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Part 135 Part 135 commercial operators

Boutique Air

Old 09-07-2017, 09:49 AM
  #1541  
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Originally Posted by V1VRV2setleft View Post
...massive reductions in benefits have been announced.
Could you elaborate on that please?

Originally Posted by V1VRV2setleft View Post
Recent reviews posted to sites like Glassdoor paint a better picture of what to expect than you will find in this thread.
For those who are lazy

I worked at Boutique Air full-time (More than a year)

Pros

PC-12s (King Airs are junk, only 1 of 3 is ever operational)

Cons

"Dispatch" is a flight following department full of college drop outs who are only there to give you grief. You will be doing all flight planing, filing, de-icing and call for your own fuel. You are on your own! If you make a command decision and opt for delaying a flight for any reason especially WX, expect phone calls and texts from the chief pilot and D.O. pressuring you to fly. Some guys have actually been threatened with dismissal. Training is an absolute joke, they flip through some slide shows and call it ground school. Expect all training in the airplane, most of the time in the middle of the night in adverse weather conditions. Maintenance has become an after thought. Benefits have been cut. Promises made that weren't kept. FAA duty time records messed with, etc. I'd recommend Mesa or McDonalds over Boutique Air.

Advice to Management

Bring in people with actual real life aviation experience. Otherwise, shut it down and go back to working in IT. You are all in way over your heads, you've just been lucky thus far. Maintenance and weather are real and have the potential to hurt people if ignored. Listen to your pilots, they are skilled professionals and not just an expensive line item on your payroll. Accept the fact that you don't always know best, and please improve your communication skills, as they range from incredibly rude to non-existent. Godspeed
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Old 09-07-2017, 11:40 AM
  #1542  
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A bit sad, if BTQ is going downhill. But I've worked for several 135s, both with and without EAS contracts. It just seems to be the way it goes for those that are dependent on EAS revenues. Grow quickly and soon suffer growing pains. I suspect this is what's happening here. If management/ownership is talented, they'll get through it and the company will be better off, including life for pilots and ground staff. If not, BTQ will go the way of so many 135s before them. Biggest warning sign is if and when paychecks start being late or made from rubber.

The 135 I'm with now in Alaska has a good mix of EAS and non-subsidized routes. They are doing well, but have USPS and UPS package service as well.
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Old 09-07-2017, 02:16 PM
  #1543  
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Originally Posted by V1VRV2setleft View Post
The company jobs website has not been updated yet, massive reductions in benefits have been announced.
From what I'd seen this morning on their site, they updated the insurance coverage, isn't that it?
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Old 09-07-2017, 04:43 PM
  #1544  
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Originally Posted by atav757 View Post
From what I'd seen this morning on their site, they updated the insurance coverage, isn't that it?
Looking at their website right now, and on the jobs page is still shows that it's 100% employer paid premiums for full time employees and 50% for spouses/kids.

Starting November 1, this will no longer be the case.

Premiums will be reduced to 80% employer paid for employees, and 20% for spouses/kids.

For a single person, the premium for health, dental, and vision will now be a bit under $75/mo. In fairness, it's still perfectly fine insurance, but it is by no means "industry leading" anymore.

I'm a single guy and my brain is too tiny to crunch numbers for people with spouses and kids, so hopefully somebody else could shed a bit more light on that department.

Per diem is still roughly 50% of the industry average.
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Old 09-07-2017, 04:52 PM
  #1545  
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Family coverage premiums in medical,vision,
And dental (now to include employee cost) will go from roughly $350 to $650, so an extra $300 a month.

Less if just just employee and spouse, or employee and kiddos.

Actual coverage plan is pretty good for what it's worth

Total cost with no employer contribution would be 1100 for employee+family

Last edited by Snowflyer; 09-07-2017 at 05:09 PM.
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Old 09-09-2017, 08:41 AM
  #1546  
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Originally Posted by Snowflyer View Post
Family coverage premiums in medical,vision,
And dental (now to include employee cost) will go from roughly $350 to $650, so an extra $300 a month.

Less if just just employee and spouse, or employee and kiddos.

Actual coverage plan is pretty good for what it's worth

Total cost with no employer contribution would be 1100 for employee+family
I heard a rumor that there's big cuts on insurance benefits this month.

Also, I'm hearing that a few routes are not being renewed and a lot of pilot slots from attrition will not be filled. Sounds like it's slowed down, which is no surprise given the explosive growth in 2015/16.

This is purely rumor. I can't substantiate it but I did hear this from a current employee. Might explain the lack of hiring the past couple of months.
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Old 09-11-2017, 09:48 AM
  #1547  
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Update:

Apparently the CEO sent a nasty-gram to all "Boutiquers". In the email, the CEO explained that the "generous benefits" were being cut back "to be more in line with what is normal". He explained that employees were fortunate to have such an outstanding job. After explaining that benefit cuts *had to be done*, he went on to explain that negative comments weren't appreciated.

From the CEO himself, direct quote:
"Some people have written some pretty negative comments. If you feel so negatively about having benefits that are normal, I would prefer your resignation not your negative commentary".

Wow, way to incite good moral among a pilot group, numb nuts. I lost a lot of respect for that guy when I read this.
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Old 09-11-2017, 11:40 AM
  #1548  
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Originally Posted by TSAwithBagpipes View Post

From the CEO himself, direct quote:
"Some people have written some pretty negative comments. If you feel so negatively about having benefits that are normal, I would prefer your resignation not your negative commentary".

Wow, way to incite good moral among a pilot group, numb nuts. I lost a lot of respect for that guy when I read this.
Wow, I guess management is spending time on the forums here?

I was considering Boutique as an option once I reached mins. Despite their problems mentioned on this thread, they still are the best option for my current situation. Now I'm not so sure. I have heard several people say that management here is interested in pilot QOL, It sounds like the CEO is just like every other airline CEO out there!
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Old 09-11-2017, 12:48 PM
  #1549  
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Originally Posted by TSAwithBagpipes View Post
Update:

Apparently the CEO sent a nasty-gram to all "Boutiquers". In the email, the CEO explained that the "generous benefits" were being cut back "to be more in line with what is normal". He explained that employees were fortunate to have such an outstanding job. After explaining that benefit cuts *had to be done*, he went on to explain that negative comments weren't appreciated.

From the CEO himself, direct quote:
"Some people have written some pretty negative comments. If you feel so negatively about having benefits that are normal, I would prefer your resignation not your negative commentary".

Wow, way to incite good moral among a pilot group, numb nuts. I lost a lot of respect for that guy when I read this.
I can confirm this is 100% true. I have a good friend who's a captain in DFW and he forwarding the email to me. I was shocked that a CEO would say something like that to his pilots Needless to say, he put in his 3 week notice after that comment and is off to the regionals. He said QOL is deteriorating rapidly at Boutique and to expect a mass exodus soon. YMMV.
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Old 09-12-2017, 04:55 AM
  #1550  
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I apologize in advance if this rambles, but I'm going to try to separate the truth from some of the half-truths and falsehoods being spread here.

First a question, because I don't know the answer. How many Part 135 EAS carriers out there are paying 100% of employee benefits? I'm guessing that now the Boutique doesn't, nobody does. If I'm wrong, let me know.

So it is true that Boutique notified the company via email that benefits are being reduced. The numbers in the previous posts are correct. It can certainly be argued that more notice would have been nice-I wouldn't dispute that.

What followed were several comments, sent to the ENTIRE COMPANY, that ranged from well thought out to flat out inappropriate. Most, if not all, came from pilots, BTW. The cuts affect the entire company, not just us.

The response from the CEO was not a nasty gram. It was a hastily written, poorly worded apology and explanation of why this had to be done (there is no requirement to agree with him). The quote in a previous thread about resignation is correct but completely out of context here. I have read it and re-read it. I wasn't offended.

What is not mentioned here at all is that it was followed up with an email from the #2 saying that comments were welcome, but please make them privately, not to the entire company. No mention of that here. This is a reasonable request, people.

There is no question in my mind that this is the first chink in the armor of what until now seemed to be a rock solid company. But it isn't nearly as big a deal as is being portrayed here. I'm sure there will be some people leaving over this, but if they can't yet go to a regional they will likely find that the grass isn't any greener wherever they land.

There are no guarantees in life. Will Boutique still be here in 6 months? A year? I don't know. But they are trying to run a business and they made what I am sure was a difficult business decision. They had to know that there would be backlash.

Responding like children doesn't make things better.
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