Category: NetJets

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NetJets Inc. buys and sells more airplanes than any other private aviation company in the world, and now the fractional ownership pioneer is offering these capabilities to the entire private aviation community through a new, independent subsidiary: QS Partners, a whole-aircraft brokerage and dealership.

QS Partners is dedicated to delivering customized aircraft sales and acquisition services. QS Partners has a global network of resources and expertise that enables the delivery of creative solutions to all corners of the globe.

“By recognizing a growing need from our clients regarding whole-aircraft sales and trades and leveraging NetJets’ global network of resources, QS Partners allows us to offer a valuable service that goes beyond what is traditionally offered by aircraft brokerage services,” said Doug Henneberry, EVP of Aircraft Asset Management at NetJets. “This is a service our customers have asked for, and we’ll extend the uncompromising attention to detail they have come to expect from NetJets to this new venture.”

Whole-aircraft transactions are hardly new territory for NetJets–or for QS Partners. For years the company has assisted aircraft owners looking to transition into a NetJets Share™ or Marquis Jet Card®, or fractional owners looking to supplement with whole aircraft ownership. The company’s aircraft expertise also runs deep; it maintains a fleet of more than 700 jets globally that continuously require refreshing.

“Even though we are a new company, we have the resources, the expertise, the capital strength, and the global presence of NetJets,” said Brian Hirsh, President of QS Partners. “Those four elements set QS Partners apart from almost every other broker dealer.” QS Partners is now the exclusive authorized reseller of NetJets airplanes.

A long-term strategy for QS Partners is to focus on customer-centric service. Every transition is about more than buying or selling an airplane—it’s about developing a relationship and understanding the core of the customers’ objectives and where they want to be. This allows QS Partners to create the best solution, especially with the expertise of John Odegard and Seth Zlotkin, NetJets veterans and industry experts who bring a combined 25 years of aviation sales experience to the team.

In addition to being customer-centric, QS Partners is also a data-driven company with global reach. Fueled with decades of research provided by its parent company, QS Partners has more data, more details, more knowledge of the market, and more understanding of what’s happening in all corners of the world than other companies.

“Data allows us to better guide customers and provide valuable options,” said Hirsh. “We have the resources to facilitate a seamless transaction anywhere around the globe.”

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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NetJets’ seemingly endless labor disputes look finally to be ending, as the flight dispatchers have now followed the pilots and flight attendants in reaching a new contract with Berkshire Hathaway’s fractional aircraft ownership company.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Airline Division and Local 284 report they have reached a tentative agreement with NetJets on a five-year contract for approximately 50 flight dispatchers at NetJets.

The agreement was reached on May 5, and is the first union agreement for the NetJets dispatchers.

According to the union, the average first year wage increase is 18.5 percent.

The contract prohibits displacement or removal from a dispatcher position, furlough or remaining on furlough as a result of implementation of new technology or changes to existing technology. In addition to average signing bonuses in excess of $11,000, the contract prohibits management from increasing out of pocket expenses related to the dispatchers’ health insurance benefits.

The new collective bargaining agreement ends at-will employment and replaces it with just cause protections, access to stewards and other union representatives on the job. It also includes protections against subcontracting or assigning work to employees who are not covered by the contract.

“This moment is the culmination of years of hard work,” said Capt. David Bourne, Director of the Teamsters Airline Division. “This group has overcome many obstacles and fought incredibly hard to attain this contract. They’ve achieved an excellent agreement which contains job protections, large wage increases and improved retirement benefits. I’m proud to be able to call them Teamsters.”

“We’re ready to represent this group,” said Paul Suffoletto, President of Local 284. “Whether it’s signing bonuses, recognition of seniority rights or job security protections, these dispatchers will now be given the status they deserve within the industry. We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in organizing and negotiations. The work has been greatly rewarded with this agreement, which has the full support of the negotiating committee.”

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice

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Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets can’t seem to escape its labor troubles, even after finally reaching agreement with its flight attendants and pilots.

In December 2015, NetJets put its two-year battle over wages with its approximately 2,700 pilots firmly behind it when it agreed to raises that brought the pilots $575 million spread over five years.

Now, it’s the NetJets technicians and flight dispatchers that are preparing for a strike authorization vote, as Teamsters Local 284 complains of “cost-cutting demands and proposals that they say undermine the ability to perform their jobs.”

“NetJets demands the right to replace human flight dispatchers with automation and software programs,” said Paul Suffoletto, President of Local 284 in Columbus, Ohio. “Management is also telling our aviation technicians that they have to compete against lower cost mechanics if they want to perform necessary maintenance work on NetJets aircraft. These actions raise serious questions about cost-cutting at the expense of employees responsible for the safety of flights.”

Local 284 states that its members at NetJets that work in fueling, catering, dispatching, stock clerk, aircraft cleaning and maintenance control operations also could be impacted by the latest round of labor unrest.

They note that the affected workers have been in contract negotiations for more than five years.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets in 1998, and has struggled with labor troubles. In June 2015, Berkshire canned NetJets’s chairman and CEO Jordan Hansell, who was unable to resolve the pilots’ dispute. The replacement CEO, Adam Johnson, has had better luck.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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In January, Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets signed tennis superstar Maria Sharapova as a “brand ambassador.” Now, the leader in fractional jet ownership has signed on as the official private aviation partner of PowerShares Series Tennis for the 2016 season.

As part of the deal, NetJets will receive increased advertising throughout the series, branded features during broadcasts, and hospitality for select events.

Jon Venison, president of InsideOut Sports and Entertainment, the operator of the PowerShares Series, stated that the series is “thrilled and honored to be associated with such a prestigious company.”

The PowerShares Series is a competitive tennis circuit featuring legendary tennis icons and world-renowned champions Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, James Blake, Mark Philippoussis, and Mardy Fish. Each tournament features 4 Champions paired off in one set semi-finals and culminates with the winners meeting in a one-set championship match.

The series begins on April 8th in Chicago, the first of five events in April, before three more events in July and August, culminating with two events in each November and December.

In her role as a NetJets brand ambassador, Maria Sharapova will work with NetJets’ marketing, with a particular focus on social media. She will also provide exclusive experiences for NetJets owners throughout the partnership.

“I have been a long time owner of NetJets, since 2004, and now to become an Ambassador for this quintessential lifestyle company is very exciting,” said Sharapova.

Forbes ranks Sharapova as the highest paid female athlete for the past nine years.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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NetJet flyers have more room to spread-out as NetJets adds more wide-cabin jets to its fleet with the purchase of seven Bombardier Challenger 650 business jets.

The first of the Challenger 650s was put into service in mid-December.

Bombardier Challenger 650 boasts class-leading width, and has a maximum range of 4,000 NM, with a maximum altitude of 4,000 feet.

The Challenger 650 has a cabin width centerline of 7 feet 2 inches, a cabin width floorline of 5 feet 1 inch, and a cabin height of 6 feet 1 inch.

Bombardier also claims that the jet has the lowest-in-class direct operating costs.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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It’s going to be a merry Christmas for NetJets’ pilots!

The approximately 2,700 pilots that fly for Berkshire Hathaway’s fractional jet ownership company have agreed to raises that will bring them $575 million spread over five years.

The new deal maintains company-funded medical insurance, offers enhanced scheduling options, expands scope protections and seniority rights, pays out a signing bonus and increases wages an average of 28 percent.

According to the certified election results, 96 percent of the pilot group participated in the referendum with 75.43 percent casting a vote in favor of ratification.

The pilots, who are all members of the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), will split a one-time bonus of $70 million.

The raises mean that a captain with ten-years-experience will earn $143,105. The salary represents a 20-percent increase over previous salary levels.

NetJets is the world-leader fractional jet ownership, with 60-percent of the market, but the move is unlikely to leave it at a competitive disadvantage with its smaller competitors.

In mid-December, Flexjet and Flight Options pilots voted in favor of joining NJASAP, and the salaries negotiated with NetJets will surely be the basis for NJASAP’s negotiations with other fractional jet companies.

The new NetJets pilots’ agreement came after a contentious labor dispute that led to NetJets’ pilots picketing Berkshire’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, and in September, the pilots began picketing at a number of airports.

Change in Leadership Led to Breakthrough

On June 1, 2015, Berkshire Hathaway, the owner of NetJets, dismissed NetJets CEO and chairman Jordan Hansell, replacing him with Adam Johnson, who had spent 22 years at NetJets. The change led to a new contract with its flight attendants in October, and then an agreement with the pilots in November.

Berkshire Hathaway purchased NetJets, the leader in fractional jet ownership, in 1998 for $725 million.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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No one likes cancellation fees when they fly, and for Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets Inc. it’s when they don’t fly, or more specifically when they don’t buy that they incur fees.

NetJets is ponying up cancellation fees as it cuts orders for aircraft purchases and grapples with slumping earnings even as revenues grow.

Columbus, Ohio-based NetJets has run into turbulence this past quarter with its earnings down a whopping 37-percent. Earnings for the first nine months of the year were down a less dramatic but still meaningful 7-percent.

“In 2015, NetJets incurred increased non-fuel flight operation costs and increased general and administrative expenses, including fees to cancel certain aircraft purchases,” Berkshire Hathaway said in its most recent quarterly financial report.

Total revenues were up 5-percent but the company reported that the revenue growth was “partially offset by lower flight operations revenues, which were primarily due to lower fuel cost recoveries.”

Back in 2012, NetJets announced the largest private jet purchase in history, with a total of 425 aircraft scheduled to be added to its worldwide fleet. At the time, it valued the total purchase from Bombardier and Cessna at $9.6 billion.

Now, it looks like some of those orders will go unfilled.

Berkshire Hathaway purchased NetJets, the leader in fractional jet ownership, in 1998 for $725 million.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets is on the verge of settling its labor dispute with its pilots union, just a week after reaching agreement with its flight attendants.

The pilots have been working without a contract since the previous agreement expired in 2013.

NetJets Aviation and the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) have reached an agreement in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement that would end the union’s picketing at seven airports.

The NJASAP Executive Board and Negotiators confirmed that the proposed agreement has enhancements consistent with their goals of “protecting, repairing and improving the previous agreement.”

NetJets and NJASAP have been engaged in contract negotiations since June 2013, and, in early May 2015, began bargaining with the assistance of a National Mediation Board-appointed mediator.

The union released this statement:

“Getting to this point has required a massive effort from top to bottom,” NJASAP President Pedro Leroux said. “We could not have succeeded without the tremendous support of our members and their families: I am extremely proud of this outstanding group of professional pilots.” The Union president added, “I would also like to thank the National Mediation Board, the new NetJets senior management and their negotiators for their commitment to the bargaining process.”

They also added:

“In our highly competitive segment of aviation, major improvements to collective bargaining agreements require that everyone do their part to ensure the highest levels of safety, customer service and reliability,” Leroux said. “The NJASAP pilots have led the industry in these categories, and, going forward, we will redouble our efforts to ensure NetJets retains its industry-leading position.”

It will be late November before the pilots actually vote on the new agreement.

Change in Leadership Brings Breakthrough

On June 1, 2015, Berkshire Hathaway, the owner of NetJets, dismissed NetJets CEO and chairman Jordan Hansell, replacing him with Adam Johnson, who had spent 22 years at NetJets. At the time, there was hope of a breakthrough with NJASAP, the labor union representing the approximately 2,700 pilots employed by NetJets.

Berkshire Hathaway purchased NetJets, the leader in fractional jet ownership, in 1998 for $725 million.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.