NetJets Pilots’ Union Launches Suit Over Website Referrals

The nasty labor dispute between NetJets and its pilots took a legal turn last week when the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots launched a suit over a company policy on talking to passengers and aircraft owners about the negotiations. Specifically, NetJets has ordered pilots to not refer clients to the website the union created to tell its side of the story on the dispute. The union said it filed the suit "in response to NetJets’ threat to discipline or to discharge pilots for referring aircraft owners and customers to the union’s http://www.GenuineQS.com website when they ask questions about contract negotiations.”

The union says it asked the company how pilots should respond to questions about the dispute but the company did not respond. Union President Capt. Pedro Leroux said in the release that passengers and owners always chat with the pilots and the labor dispute is a natural topic of conversation. "Referring to a union website is a professional and legal way to respond to their questions," he said. There are about 3,000 NetJets pilots and wages are the main issue in the dispute.