The NJASAP represents NetJets’ 3,430 pilots and recently signed a new contract with the world’s largest private jet operator. 

In a news release published on Monday, the NJASAP alleged the two pilots were terminated because of their role in negotiating the five-year agreement, which was overwhelmingly ratified in April. The union also said the termination decision was “unlawful, unjust and in retaliation for the $1.6B in improvements the pilots negotiated during midterm bargaining that concluded earlier this year.”

NetJets said it had no comment on the matter. 

The terminated pilots included the NJASAP vice president and strategy group chairman. According to the union, they were both captains with 23 and 18 years at the company, respectively. The two pilots had “unblemished professional records,” NJASAP president Captain Pedro Leroux said in the release. 

“Choosing to terminate two high-ranking union leaders is not simply another hurdle to resetting the landscape, but a move reflective of a strategy that is not sustainable in the long term,” Leroux said.

This move is the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between NetJets and its pilots union. In June, the company sued the NJASAP for defamation over safety and pilot training claims. 

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President Joe Biden’s 2025 budget proposal would boost the current tax of 22 cents per gallon to $1.06 by 2030, raising an estimated $1.1 billion over the five years. The administration states business aircraft account for 7 percent of FAA airspace workload, but at the present time the current fuel tax only covers 1 percent of the revenue for the federal trust fund for aviation and airports. 

The proposal also includes a major funding increase for the FAA, including money to hire 2,000 air traffic controllers.

• READ MORE: Biden Administration Proposes Fivefold Jet Fuel Tax Hike For Bizjets

According to a background source on Biden’s recent State of the Union address, the administration wants to make private jet operators “pay their fair share.” In the speech itself Biden said he wanted “end tax breaks for big pharma, big oil, private jets, massive executive pay.” 

A coalition of aviation industry groups, however, is pushing back, contending the proposal is draconian and lacks supporting data to justify an increase that would prove detrimental to the small and midsize businesses that rely on business jets.

In a letter sent to Congress on Thursday,  leaders of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), and Vertical Aviation International (VAI) outlined their concerns with the plan.

“According to a 2018 Harris Poll, 85 percent of companies relying on an airplane to meet their transportation challenges are small and midsize enterprises,” the aviation coalition said. “The passengers aboard a business airplane are typically technicians, midlevel managers and customers, not C-suite executives.”

The Biden administration’s budget plan also seeks to modify the depreciation schedule on purchased aircraft from five to seven years to match it to the depreciation schedule of commercial airline aircraft.

“It is incongruous to compare the extensive aircraft fleet owned by a commercial airline and offered to the full marketplace for commercial service to the one or two planes owned by a company of a different industry with a different business model,” the coalition said, noting the five-year cost recovery rule applies to many other business assets.

“Reclassifying noncommercial aircraft without a broader look at all depreciation rules lacks valid policy rationale, would upset decades of sound legal precedent, and would negatively impact American businesses’ access to capital, job creation, and growth opportunity.”

The policy and regulatory proposals from the administration would harm business aviation, which also encompasses nonprofit agencies, agriculture, emergency response and air ambulance services, and law enforcement and government agencies, according to the aviation groups. 
“These vehicles facilitate efficient mobility for businesses to create jobs throughout our nation, particularly in communities underserved by commercial service,” the groups said.

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The pilots, who are members of the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), an independent pilot labor union, said they took out the front-page ad after their negotiations with NetJets soured. The union said NetJets has refused “to pay market-rate wages for pilot labor and to make commonsense enhancements to current scheduling practices.”

• READ MORE: NetJets Pilot Union Files Grievance, Cites Training Standards

NetJets and Berkshire Hathaway have not responded to FLYING for a request for comment.

The union said hundreds of pilots have left NetJets this year to take jobs with better working conditions, and that it expects more rapid attrition during the first quarter of 2024. In its statement the union said it is “baffled” by the company’s policy given the current pilot shortage and industrywide competition to hire and retain qualified flight crews.

“Right now, we are seeing a trend unfold that is almost unheard of in aviation: Pilots in the middle of their careers with decades of experience are leaving to start at the bottom of seniority lists at mainline carriers that recognize the value of retaining talented aviators,” said Captain Pedro Leroux, union president. “Owners pay for the peace of mind that comes from having two experienced pilots seated on the flight deck, but right now, we are seeing quality pilots across the seniority spectrum leave the fractional [aircraft operator], and both Berkshire Hathaway and NetJets executives are seemingly just fine with that.

• READ MORE: NetJets Signs Record-Setting Deal with Textron Aviation for 1,500 Citation Jets

Among the union’s complaints is a claim that the company has declined to increase pilots’ compensation to a level competitive with that of those at major airlines. NJASAP said NetJets pilots are “not content to earn 60 percent of what their JetBlue, United, and Delta peers will make across a 30-year career.”

The union said it continues to organize pickets in Las Vegas and on Wall Street to apply pressure on NetJets, Berkshire Hathaway, and Buffett. Members plan to hold their next demonstration on Friday in conjunction with the Art Basel event in Miami.

The relationship between NetJets and its pilots has shown signs of discord for years. NJASAP was formed in 2008 and has a history of staging highly visible protests, including previous Wall Street Journal ads.

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