in HR, and only hear rumors, but I know that you can only get so many warnings before somethings gonna happen.

As far as the President calling someone and trying to "bargain" someone out of a fatigue call, I will tell you what my experience is.. In my just over two years here, I have called "fatigue" twice now and have been given extended rest with no questions. I routinely write up squacks on planes that need them and I AM STILL HERE, LOL. I have never received any push back on either fatigue calls or write ups. If the Fleet Lead, Chief Pilot, DO, or even the President did call me to ask if I had tried something or made a suggestion on how to reset something, I would gladly listen to their suggestions and wouldn't take it as a threat. But that has never happened, so I will just have to imagine. The ONLY calls I have ever received from our President were on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter (Yeah, luck of the draw and volunteering, I worked all of the above) to thank all the pilots that were working during the Holiday. This "bad" man also called to see how I was when I got hurt last year, and called my Wife to let her know that I got hurt and that I was OK and was being deadheaded home. So that's my experience with our President. If you haven't seen his weekly information videos to us during the crisis, you should check them out.. On the first video, he looked really tired and worried, as if the Russians were just outside the city gates. You could hear the concern in his voice and see it in his eyes. But as his videos progressed, they became more hopeful and positive, as he gave us video tours of the progress of the construction of our new facilities, which transformed right before our eyes over the weeks of his videos. He also showed us our fleet parked at our HQ when we were flying very little (which was cool to have such a huge, growing fleet but at the same time scary that it was mostly parked). Having worked at a 135 company in the 1990's where pilots WERE threatened, I can tell you that this "bargaining" has never happened to me (but I'm not saying that you are making this up). You can tell a lot about a Company and it's Management team by the way they treat you when the chips are down, and I am pretty impressed over how we have been treated in comparison to many other companies that you can read about right here in both the Fractional and 135 APC forums.

Finally, UTR, I am really just glad that we are still around for you to troll, as so many others are not, with sadly more to follow. We are a company that has survived thus far, and even continued to hire, with a new INDOC class starting soon and new aircraft coming online. Our pilots, who have felt some temporary effects such as everyone now on 15/13 and the suspension of bonus/step increases, are actually making more than some of our competitors as they have sat at home on reserve. And while, sadly, I have unfortunately heard very few airlines on the radio, I have heard our JS tails all across the country and seen them a random airports, along with other Fractionals and 135's. It has been heartening to see us survive and persevere through this crisis. So remember as you critique and attack us, you are attacking a Company that has continued to provide for its employees during one of the most serious crises in our Nation's history, when so many other companies haven't. We continue to grow and hire, despite this Global tragedy, and it looks like we might indeed make it. I am proud of what we have accomplished over just 5 short years, and I wear our uniform proudly. As I have said before, I wouldn't (and haven't) hesitate to bring a friend on here, and thus far, none of them have punched me in the face yet for bringing them on. Just next month, I have a friend furloughed from a Legacy starting here and he is excited to be coming on.

And don't forget, UTR, as long as you left here in good standing, our Company's practice is to take you back if the grass turns out not to be greener. Hopefully, you have a good gig out there, but hey.. it's always an option.

Good luck and stay safe and healthy.