A meeting between company officials and the Flight Options pilot union planned for today and tomorrow is intended to address issues arising from the consolidation of fractional-share operations Flexjet and Flight Options. Flight Options parent Directional Aviation Capital purchased Flexjet from Bombardier last December for about $195 million.
In a March 27 announcement sent to members of Teamsters Local 1108, which represents Flight Options pilots, the union noted that it had filed a “grievance alleging multiple violations of Section 1 of our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and related letters of agreement.” According to the union, the filing of the grievance allows it to “preserve our right to use the grievance and arbitration process in defense of pilots’ rights under the CBA while we simultaneously meet with the company in a good-faith attempt to resolve all issues related to the consolidation of the two carriers.”
The specific grievances alleged by the union include “consolidating certain Flight Options and Flexjet functions prior to exhausting the mandatory fence negotiation and arbitration procedures set forth in the CBA and reducing positions and slowing growth at Flight Options through subcontracting.”