JetDirect Aviation payroll and expense checks bounce

[CorpJetJock]

.....first they couldn't pay vendors, now the crews. Most of the crews had been paying for fuel, landing fees, etc., on their personal credit cards. Many had since stopped doing that as no expenses had been paid since December. And now the payroll and few expense checks that did go out, bounced. A company communication blamed the fault on 'timing' of business transactions. A call to the issuing bank confirmed no cash available. Sounds like a house of cards/sinking ship to me! Sure is a good thing for everyone that the government forced the sale of 'unsafe' TAG Aviation USA to this 'elite' business group!

[Keygrip]

Been there many years ago. Contract of emplyment demanded that I open a "personal bank account" with the 'float' that company gave me - claim back the expenses after every trip.

Claims not refunded very quickly.

When the company went down I was some £2,000 overdrawn and administrators say "That's personal - nothing to do with the company".

Ears grew long and pointy, all I could say was "Eee haw".

[Metro man]

See this thread:http://www.pprune.org/terms-endearme...dit-cards.html

[CorpJetJock]

credit card use

we were using our personal (not company issued) cards since all vendors had shut off all open accounts (fuel, maintenance, parts, services, etc.), just to keep the aircraft owners happy. we HOPE when the smoke clears and hope when the owners pull their aircraft away from JDA, they will take us with them and pay us back. In this current job market, its our only chance of ending up with a job.

[CorpJetJock]

extortion is the next step

in the latest turn of events, the management of Jet Direct and Brantley Partners have told the managed clients that they have until tomorrow to agree to sign their management contracts over to a new entity being created by Brantley. Those who choose to sign over are being told they will get SOME of the money they are owed by JDA (inlcuding the employees), and that SOME of the vendors who are owed will get a PORTION of what is owed to them. JDA will then file chapter 7, and since there are no assets to liquidate, all other creditors will get ZERO, ZIP, NADA. That includes Sovereign Bank for about $30 M, the former owners of TAG USA for about $29M, and various other vendors that have supplies fuel, aircraft parts, etc.

Sounds like extortion to me, almost like mod tactics.

There is no projected timetable of when the new company JDAAC will actually pay any of the claims mentioned in the agreements. Seems like a crap-shoot either way to me.

Aircraft that have left already, and are owed (inclucing the employees) can kiss goodbye any chance of ever seeing a penny of what is owed to them.

Can't those creditors prevent the transfer of 'assets' (the mgmt contracts) to the new company in the first place??

[340dog]

Tell me this is a joke....first I hear pilots paying for a job by putting down performance bonds and getting screwed out of them and now this....who is their right mind would EVER and I mean Ever work for a company that would have the pilots or for that matter what Pilot would ever use their personal credit card to carry on company business by purchasing fuel, landing fees etc.This lunacy has to be stopped....I am truly embarrassed by those of you who call yourselves Professional Pilots who carry on this practice again and again and the complain here as to how you got screwed over....

Wake up you people!!!!!!

[captjns]

Easy does it 340... nobody ever said that pilots are the sharpest knives in the drawer

[wobble2plank]

Just out of interest does this outfit also run TAG Aviation Europe? Just had a mate of mine go there, wouldn't want him to come a cropper! (again!)

[remoak]

what Pilot would ever use their personal credit card to carry on company business by purchasing fuel, landing fees etc.

Pilots who are so desperate that they have lost all reason...

Once a company gets to the point where fuel companies and other suppliers have said "no credit", it is basically dead. We all know this, right? Any pilot who uses a personal credit card for fuel etc should be prepared to never see that money again, because there is precisely zero chance that their employer is ever going to pay them back.

Sometimes you just need to read the writing on the wall...

[340dog]

Wake Up.....and Show Me The Money

[CorpJetJock]

Not any more. TAG (worldwde) was FORCED by the US Government (Justice Dept. via the FAA) to sellout TAG USA to bottom-feeder Sentient Flight Group in Nov 2007. Sentient had Jane Garvey on it's board of directors at the time....coincidence? TAG Worldwide is a GREAT company.

[CorpJetJock]

The employees that have been using their credit cards are hoping the aircraft owners will eventually cover these expenses (some are starting to). Though JetDirect is a failure, the individual aircraft are all owned by individuals and corporations, the crews are dedicated to each specific aircraft. It's hoped the allegiance to the owners and aircraft will pay off with continued employement (being able to stay with the aircraft) long after JDA is dead and buried. It's a risk, but in these times, it's a necessity.

[wobble2plank]

CorpJet Jock,

Thanks for that, my mate came from Zoom so the double whammy would have been evil for him.



W2P

[Spooky 2]

Well as everyone knows that is even a little bit familiar with case the FAA over stepped their bounds and detroyed a compnay held in pretty high esteem by most of the aviation industry. Actually the United States gubberment in the form of the FAA should be held accountable for criminal prosecution but since we all know the FAA answers to no one, it's highly unlikey. I guess the best we can hope for is the FAA perps catch something awful and simply die a miserable death

So what do we have today? Are we any safer without TAG Aviation USA? Hell no! We are actually not as safe without their operational excellence. We have hundreds of longtime employees out of work, many of which are owed significant sums of money, which they are not likely to ever see. Don't forget the customer base which got ripped off by Sentient/Jet Direct or what ever name they have chosen to operate under as a means of cover for their nefarious deeds. I have it on pretty good authority that the family that owns TAG never wants to own another business in the good ole United States again. Can hardly blame them.

Rant over...but this should not happen to anyone.

[Spooky 2]

Hey 340dog

There are a lot of good dedicated folks within what was left of TAG USA and now Sentient/Jet Direct or what ever they call them selves. Your handle makes me think you might be an airline guy like my self, but I assure you that some of the brightest folks in aviation, that I have ever met, were both corporate and in this case TAG employees. I could write a book about this but I won't bore other than to say it's not that simple. And by chance your an AC 340 pilot, you should know something about BK. No offense but unless you were there, you probaly should not be throwing stones at these folks.

[340dog]

I am an airline guy but also have done the corporate scene but my rant is aimed at this industry that knows that pilots will continue to bail out operators that cant or will not pay their bills .....pilots in this industry have to stop this right now.....we cannot afford to pay for endorsements, accept low pay, poor working conditions and fund companies on our own dime!!!!....doctors, lawyers, dental hygenists, dentists, even down to sanitation engineers do not accept the abuse that pilots put up with just to get a job.....even my daughters figure skating coach commands $60.00/hour....why because they accept no less!!!!

I can emphasize with those out of work or looking for work, I will leave this industry when someone asks me to pay for my job....I have worked hard for my ATPL and any endorsements that I have accumulated throughout my career (not paid for by me...all paid for by credible companies, both airline and corporate)...and are not for sale cheap!!!!!

To those out there....think hard , respect yourself, because the operator will not respect you.....you will be taken advantage of.....fire away

[Spooky 2]

Everthing you say is true but that is not the situation most of the Sentient/Jet Direct/TAG folks found themselve in. Don't have the time nor inclination to go inot the details but what you have described is not waht happened to these former TAG employees. TAG paid very good wages and in some case far exceeded airline pay even back to pre 9/11.

nuf said

[CorpJetJock]

more BS

In the latest communication, the company 'decided' NOT to pay the April employee medical premiums (due 3/13)to CIGNA even though a earlier communication on 3/13 indicated they did! They claimed they were evaluating going to a different provider for the new holding company. A lot of BS as it would take more than a week or two to transition all employees to a new medical provider without causing a lapse in coverage. Behind the scenes, the creditors are blocking the asset transfer and financing for the new holding company. They issued this second communication ONLY because CIGNA will be sending out plan termination notices to the employees. Obviously the 'new' guy Pinkas is just as big a liar as Campbell.

[CorpJetJock]

liability

the company's overall liability insurance policy expires wed (25.03.09) nite at midnight unless they pay up. I wonder how many out there work for companies who don't even have such a policy in place, and if they would continue to fly if they knew?

[krustyjonez]

JD Owes Me Money | Information for the unpaid masses