Less than two months after signing a brand new collective bargaining agreement with its pilots and after a yr of contentious negotiations, NetJets filed a lawsuit on Monday against the union that represents cockpit crews.
News of the lawsuit got here to light yesterday when the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots union issued a press release in response to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that NJASAP defamed the private airline during negotiations and that the damaging actions proceed.
Protesters from the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) display in front of the CHI … [+]
The Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary alleges that NJASAP knowingly published false details about pilot training, maintenance and safety culture on the world’s largest private jet operator.
More than half a dozen examples are listed, including ads in The Wall Street Journal.
An ad appeared following a high-profile incident through which a door stopper fell off an Alaska Airlines Boeing aircraft during flight.
The Read headline“NetJets owners. What if you looked out your window and saw a panel on the plane?”
In its criticism, the corporate claims the letter was “clearly intended to alarm NetJets’ customers, pilots and the traveling public, and is false and defamatory. NJASAP has no basis for believing that an accident similar to the one on the Alaska Airlines flight is likely or possible to occur on a NetJets flight.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the union was involved in and praised the corporate’s hiring and training processes for brand new pilots, and the truth is worked with the corporate to recruit latest employees through the tip of 2022, across the time that mid-term contract negotiations began.
Eric Martel, President and CEO of Bombardier Inc., left, and Patrick Gallagher, … [+]
“Despite its past commitment and praise for NetJets’ hiring and safety processes, NJASAP launched a public campaign last year aimed at falsely defaming and slandering NetJets’ business and reputation by attacking the experience and knowledge of its pilots and the adequacy of its training programs,” the corporate’s lawsuit said.
It continues: “(NJASAP) did this with the obvious intent of damaging NetJets’ reputation with the public, its customers and its employees.”
The union leadership, for its part, apparently reiterated its allegations.
“NJASAP stands by the concerns we have raised about pilot training and the safety and maintenance culture – concerns that have only grown stronger in recent months,” NJASAP President Capt. Pedro Leroux said within the press release.
He continued, “We view the lawsuit as an attempt to silence us. However, NJASAP has a federally protected right and an organizational and moral responsibility to our members – NetJets pilots – and our customers to raise safety issues, and that is exactly what we will continue to do.”
Persistent bitterness
End of last month, NJASAP the corporate claimed in a press release “continued the attack on its unionized pilot group by subjecting a crew member who participated in an informational demonstration in late November 2023 – as was her legal, federally protected right to do – to a coercive interrogation.”
The union alleged: “During an hour-long meeting, the pilot was harassed with the same questions about protected union activities, repeatedly and in a variety of ways. This was even after the pilot had been falsely assured at the beginning of the meeting that the topic and questioning did not concern picketing activities.”
Hours before the lawsuit was announced, NJASAP announced that it had joined Teamsters 284 in NetJets union coalition.
“While the issues may be different today than they were ten years ago, the re-establishment of the NUC underscores the importance of solidarity among our employee groups. We speak with one voice and seek to bring NetJets back into dialogue on several pressing matters, including increased disciplinary action, operational and safety issues, and a decrease in constructive communication with management,” Leroux said.
The Teamsters represent dispatchers, flight attendants, maintenance controllers, mechanics and warehouse employees.
In April, over 78% of rank-and-file pilots approved a brand new agreement that will increase pay by 52.5% over five years.
The latest deal for NetJets pilots followed pay increases of about 40 percent at Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines for his or her pilots.
What’s next for NetJets?
In addition to the undeniable fact that it’s 3 times larger NetJets has long been considered the gold standard within the industry and has commanded a significantly higher price premium than its nearest competitor, Flexjet.
For example, for a part-time customer who doesn’t qualify for tax advantages from their ownership share, the overall cost of a five-hour flight on a Citation Longitude between Washington DC and Scottsdale is roughly $65,000. This includes the acquisition cost for a 50-hour share per yr, the monthly management fee, the hourly flight and fuel surcharges, while also bearing in mind discounts for long-haul flights.
While NetJets allows its customers to book and cancel flights with as little as 10 hours’ notice, booking 120 hours prematurely with Wheels Up, the Delta Air Lines-backed company that neared bankruptcy last yr, would cost a member who pays $8,500 to hitch and deposits $200,000 about $40,000 for a similar flight, in response to the Part-Time and Jet Card Buyer’s Guide. Compare private jet cards.
Despite the fee differences, NetJets has built up a backlog of shoppers through the surge in private jet demand in 2021 and 2022, in lots of cases willing to attend greater than a yr for his or her aircraft to reach.
Last yr, NetJets signed options to buy as much as 2,000 private jets from Textron Aviation, Bombardier and Embraer.
At a recent meeting of personal aircraft dealers, Ron Draper, CEO of Textron Aviation – which could sell as much as 1,500 of its jets to NetJets – told dealers: “If they sell, we sell.”
NetJets has not provided any information on what impact the continued battle with NJASAP can have on revenue or customer loyalty.
In January, at the peak of negotiations, NetJets claimed in a letter to NJASAP that the union had entered right into a coordinated program of self-help, which led to flight delays since the variety of maintenance reports and fatigue calls increased in comparison with historical data. The union denied the allegations, which were documented in an 11-page evaluation.
NJASAP Vice President Capt. Paulette Gilbert responded on the time: “The company’s threats regarding the frequency with which pilots report maintenance problems on the aircraft they fly pose a serious threat to the safety culture at NetJets – the very safety culture that aircraft owners, passengers and crew members depend on every day for their lives.”
While competitors will little doubt welcome the continued dispute on the market leader, NetJets’ contracts for brand new jets are options, not firm orders, meaning OEMs might be affected if the conflict with NJASAP results in lower sales.
A NetJets spokesperson said: “We will not comment on legal matters between NetJets and NJASAP as our focus is on providing the exceptional safety and service our owners expect and deserve.”
