[Rhodes22-list] Technology Woes

[Michael Leone]

Brad,

Tom has been there almost since the beginning of the fractional  
ownership program. He flew the Citation SII for many years when that  
is all the company had. Met him when we both lived in Columbus, Ohio.  
Until about 4 years ago, crews had to live in Columbus. When they let  
crews live almost anywhere, Tom and his wife moved back to Montana,  
where he first got into pro aviation. Until the most recent contract,  
he had to pay his way to a major airport (Salt Lake City for him) but  
now crews can live anywhere. The previous contract was not so good  
but Tom was part of the negotiation team this time so things turned  
out much better.

There are different schedules for the crews. Tom is 7 on/7 off. With  
NetJets, off is off. They offer and he makes a lot on overtime but I  
suspect he will do less of that now that its summer here in Montana.

Since the SII, he has flown the Ultra, Citation X, Falcon 2000, and  
now the Boeing Business Jet. Unlike a lot of other aviation outfits,  
NetJets is a strong business so it might be a nice next flying job  
for you. You wouldn't have to move and during the off days, you could  
focus on your business. Its a much better environment than some  
sleazy, bankrupt charter outfit with junky jets. Netjets jets are  
shiny, new or young, and well maintained. School is at FlightSafety,  
even before Warren Buffet,  so they don't skimp there either. If I  
sound like a commercial, its because I wish I had turned right  
instead of left when I was younger and gone with an aviation career.  
I think this type of flying would be more interesting than airline or  
corporate.

Some pics of his latest jet when he flew some customers to Montana:
http://www.astrochimps.org/page28/page28.html
I'm the one in the jump seat with the s--t eating grin because mere  
mortals don't normally get to watch pros in action.
I had to ask Tom about the toilets. Turns out that there is no risk  
of blue toilet fountains in the BBJ because it has the vacuum type of  
toilets.

Mike


On Jun 22, 2006, at 7:56 PM, Brad Haslett wrote:

> Michael,
>
> How does your friend like NetJets?  I've heard they're having some  
> problems
> with their contract (who isn't) but overall it is a good place to  
> work.  A
> lot of the guys I work with used to go to the engineer seat after  
> age 60,
> but the three-holers are leaving the property.  Many have asked me  
> about
> corporate flying but I've been out of it for so long I don't have  
> valid
> answers.  When I flew corporate you had to break the jet to get a  
> day off
> from the beeper.  I understand NetJets has scheduled days off and  
> you can
> live anywhere you want.  After 32 years of flying (10 more to go) I'm
> looking forward to running a backhoe for my own company but having a
> hip-pocket option would be comforting.
>
> Brad