I was all ready to send in my application, but now see that they aren't hiring into DFW. Bummer!

 

Spongebob,
There is a huge difference in being serious and dedicated to a company and being financially and morally able to totally disrupt a family so you can live within 2 hours drive time of an aviation job when you are more than willing and able to get yourself into position on your own dime for a flight assignment! Try selling a house in this environment, move your family (at your expense=at least several thousand dollars) and buy a new one in an over-inflated area of the country and live on first, second, and third year pay! Why not say to a well qualified, excellent candidate that you have to be in base for your assignment? Just because someone isnt financially able to take a job doesnt mean they arent serious about a job. Quite frankly I have never heard of a company that says you must pemanently live within a certain distance of the office!

 

JJ-

I won't argue against it sucking - I sold a house in LA last year; it was on the market for 6 months, no renters and I basically was lucky to break even on it, so I know the experience first hand.

That said, if you look on Monster you'll find probably 30% or so of jobs will say "must be willing to relocate" or something similar. For those that don't (and I've been doing inteviews for over a year at the consulting company I work for on the side) we always ask "where are you living" or "what's your relocation plan?" or "do you know what your commute is going to be like?"....and we have passed on folks, good folks, because we knew their plan was overly optimistic and they would bail on us the first opportunity they got that improved their QOL. So why bother unless they had a unique skill/experience we wanted?

You're saying that if you worked for CS and every week got yourself to the base the day before (how? drive, jumpseat?), paid for a hotel then figured out your way back after a trip ended (at this point you're essentially now on a 9/5 schedule), you wouldn't punch at the first opportunity that didn't have a better QOL? Maybe they want their employees to have a better QOL than that?

Not saying I know, but I've seen similar, and until they run out of resumes....

At some point, they'll run out of resume's and have to open up....until then...

Spongebob

 

http://www.netjets.com/NetJets_Pilot...ts.package.pdf

 

I understand that this policy will limit quality applicants and most CS pilots don't agree with it because we soon won't be able to relocate to all of the 25 bases that we signed up for. I was just clarifying that you will never have to foot the bill for a hotel. There are no crash pads at CS because everyone is required to live within two hours of their base. The company will ALWAYS pay for your hotel if you want to stay closer to your base for an early flight the next morning or don't feel like driving home after a long day. That's the point I was trying to make.

Also, the two-hour radius from those eight bases contain some reasonable housing markets--I know from experience. Again, I don't necessarily agree with the policy FWIW.

 

Have you seen how cheap housing is in DFW? DEN is twice the price. See ya on the road Chris

 

Hey Chris,

I am not sure if CS pilots are represented or not, but if not, why don't you guys start a secret union campaign before you are forced put your homes for sale in this awful economy. I GUARANTEE you that when CS management gets a letter from the NMB stating that there is a "dispute", and that an election for the representation for CS pilots will be held on this date, they will back off on this hard ball big time. Heck, they might even try to bribe you with a raise or something else... Then, vote union anyway!

Look at any successful (OK, really successful) pilot group and you will find a union. If NetJets were not organized, they, too, might suffer a similar threat. With no union, what management giveth, they can take away on a whim (This is a perfect example). It boils down to a respect issue: If management respects the employees, they will not go back on a promise like the 25 base promise. When they see the threat of a union coming, its instant respect.

As for which union, I would look no further than what Netjets is doing (Decertifying the IBT). So they aren't a good option. I'll bet ALPA would be happy to represent nearly 400 well-compensated CS pilots. While that would be their first fractional, I guarantee that the representation would be top notch with excellent legal and medical protection. While not the case for all smaller companies, ALPA changed our lives for the better at my former company. Another option would be Netjets new union, NJASAP, run by some brilliant, good people. They might be willing to represent you. Finally, IBT 1108 or 747 in that order would be my choices. But it sounds like you guys definitely need representation. Now they want to take away your bases; What's next? While this base change might not affect all pilots at CS, eventually there will be an issue that will affect each pilot.

Don't wait and make the same mistake that so many other pilot groups have: Organize now! (Management did....) If you are organized (No, toothless pilot committees don't count...), get a new union because they are not doing their job.

Good Luck and here's ALPA's number: (888) FLY-ALPA

B727DRVR

 

P.S.,

Great family picture, by the way!

B727DRVR

 

There has been a union drive in progress for about two years now. We even have a secret website. This new basing policy will help the cause a little I think. Oh and ALPA is the biggest joke in the world. I think everyone who works for us has been burned at one point or another by those crooks

 

Duly noted, Flyguy...

I was burned by IBT twice, as was much of our pilot group, so we merged with ALPA after being in-house for 3 years. Best thing we as a pilot group ever did. However, we were not a code share or regional competing with mainline for the same piece of pie, or Eastern, or Pan Am, or US Airways, where I hear so many ALPA complaints. So I realize that our perspectives are different. But the guys who were the most anti-ALPA ended up being the ones that needed ALPA the most. After their legal and medical issues were resolved, with many a license and medical saved, we had some true believers.... including me. 1.95 percent was a good investment for me.

But I think that you'd agree that any representation is better than that of an at-will employee. I hope that you guys get some excellent representation similar to that which the NetJets pilots enjoy.

Good luck and I hope it works well for you guys, whatever you decide.

Take Care,

B727DRVR