I've Seen Cheap............

[Lawreston]

........ but this was CHEAP.

On a brutally-cold and windy day I was visiting a Northeast regional airport. When I arrived there was a Hawker 400-series jet just outside the door and hooked to the FBO's power wagon. The lineman made frequent trips outside to tend the situation during the ensuing hour. Finally, a honkin' big Mercedes arrived, the front logo plate heralding Mercedes in an ultra-elite residential area several states distant, and parked near the jet. Out scrambled several teenagers and a couple adults, all who boarded the plane.

While it appeared the PIC/FO had completed their check list one of them exited the a/c and came into the lobby. "Do we owe you anything?"
I could sense fire in the eyes of the personnel behind the counter, although it was said, "You're set to go." Said spokesman, as the flight crew was spooling-up the Hawker, told the lineman, "It would have been nice if they had inquired when you first secured them; but once the passengers were boarded I wasn't going to further delay them." The lineman shook his head:
"Yeah; they stiffed me, too."

I was disgusted. I ran a check on the tail #. It's available for only $2340.00 per hour.
[End of Rant]

HR

 

[jesse]

While it appeared the PIC/FO had completed their check list one of them exited the a/c and came into the lobby. "Do we owe you anything?"

If she said no. That's her own problem--with no right to complain.

 

[ScottM]

If she said no. That's her own problem--with no right to complain.

I gotta agree, the counter person said no, not the crews problem anymore.

 

[tdager]

I do not think they are talking about monies owed for services rendered, I have NO doubt that was covered.

What is implied here is the unspoken money owed for the attentive service in such trying weather. I normally am not a huge fan of tipping for someone to just do their job, but given those circumstances a couple of bucks would have been nice.

 

[ScottM]

I do not think they are talking about monies owed for services rendered, I have NO doubt that was covered.

What is implied here is the unspoken money owed for the attentive service in such trying weather. I normally am not a huge fan of tipping for someone to just do their job, but given those circumstances a couple of bucks would have been nice.

So the guy making $20k should give the other guy making $20k a tip for doing his job, I don't think so.

 

[mikea]

So the guy making $20k should give the other guy making $20k a tip for doing his job, I don't think so.

For one of the guys making 20K it's a reimbursable business expense.

BTW, neither one of them is making 20K. The FBO kid sure isn't making that much.

They can make up for it by us time wasters who give $5. In this case it might have been a twenty.

 

[SCCutler]

Oops... seems to me that a reasonably-caring charter customer might have thought to tip the line staff. Just me...

 

[tdager]

Too be honest "doing his job" could have simply entailed hooking up the bird and leaving it, instead of checking on it, I do not know.

Again...I am not some tip-junky or anything, actually I usually despise how tips have gotten so out of hand in this country...but there are times when they are worth it, this seems to be one of them.

 

[ScottM]

For one of the guys making 20K it's a reimbursable business expense.

That is a pretty big assumption you are making their. Care to talk to my company about tips to luggage porters? Bottom line is they are not reimbursable. I think it would be safe to say we do not know what the policy is for the company the pilot works for.

 

[gkainz]

IIRC, the last employer I had reimbursed for tips as part of cab fares, parking, etc ... but that's been quite a while ago, so I could be way wrong.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I do not think they are talking about monies owed for services rendered, I have NO doubt that was covered.

What is implied here is the unspoken money owed for the attentive service in such trying weather. I normally am not a huge fan of tipping for someone to just do their job, but given those circumstances a couple of bucks would have been nice.

Right on, Tom.

 

[Pjsmith]

I suspect that those who are paying $2xxx.xx per hour for plane rental are not wired to think of things like tipping the line staff...the particulars of having the plane ready to go are details for 'those pilots'.

I have a friend who is a doorman in manhattan at a certain, notorious upper west side building populated by, well, the famous and infamous. He tells me that his christmastime gifts from tenants (i.e. the bulk of his income) comes from the 'staff' of said famous/infamous, or less frequently their spouses, and that if it were left up to the tenants themselves, he'd probably never see a dime. He scurries around for these people every day, yet has accepted that most of them don't even think of him as an actual person deserving of any type of consideration. A sad commentary, really.

 

[ScottM]

I delivered pizzas when I was in college. It was a good paying gig. With the exception of Walter Payton (yes of the Bears) the 'rich' people would tip pretty lousy. If the pizza was $11.61 I would get $.39. If I went to the middle class neighborhood I would make a $1.39 on that pizza and if I went to the blue collar neighborhood I would get $2.39 on that same pizza. There were a few exceptions but it was generally the bigger the house the smaller the tip. And BTW Walter would tip $5/pizza and his address was 34 Mundhank road. He would answer the door and was happy to talk to people. He would even come into the store every once and a while. That stopped when a newbie manager type announced on the PA that he was in the store and would sign autographs. Walter stayed signed autographs and never came back.

 

[Henning]

I do not think they are talking about monies owed for services rendered, I have NO doubt that was covered.

What is implied here is the unspoken money owed for the attentive service in such trying weather. I normally am not a huge fan of tipping for someone to just do their job, but given those circumstances a couple of bucks would have been nice.

If those guys were running around in the cold for an hour, I would have thrown them a $20.

 

[Michael]

If those guys were running around in the cold for an hour, I would have thrown them a $20.

Same here. Its courtesy. you take care of my plane i take care of you. I have been known to say that to a lineman before i leave the field.

 

[markb5900]

The FBO as stated probably wasn't owed anything.
But IMHO charter guys should know the MOST how hard the lineman are working for THEM to make sure THEIR customers are happy and could throw them something.
I try to always give them a something, if only a buck or two when they RUN out there to park the little ASEL I am coming in with.

Mark B

 

[SCCutler]

I am hesitant to ding the pilots- not too many of them getting rich, and I sincerely doubt that many have the discretion to tip and get reimbursed.

Maybe Brent will chime in on this?

 

[kgruber]

........ but this was CHEAP.

On a brutally-cold and windy day I was visiting a Northeast regional airport. When I arrived there was a Hawker 400-series jet just outside the door and hooked to the FBO's power wagon. The lineman made frequent trips outside to tend the situation during the ensuing hour. Finally, a honkin' big Mercedes arrived, the front logo plate heralding Mercedes in an ultra-elite residential area several states distant, and parked near the jet. Out scrambled several teenagers and a couple adults, all who boarded the plane.

While it appeared the PIC/FO had completed their check list one of them exited the a/c and came into the lobby. "Do we owe you anything?"
I could sense fire in the eyes of the personnel behind the counter, although it was said, "You're set to go." Said spokesman, as the flight crew was spooling-up the Hawker, told the lineman, "It would have been nice if they had inquired when you first secured them; but once the passengers were boarded I wasn't going to further delay them." The lineman shook his head:
"Yeah; they stiffed me, too."

I was disgusted. I ran a check on the tail #. It's available for only $2340.00 per hour.
[End of Rant]

HR

All depends on how much gas they bought and if they had the toilet serviced.

 

[JasonCT]

I delivered pizzas when I was in college. It was a good paying gig. With the exception of Walter Payton (yes of the Bears) the 'rich' people would tip pretty lousy. If the pizza was $11.61 I would get $.39. If I went to the middle class neighborhood I would make a $1.39 on that pizza and if I went to the blue collar neighborhood I would get $2.39 on that same pizza. There were a few exceptions but it was generally the bigger the house the smaller the tip. And BTW Walter would tip $5/pizza and his address was 34 Mundhank road. He would answer the door and was happy to talk to people. He would even come into the store every once and a while. That stopped when a newbie manager type announced on the PA that he was in the store and would sign autographs. Walter stayed signed autographs and never came back.

Its funny you mention this, but when I was a funeral director in CT we had 2 funeral homes, one in the area that served the big estates with names you would all recognize, and one that served a mostly hard working French Catholic crowd.
Can you guess who spent more on funerals?
We use to have a saying, Long driveway, short funeral.