GoJet?

[danish1978]

Ok, so we have already heard how terrible gojet is........anyone who works for them is a scab, etc. However, dh just got furloughed by TSA (and oddly enough TSA owns gojet), and gojet just offered him a spot in the july class. this is the only job he's been offered and we cannot relocate (my job, can't get out of lease, deeply in debt already). Is it really that bad? From what I've read, gojet has a tarnished history, but no more than american eagle or various others. Gojet is unionized, so that's a plus in dh's book. Is is REALLY that BAD?

[Brenda]

I'm sure a lot of people will say no, don't do it. But with everything going on today in the aviation industry, I think you have to do what you have to do. If it means the bills can be paid, food on the table and a roof over your head, then do it. Sure, he'll possibly be called a scab, but will those people calling him that be paying the mortgage? Do you think those people are going to starve or be homeless because of possibly being on the black list? I really don't think things are going to get any better anytime soon.
I think dh should do what is best for your family.

[spotty4]

I also think he should go for it. Given your situation, take what you can get. If it truly is as awful as folks describe, he can at least learn it first hand and then make the decision to leave.

Quite honestly, w/ the desperation of the industry right now, I bet people guilty of calling gojet pilots "scabs" would find themselves taking that position if their personal situation (e.g. family, debt, finances, etc ...) warranted it.

Right now, there is no shame in this industry.

[Bigsweetie]

I would go there, but only on a VERY temporary basis. I'd still be trying to find another job (corporate, cargo, anything). I understand your position and it's a tough call. Like I said, i'd do it, but only on the condition that you're actively looking elsewhere (is there a training contract?).

Good luck! It's so tough out there right now!

[Brenda]

Well, my hubby seems to have a differrent opinion than I do on this. He thinks that under NO circumstance should your dh go for gojets. He'll be black listed for the rest of his aviation career, no matter how long he was there. Go for the unemployment while looking.
He needs to be applying and get his name out there. Sure, he could go with gojets, but if he still has his resume out there, he might not get a call because of gojets. Or if he does get hired by a new company, lets say Delta, ALPA may not accept him and then would miss the opportunity to be employed. He also said that if he needed to commute, he would be denied a jumpseat, he knows cause he has refued them. (sad, I think) He told me a lot more but can't remember it all and can't explain it as well as he did.

Maybe you should have him ask other pilots what they think.

Good luck with the decision!

[Kristie]

temporary might work...considering that the industry is relatively a small world and the stigma of the pilot group knowing he went there might not be good even on a temporary basis. Brenda is right in that it could be that the stigma is still so bad that resumes with gojet on them get thrown out as soon as they're received. i've never heard of that happening and of course, i don't know first hand. does he have any friends or associates that work at Gojet? he may want to get a first hand account from someone who is or has worked there to see really how bad it still is. I do still hear about the jumpseat issues and that most Gojet pilots typically flip their badges around when walking through the airport so other pilots don't recognize the airline.

It's going to take years before this Gojet thing is a thing of the past.

For now, it's still seen as a "would you cross a picket line" type of move...Gojet guys aren't called scabs but they are on high on the list of what the pilots group call "future scabs" as in a lot of the pilot group believes that if you become a Gojet pilot, you probably would cross the picket line...so that's how the GJ pilots are "marked". so, if you wouldn't cross a picket line, then look at other avenues first before committing to gojet.

Now, that doesn't mean don't go to the interview...between the interview and start date, he can still be interviewing and looking elsewhere too. the thing to remember is that the pilot groups, in full force, need to bring up the standard of the industry.. .they (along with the unions) are the only ones that can do it and it has to be an individual to group effort if that's EVER going to happen.

but you also have to put food on your table....so sometimes the uprising of the industry has to wait and you just need to find some type of work. when it comes to that, food and shelter come first, the after effects come second.

My big question since TSA and Gojet are the same company, they obviously talk...if the TSA guys were going to be laid off, why didn't gojet offer opportunities BEFORE the layoff?

Does Gojet pay better than TSA? are their work rules better than TSA... even though their unionized, doesn't mean they're "better off" kwim?!

see, i think gojet is still trying behind your back tactics and this is just another one, but that's just my opinion.

I hope he's ready for the crap he's going to have to take...
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Kristie]

oh... and don't see how ALPA would not accept him....they're a cash hound, they need all the bodies they can get. HAHA

[katbuad]

Maybe you should have him ask other pilots what they think.

I think that is great advice.

Personally (TOTALY MY OPINION) I would not encourage my hubby to work for GoJet. I'm pretty sure that he would rather do something other than flying for a while than open that can of worms for his career.

[roz]

GoJet has much more than a tarnished history.

I don't know that ALPA accepts or doesn't accept employees of airlines into the union. I do know that the union at GoJet is a sham--it's a part of the teamsters, but not the part that represents other airlines. It was set up by management to assuage those who (rightly) argued that it was just an alter-ego designed to get around the TSA contract.

I know pilots who carry around the list of the original Freedom pilots and deny them the jumpseat (even though some are at legacies now). So, while they are members of ALPA now, pilots don't forget that they were willing to jump over from Mesa to Freedom to help the company try to bust the union during their negotiations.

You have to make your own choices.

If it were up to me and DH were faced with that, he'd go work at Wal*Mart.

Best of luck to you!

[skibum515]

Go Jets was created to get around the TSA contract and the fact that they're both owned by the same parent company, and one is furloughing while the other is hiring is pretty fishy.

Go Jets pilots are despised by most pilots that I know, and he'd have a VERY hard time getting hired elsewhere after (in my opinion of course). He'd do better to work at Walmart like Roz said (or Mc Donalds or something like that) or just collect unemployment