JetDirect Aviation payroll and expense checks bounce
 

.....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! :ugh:

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".

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

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.

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??

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!!!!!!

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

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!)

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...

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

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.

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.

CorpJet Jock,

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

:ok:

W2P

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:mad:

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.

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.:}

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

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

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.

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?

worrying
 

Makes you think twice when using the 'company credit card', doesn't it? Nothing is sure these days and apparently nothing can be taken for granted. In my country it is lawful for the banks to go after the drivers when the company which issued the credit cards goes south. Scary thought.

I tend to ask my employer for a cash-advance when launching to a longer trip. This, at least, gives me some sercurity.

And after having had difficulties in getting paid for free-lance work, I ask new custumers for cash before I get on board. Works out fine and makes me sleep well.

No wonder that people act this way when even the banks don't trust each other any more...

Once upon a time… a long… long… long… time ago, while moonlighting, I flew a group of people to Panama from South Florida. Once the jet was parked, the legal representative, the equivalent of a ground handling agent, insisted on payment for the handling.

I explained to him that all fees were prepaid in advance by the charter company. I asked if I could call them. The representative was present during the conversation. Here is how the conversation went.

Me: “Funds didn’t make it to Panama.”

Employer: “Yeah… we had trouble getting the funds wired to Panama… just put it on your credit card, and we’ll reimburse you upon your return.”

Me “Hey legal rep… can you take credit card payments over the phone?”

Legal Rep: “Oh si si senory!”

Me: “Hey boss… you can pass your credit card details to the legal representative for full payment.”

Employer: “Do us this one favor… use your card, and we’ll pay you back.”

Me: “No problemo.”

I called the hotel to see if my room was pre-paid. The hotel said no, and the last crew’s bill needed to be taken care of as well. I said no problemo.

Can you all see where this is leading?

I went straight to the main terminal, and jump seated back to the US. I called owner of the charter company to tell him to get another crew down to Panama to collect their jet and pay their bills. Of course I made additional calls before I came to this decision. And yes… I got the usual threats from them and so on.

By the way… while the insurance document was current, it was cancelled for nonpayment of premiums, as payments were made on a quarterly basis.

Now what’s that saying about a fool and his money?

Thanks captjns....A brutally frank example of what can happen and how to escape from that scenario.
Whilst Jetopa's suggestion seems eminently sensible..........in theory, it is extremely unlikely that one would get any contract work on a "cash-up-front" basis. The armholes who even think about asking the crew to pay with their own c/c's, would just find some other mug to do the job.
There was a thread on Biz Jets, Ag Pilots etc. that discussed this whole issue of non payment to both contract pilots and employed pilots. It didn't really resolve the issue, but generally the concensus was that removal of either A/C documents and/or equipments, seemed to be the most efficacious way of ensuring prompt payment! Of course the drawback being, that you need to know that you are NOT going to be paid before you leave the aircraft....!

Jetdirect and Mass state law
 

Jet Direct has broken the Massachussetts law by not paying its employees within 6 days of the end of a single pay period. Bankruptcy will not protect them from this or the IRS. The employees just need to have worked in Massachussetts and fill out a form from the Ma Dept of labor called the wage and workplace complaint form. it can be found by using the links from the WWW.Mass.gov website to the attorney generals web site. The more employees that fill out these forms and send them in together the faster this will be resolved. Remember if flight operational control and maintenance control walk the company is done at that point.:}

340Turboprop pilot?
 

Hey 340,

You have never made 200K a year in corporate flying. I have for 20 years and understand why some of us have protected our clients by taking care of bills with our own credit cards to keep them flying when a management company defaults.

I agree with you in a general sense that pilots shouldn't have to buy their jobs or use personel credit cards for their company. There are however exceptions for those of us who fly for solid owners and know we will be covered for all of our expenses. We are not all stupid.

Good Luck in your career.

Mass law
 

unfortunately, not all of us live in states that are so pro-employee. it's amazing how the labor laws differ from state to state. how can we get all the Weymouth employees together on this??

JetDirect Shutting Down
 

Its official. JDA shut down yesterday 4/17/09

$ owed Pilots
 

How many still have not seen their money back yet?