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Post by paulschwartz1 on Jan 17, 2013 15:23:16 GMT -5
i'm finishing my 7th year. i love the plane and get great service from the owner services team. i have similar frustrations with delays and dependability. i, too, place the responsibility on senior management and feel communications from the senior management team to be sub-standard. not being aware of internal procedures, it is difficult to make meaningful judgments. but it is frustrating, especially being a partial owner of a company asset.
ultimately, i hold the board accountable in that they sit in judgment of the management team performance. i don't know what, if anything there is to do about it, other than to get out of the program, which i continue to hesitate doing.
in the meantime, my last 2 flights went smoothly. one was on an "outside the fleet" aircraft. of the previous 3 flight, only one went as i had scheduled, which, of course, is unacceptable and partially defeats the purpose of flying privately.
i have started to inform owner services as to my schedule flexibility at the time i make a trip request. they seem to appreciate this. i know it shouldn't be necessary, but i'm doing my best to improve MY traveling experience.
lastly, i've been told that the planes have 5 or 6 common problems that are the cause of 80% of the delays. supposedly piaggio and avantair are working together to resolve these issues. obviously, it takes time. i'm trying to be patient and hopeful. i remain concerned that the company can survive. to that end, i will no longer prepay my monthly fees. the extra two hours (i'm a 50 hour participant) aren't worth the risk to me. risking my residual value is enough.
i'm also told that the equipment installation for in-flight internet service is "in the works." i'm not sure what this means and was unable to get additional information. personally, i don't care about the service, but as has been mentioned, i've paid my share for the equipment.
thanks for the forum and the opportunity to express my views and read those of others.
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Post by jsr2791 on Jan 18, 2013 11:31:47 GMT -5
I AM IN MY 7 YEAR AND JUST HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE, I HAD SCHEDULED A FLIGHT FROM OCEAN REEF IN KEY LARGO TO X47 THEN TO AC, NJ. THEY CALLED AT 7AM THE DAY OF MY FLIGHTS AND SAID THEY HAD NOT SCHEDULED MY FLIGHT. I NEVER HEARD OF THAT BEFORE
AND COULD NOT GET A ANSWER FROM THEM. I HAD TO BE PICKED UP BY CAR AND DRIVEN TO ANOTHER AIR PORT ONE HOUR AWAY WITH A DELAY OF TWO HOURS.
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Post by tmcgowan on Jan 18, 2013 13:28:31 GMT -5
Paul,
I note your comment "risking my residual value is enough" I suggest your residual value is at significant risk. Unless your asset is one that is out of service, management is covering itself by flying all flights possible in a small percentage of the fleet. To make matters worse, they are "giving away" hours on your asset to others to cover their inconvenience. Another post on this site speaks to how many unsold shares are out there currently. You have no residual value.
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Post by paulschwartz1 on Jan 19, 2013 7:46:22 GMT -5
i hear you. i realize my residual value may be declining faster. however, these circumstances are beyond my control. i just don't want to risk anything further and therefore won't be prepaying anything going forward.
in the meantime, i'm trying to be patient. i have a flight today. i have been notified of a 45 minute delay from my requested departure. at the time i scheduled the flight i notified owner services that my schedule was flexible. so no big deal for me.
also, i got santos' last email. to me, it is incomplete. he seems to be trying to communicate, but he leaves out the details. he hasn't confirmed (admitted) that the entire fleet isn't operational and he hasn't informed owners what the plan is. whether the maintenance is internal or external is, to me, a of minor concern, just so it gets done. but what i care about is knowing what exactly is happening with the fleet now and what the plan is to get it operational.
the internet issue is a minor one, too. but it would be nice to know the plan.
i can only imagine what management is going through at this point. however, i know in a distressed business situation, communication is key. straight up and no spin. let us know.
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Post by jftfive on Jan 25, 2013 7:43:33 GMT -5
My understaning is that the company is having financial difficulties. As we all know they are in the midst of a capital raise and are reaching out to owners to see if we want to purchase their securities. I'm in my 5th and probably final year. I love the plane and the owner service personnel but it has be the exception over the past two years that there has not been some issue with maintenance or overbooking of utilization that has not caused me a problem. I've come to expect an email prior to every flight with some sort of delay. Over the Christmas holidays I was told the return flight home would be delayed two days which is unacceptable. I raised enough ruckus that they finally found a plane that was a 5 or 6 hour delay. It will be interesting to see if the company survives. I hope it does at least thru the end of this year.
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Post by PBonphy on Jan 25, 2013 18:07:20 GMT -5
Flew today everything was on time. That's 3 for 3 for me over the last week.
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Post by jetdrvr2008 on May 14, 2013 12:20:48 GMT -5
President & CFO resign almost simultaneously, fleet is still only about 50% operational, more and more owners refusing to pay their monthly management fees....can the end be far away? What can we do to protect our investment at this time? I'm thinking very little. Latest earnings report should be coming out any day.
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mikea
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by mikea on May 18, 2013 11:16:45 GMT -5
I understand your frustration, and it is shared by all of us. The company certainly has a lot more work to do to get to where it used to be, but it appears to be committed. But, what is the point of double posting this exact text in two different message threads on this forum? Do you have data or facts concerning an increase of owners not paying their fees, or is this a guess? The fleet is well below fully operational, but it has also returned to well past 50% when you include planes that are in major maintenance mode. There will always be a % of the fleet that are in mandatory maintenance of various sorts. The resignations you mention are known, and in the past. Not sure what it serves to keep bringing it up. We are fractional owners on N160SL, which is in service. President & CFO resign almost simultaneously, fleet is still only about 50% operational, more and more owners refusing to pay their monthly management fees....can the end be far away? What can we do to protect our investment at this time? I'm thinking very little. Latest earnings report should be coming out any day. |
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Post by elysekatz on May 29, 2013 11:43:04 GMT -5
Mike, I agree completely that the company is committed to continuous improvement. Their efforts have already resulted in improved operations and they have placed new highly qualified personnel in various departments. As I am sure you will agree, I think a strong leadership is crucial.
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Post by henry33 on May 29, 2013 16:28:10 GMT -5
I have been getting constant e mails to re up.
the latest is a 50 hr card for 172K I have two other people who saw my experinece ( pre oct ) and want ot jump on and it would make sense from a business stadn point Im just leary of no 1st Q filing and dont want to give up 172K only to have the same experience we saw in the last few months
any comments?
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Post by hrofcr on May 29, 2013 22:00:21 GMT -5
Henry33:
Fool me once, your fault; fool me twice, MY fault."
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