The Travel Committee was established to improve life on the road for NJASAP crewmembers. In cooperation with the NetJets Aviation Inc., (NJA) Travel and Crew Services departments, we work to strike an appropriate balance between enhancing each crewmember's quality of life while on the road and identifying acceptable, cost-effective accommodations. We strive to ensure effective communication is maintained between working crewmembers and the company departments responsible for making travel arrangements. Based on the feedback we recieve as well as personal experience, we make every effort to ensure the company has the resources available to provide superior travel arrangements, which ultimately ensures our pilots are well rested and the working environment is satisfactory. In addition to undertaking education initiatives to ensure crewmembers understand the processes used by NJA personnel to coordinate travel arrangments, we have also taken responsibility for enhancing the Crew Food Program.
FROM THE TRAVEL COMMITTEE & STEWARDS COUNCIL
 CREWMEMBER MEAL ORDERING GUIDELINES
While on a tour of duty, any pilot who seeks to order crew meals must do so in accordance with the 2007 Collective Bargaining Agreement or they risk forfeiting some of their contractual benefits. Contract § 20.7(C)(1) states, “Orders for crewmember meals will be submitted to the Company via Company provided communication device (e.g., pager or Blackberry) by the end of the preceding duty period.”
Previously, some confusion has surrounded the concept of timely ordering. According to § 20.7(D): “In the event a crewmember orders a crewmember meal(s) outside the requirements set forth in subsection 20.7(C) and the meal(s) does not arrive, the replacement meal options in subsection 20.7(D)(1) do not apply.”
If the pilot does not or is unable to submit a replacement meal request in a timely manner that does not mean his or her request will be denied. In fact, the Company may not deny a pilot the ability to order a crew meal regardless of when it was requested. A late request, however, may result in a delivery delay of up to six hours, which is noted in CBA § 20.7(C). In this instance, the pilot may not receive the requested meal prior to departing that FBO.
If the ordered crew meal fails to arrive or if it is substantially different than what was ordered, CBA § 20.7(D) and (E) stipulate the process of obtaining a replacement meal and, if appropriate, receiving a reimbursement. Upon alerting the Company to the situation, it has the option of using its existing vendors to fulfill the crew food order; however, if it cannot, it may release the pilot to obtain food on his or her own. In this instance, the pilot would be required to submit a Crew Deviation Report as well as an itemized receipt with his or her next expense report in a timely manner.
The Travel Committee and NJASAP Steward Council encourage all crewmembers to order their crew meals immediately after shutdown regardless of the type of duty briefed for the next day. If the duty changes to flight or flight asset, the crew meals should be delivered without any additional action from the crew. Crewmembers should check their BlackBerry devices to verify crew meal following did, in fact, take place.
If the Flight Coordinator attempts to deny a crew meal(s) and the tactical manager or assistant chief pilot on duty upholds that decision, contact the Steward on Duty at stewards@njasap.com or place a call to (877) 652-7271. Please e-mail a courtesy copy of any crew meal-related correspondence to travel@njasap.com. |
