Flexjet (LXJ, Cleveland Cuyahoga Country) has said that its lawsuit against the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) will go forward after a court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the case.
Flexjet accused the union and some of its operatives of menacing and intimidation during the 2018 union decertification election campaign at the airline. The fractional business jet ownership specialist said that its managers and employees received "hundreds" of vulgar, threatening, and malicious messages.
"Unions such as NJASAP who were not at all involved with the recent decertification election need to understand they cannot do or say anything they want without consequences. This was not campaign speech or meant to do anything other than maliciously threaten those who spoke up in favor of decertification. This is just another example of how unions such as NJASAP are completely out of touch with employees and why union membership continues to decline," Flexjet Chairman Kenn Ricci said.
The campaign concerned the decertification of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 1108 as a representative of Flexjet's pilots. The vote ended "overwhelmingly" in favour of ousting the union. NJASAP was not involved in any capacity.
Flexjet and its parent Flight Options (OPT, Cleveland Cuyahoga Country) are seeking undisclosed damages in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit does not concern NetJets Aviation (EJA, Columbus John Glenn, OH), one of the major competitors of Flexjet in the fractional ownership business.
