NetJets?

[Xcaliber]

Has there been any news around the NetJets water cooler lately?

I have kind of fallen off the GA bandwagon since I started at a regional airline. I still consider corporate aviation as where I'd like to make my career, especially with a company like NetJets. I haven't heard anything from them lately, though.

- Are they still sitting on the 3000 or so pilots they've had for years? Are there still 500 some on furlough? Any idea when they'll start hiring again?
- How will/do they expect the changes in the airlines and economy to affect them? For example, I know the ATP rules and rest requirements won't be an issue for them, but with the decreasing pilot population and the significant pay increases at Delta and United, what is expected in order for them to continue to compete for pilots? With a recovery from the recession on the way (barring any fiscal cliff nonsense), how do they expect demand for their services to change in the future?
- I saw that they've gotten rid of their BBJs, but have orders for lots of Phenoms. Are they cutting flying and trying to be more lean all around, or just trying to become focused on smaller aircraft?
- What else is going on around there?

 

[MOGuy424]

I wish I knew too. Just doesn't seem like you get a lot of guys from the fractionals posting on aviation forums... Wish the opposite was true.

 

[RPJ]

Netjets has no official plans to recall the 500 pilots. They have a huge order of jets but that is not for growth, just replacing current fleet. Form what I can gather, Netjets will be shrinking slightly overall.

IMO, I wouldn't count on working for them for a very long time.

 

[Maurus]

I wish I knew too. Just doesn't seem like you get a lot of guys from the fractionals posting on aviation forums... Wish the opposite was true.

We had a captain at netjets on here at one point. Got chased off by the politics found on JC unfortunately.

 

[Patrick]

Netjets has no official plans to recall the 500 pilots. They have a huge order of jets but that is not for growth, just replacing current fleet. Form what I can gather, Netjets will be shrinking slightly overall.

IMO, I wouldn't count on working for them for a very long time.

From what I can see, they won't be hiring off the street for at least a decade

 

[Dan208B]

From what I've been told, NetJets has a lot of older pilots that are likely nearing retirement, however the key point here is that there is no forced retirement age, so who knows when those numbers might equate to hiring or even recalls.

 

[killbilly]

We had a captain at netjets on here at one point. Got chased off by the politics found on JC unfortunately.

I think he still pops in from time to time, but quite rarely. I always enjoyed his thoughtfulness and information.

 

[NightCargo]

Has there been any news around the NetJets water cooler lately?

I have kind of fallen off the GA bandwagon since I started at a regional airline. I still consider corporate aviation as where I'd like to make my career, especially with a company like NetJets. I haven't heard anything from them lately, though.

- Are they still sitting on the 3000 or so pilots they've had for years? Are there still 500 some on furlough? Any idea when they'll start hiring again?
- How will/do they expect the changes in the airlines and economy to affect them? For example, I know the ATP rules and rest requirements won't be an issue for them, but with the decreasing pilot population and the significant pay increases at Delta and United, what is expected in order for them to continue to compete for pilots? With a recovery from the recession on the way (barring any fiscal cliff nonsense), how do they expect demand for their services to change in the future?
- I saw that they've gotten rid of their BBJs, but have orders for lots of Phenoms. Are they cutting flying and trying to be more lean all around, or just trying to become focused on smaller aircraft?
- What else is going on around there?

Sorry for a late response to your questions...free time is a little harder to come by now days! I'm not the guy that the previous posters had mentioned, but I do have my own perspective from inside NetJets.

- Our current seniority list shows 2527 'active' pilots on the seniority list, with 470 or so pilots listed as 'Furloughed'. I don't expect we will be recalling anyone back from the furlogh list for another 2-3 years, so the first newhires might start showing up on property in about 5-7 years.

- In my opinion, our management is counting on some of our guys leaving to go to the majors to continue trimming the head count. Most of the SICs I know have dusted off thier resume (myself included) to prepare for the continued stagnation at Netjets. Keep in mind that the company also served the union with a Section 6 notice to renegotiate our contract, so we have a bit of uncertainty about the future here at Netjets. That, coupled with a SIC payscale that tops out at 10 years (...no raises, COLA, bonuses...nothing) has many of us looking for other career options. Most of us will be hitting the top of that scale in the next 2-3 years, so sitting still really isn't an option. Granted when the 2007 contract was signed, nobody was able to foresee the brick wall we were about to hit so it wasn't a negotiating priority to extend the SIC payscale. We paid a decent wage as a newhire, so I think that they will play the 'wait and see' card to see how the possible pilot shortage will effect future staffing.

- BBJs are gone, and they have placed many large orders for various types of aircraft to renew the fleet (Phenoms, Globals, Challenger 300 & 605, Citation Lattitude, etc). We currently have a few Global 5000 & 6000s now on property, and the first of our new 'Signature' Phenoms are supposed to be delivered in April/May. The focus for a while has been on efficient operation of aircraft, no matter the size. For example, right now I fly one of our larger aircraft and we cover a lot of smaller aircraft's trips to get our aircraft into position for our next owner leg. They really have done a good job of cutting down on the amount of empty ferry legs and increasing our efficiency.

- The big deal on campus right now is the contract negotiations that are scheduled to begin in the coming months. Management has made it clear that they expect us to offer concessions on our health care, retirement, and other issues. Our pilot group has other ideas, of course!

Having said all that, I still enjoy the job (for the most part). Pay is decent, benefits are decent, basing is great and if it weren't for the complete stagnation and possible backwards movement, I wouldn't mind doing this long-er term.

 

[NightCargo]

Netjets has no official plans to recall the 500 pilots. They have a huge order of jets but that is not for growth, just replacing current fleet. Form what I can gather, Netjets will be shrinking slightly overall.

IMO, I wouldn't count on working for them for a very long time.

That pretty much sums it up! And much more succinctly, I might add!!

 

[NightCargo]

From what I've been told, NetJets has a lot of older pilots that are likely nearing retirement, however the key point here is that there is no forced retirement age, so who knows when those numbers might equate to hiring or even recalls.

Also correct. I've flown with many guys that are in the mid to upper 60's (some even in their 70s), and none has expressed ANY desire to retire. Most of them are good guys and great pilots though.

 

[LucasM]

Do the customers really want to have a Grandpa flying them around? Seems like by the time they start getting in upper 60s, they should think about hitting the road (i.e. buy-out/retirement).

 

[Xcaliber]

NightCargo, thanks for contributing. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. From what I can tell, it seems that NetJets has pretty much fallen into the better-than-a-regional-but-not-nearly-a-legacy bracket. Which is a shame, they used to be the go-to company. I don't expect to have the hours to move on from my current job for another 4-8 years, so that time frame is about perfect for me, but I wonder if the incentives will be there? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[ljg]

Do the customers really want to have a Grandpa flying them around? Seems like by the time they start getting in upper 60s, they should think about hitting the road (i.e. buy-out/retirement).

I've flown with guys in that age range that are as mentally sharp and more active than their counterparts in their 20's-30's. To each his own.

 

[LucasM]

I've flown with guys in that age range that are as mentally sharp and more active than their counterparts in their 20's-30's. To each his own.

I don't doubt that for a second. I guess I'm just thinking what it would look like in the eyes of the customers. But as long nothing breaks (bones or aircraft parts), all is well