NJASAP expresses concerns regarding 'chilling
effect' on safety culture
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NetJets Aviation, Inc., a
subsidiary of Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), recently alleged
that by documenting maintenance issues on NetJets aircraft, its
pilots were deliberately engaging in a work slowdown. The company
also accused its pilots, in a letter to the NetJets Association of
Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) on Jan.
15, of purposely calling in fatigued more frequently as part
of the alleged slowdown. NJASAP is the union that
represents the 3,200-plus pilots who fly in the service of
NetJets.
When pilots are afraid to document
maintenance issues, air travel becomes less safe.
"At a time when aircraft safety is receiving heightened scrutiny
– and deservedly so – it is outrageous that NetJets would question
its pilots' dedication to prioritizing safety and their informed
decisions when it comes to documenting identified
aircraft maintenance issues or determining they are too
tired to safely fly an aircraft," NJASAP President Capt.
Pedro Leroux said. "NJASAP pilots
have a long and established history of ensuring that safety is the
number one priority as they provide private air travel to owners
flying with the luxury carrier."
NetJets, after alleging that pilots are engaging in a work
slowdown in an attempt to negatively impact the Fractional's
operations, did not provide any evidence to substantiate its
extraordinary allegations. "The company's threats about the
frequency of pilots reporting maintenance issues on the aircraft
they fly represents a grave threat to the safety culture at NetJets
– the very safety culture that aircraft owners, passengers and
flight crewmembers depend upon for their lives every day," NJASAP
Vice President Capt. Paulette
Gilbert said.
The Union believes NetJets' letter will all but certainly have a
chilling effect on the safety-focused decisions each pilot makes
throughout the duty day, ushering in new patterns of behavior that
could have catastrophic consequences. NJASAP is working tirelessly
to prevent such an outcome. "In the event of the unthinkable, pilot
decision making and fitness for duty will be matters of intense
scrutiny," Leroux said. "The very nature of aviation leaves zero
room for professional pilots to be browbeaten into changing their
safety-related behavior. Such a tactic should be beneath NetJets,
and NJASAP will not allow this intimidation to go unchecked."
To that very end, for NetJets to infer that pilots fulfilling
their legal duties is unlawful in some way conveniently glosses
over what the Union believes is the company's own inability to
overcome sustained challenges that have negatively impacted its
maintenance infrastructure. "For almost two years – and well before
the start of midterm bargaining – the NetJets COO has lamented to
pilots attending recurrent training the hardships posed by
increasing maintenance issues and the time-consuming process of
addressing them since the COVID-19 pandemic," Leroux explained. As
2024 begins, the blame for those continuing challenges has found a
new source: the NetJets pilot group. "My members and I will not be
used as scapegoats because NetJets is unable to solve long-standing
maintenance issues," Leroux said.
The NJASAP Membership is very proud of the direct role it
has played in shaping the sterling operational safety record that
has long distinguished NetJets and been viewed as one of the
Fractional's most compelling marketing tools. "Rather than attempt
to throttle the immediate documentation of maintenance concerns and
to call in fatigued when a pilot is no longer fit to perform duties
on the flight deck, NetJets should honor our crewmembers' decisions
that have and continue to sustain NetJets' unprecedented
operational safety record," Gilbert said.
In a letter sent to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson earlier this week, the NJASAP
Executive Board asserted the most sensible course of action is to
work in partnership to address maintenance, fatigue and other
concerns, emphasizing NJASAP is wholly committed to the same and
ready to begin immediately. The Union has yet to receive a
response.
About NJASAP Founded in 2008 as an independent labor
advocate, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots
(NJASAP) represents the professional interests of the 3,200-plus
pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc., a
Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary. For more information, please visit
our websites, www.njasap.com and www.genuineqs.com, or find us on
Facebook, www.facebook.com/njasap, Instagram,
www.instagram.com/njasap, and Twitter, @njasap.
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SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots
(NJASAP)