International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1108, the pilot union at fractional-share operation Flight Options, submitted a petition to the National Mediation Board (NMB) on July 4 asking the NMB to determine whether Flight Options and sister company Flexjet “constitute ‘a single transportation system.’” Both fractional providers are owned by Directional Aviation.

According to IBT 1008 executive board president Efrem Vojta, “What happens now is the NMB will do an investigation to find out if Flight Options and Flexjet are running a parallel operation under [Directional Aviation]. If they are [determined to be a single carrier], we will then become a single carrier. And since 1108 represents Flight Options, there will be a vote among Flight Options and Flexjet pilots whether to have a representative agent.”

Although Flexjet pilots are currently not represented by a union, they formed an organizing committee in January, Vojta said, and indications are that there is enough support among those pilots to vote for representation. “We are confident that we have the numbers,” he said. If the NMB determines that Flight Options and Flexjet are a single carrier and the pilots vote to join IBT 1108, then they will have to integrate both operations’ seniority lists and then negotiate a new joint collective-bargaining agreement with Directional Aviation.

Last year, Directional Aviation principal Kenn Ricci told AIN that the company wants a single operating system, "the sooner the better." At the time, he wasn't sure whether the union would be able to gather enough votes.