NetJets safety pledges dismissed as ‘Puffery’

Characterizing safety commitments as marketing content might be a win for NetJets in court, but it misses the mark entirely at 40,000 feet

“we … ensure every flight is a safe flight”

“unwavering commitment to safety”

“uncompromising commitment to safety”

“NetJets has led the private aviation industry by prioritizing safety above all else.”

“NetJets has led the industry in safety standards.”

In a recent filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, NetJets attorneys characterized the company’s unwavering pledges regarding the safety of its operations as “nothing more than … ‘puffery.’” The five statements featured above were specifically referenced in the company’s filing, which can be read here. 

The brief was filed in response to litigation initiated by former fractional owner Stephen G. Perlman, who alleged that NetJets had engaged in false advertising, claiming safety, reliability, and peace of mind as part of their brand promise.

In his late-September opinion in the matter, Judge James Graham ruled that the aforementioned terms are “nonactionable puffery,” deeming NetJets’ safety-specific statements as too vague to be legally binding or enforceable promises.

With more than 650 aircraft on the certificate, the NetJets operational environment is arguably the most complex and dynamic in the world. For NetJets to allow its attorneys to characterize the company’s commitment to safety as “puffery” in federal court is alarming to the men and women who fly QS aircraft. 

In legal parlance, the term puffery is described as “an exaggerated description of a good or service.” At 40,000 feet where the margin for error is very slim, there can be no room for exaggerated claims regarding the commitment to safety. 

NetJets’ decision to terminate the tri-partite Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) Program and to strip critical components of employee input from the Safety Management System (SMS) confirm that the fractional provider has chosen to live down to the same “puffery” standard that it defended in court. The brand is making intentional choices that will have very real consequences. By terminating FOQA and limiting employee input in the SMS, NetJets is moving away from essential safety practices, which is the wrong direction for an air carrier.

Throughout the past 10 months, the pilot group has watched the NetJets safety culture morph in apparent response to a disturbing philosophy: Safety commitments are treated as mere slogans rather than bedrock obligations – a mindset that infuses a higher level of risk into one of the world’s most demanding operational environments. Safety is not a mere convenience and treating it as such may ultimately have irreversible consequences for all NetJets stakeholders.