The skinny on Clay Lacy
08-19-2024, 08:08 PM
#41
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2010
Position: DOWNGRADE COMPLETE: Thanks Gary. Thanks SWAPA.
Posts: 6,829
Ah, so you’ve got your eye on a spot at old Herschel’s Hangar, do you, youngblood? Well, let me save you the trouble—you shouldn’t.
Ol’ Herschel is a SCAB of the worst kind. Back when he was #0001 on the UAL Seniority List, he threw his fellow aviators under the bus the moment they went on strike. I once witnessed F. Lee Bailey tear him apart on the concourse at LAX, sometime around ’88, for being a SCAB—and trust me, that’s a story worth telling over a stiff drink. Herschel didn’t just betray the guys at United, the guys in his guard unit, and the pilots he hired before he sold the 135 & FBO (and then repurchased and sold again) - he screwed over the very men who sat right seat for him in the Lear during those air-to-air Hollywood shots. Ever notice how the credits in those old-time flicks only say, “Air To Air Shots Provided By Clay Lacy Aviation,” while everyone else—caterers, cleaners, you name it—gets their SAG-AFTRA due? But not Herschel’s co-pilots. No, sir.
Amongst the dozens of wrongful termination, hostile work environment, etc and et al lawsuits brought against he and his companies, The “Let’s Screw ’Em Over” mentality is alive and kicking at Herschel’s Hangar - even though he's sitting at home ****ing in his own diapers. You won’t believe this, but they had the audacity to ask a U.S. District Court Judge, in a case the plaintiff lost on appeal, to sanction that plaintiff - a pilot that was owed wages and seeking to right the financial wrongs imposed on him by the company. That kind of move is almost unheard of in employment and labor law and was done so in poor taste and in a retailiatory fashion. The Judge disallowed the sanction and ran the CLA lawyers out of the courtroom
If you didn’t get hired by ol’ Herschel, consider yourself lucky. He absolutely hates being called “Herschel" - Clay is his nickname.
A SCAB is a SCAB. Don't do it.
Ol’ Herschel is a SCAB of the worst kind. Back when he was #0001 on the UAL Seniority List, he threw his fellow aviators under the bus the moment they went on strike. I once witnessed F. Lee Bailey tear him apart on the concourse at LAX, sometime around ’88, for being a SCAB—and trust me, that’s a story worth telling over a stiff drink. Herschel didn’t just betray the guys at United, the guys in his guard unit, and the pilots he hired before he sold the 135 & FBO (and then repurchased and sold again) - he screwed over the very men who sat right seat for him in the Lear during those air-to-air Hollywood shots. Ever notice how the credits in those old-time flicks only say, “Air To Air Shots Provided By Clay Lacy Aviation,” while everyone else—caterers, cleaners, you name it—gets their SAG-AFTRA due? But not Herschel’s co-pilots. No, sir.
Amongst the dozens of wrongful termination, hostile work environment, etc and et al lawsuits brought against he and his companies, The “Let’s Screw ’Em Over” mentality is alive and kicking at Herschel’s Hangar - even though he's sitting at home ****ing in his own diapers. You won’t believe this, but they had the audacity to ask a U.S. District Court Judge, in a case the plaintiff lost on appeal, to sanction that plaintiff - a pilot that was owed wages and seeking to right the financial wrongs imposed on him by the company. That kind of move is almost unheard of in employment and labor law and was done so in poor taste and in a retailiatory fashion. The Judge disallowed the sanction and ran the CLA lawyers out of the courtroom
If you didn’t get hired by ol’ Herschel, consider yourself lucky. He absolutely hates being called “Herschel" - Clay is his nickname.
A SCAB is a SCAB. Don't do it.
08-19-2024, 09:22 PM
#42
New Hire
Joined APC: Apr 2024
Posts: 9
A minor miscalculation? That’s setting the altimeter off by .01 hg or dialing in the Vref bug ten knots too slow after a grueling 17-hour duty day spent dodging thunderstorms in and out of Chicago’s summer chaos.
A misjudgment, on the other hand, is assuming—without any real basis—that the guy sitting next to you has airman skills on par with yours, only to discover that he can’t handle a 5-knot crosswind after just one leg together. You quickly realize he couldn’t fly his way out of a wet paper bag, and, as a professional aviator, you are all the better for it.
Then there’s ol’ Herschel. The man had a knack for slipping away from UAL to run his Part 135 operation, all while keeping just enough time in the DC-10 to keep his currency intact. And when the Clipper guys came onboard, he quietly slithered over to the 747. Now, I know for a fact that he spent many a long, quiet night in solitary confinement flying the -400 across the Pacific. All those "worldwide" charters, "speed records," and that grandiose style of his? Pure overcompensation for being a SCAB very few pilots wanted to share a cockpit with. After the strike, he was ostracized and thoroughly despised by those who flew the line.
Let me spell it out for you: if his wife wasn’t working the Upper Deck, he wouldn’t so much as take a can of Coca-Cola from a stew. Ol' Herschel had his contacts at FBOs in layover cities whisk him and Lois away planeside—if customs allowed—rather than ride with the crew. They almost never stayed in the company-provided layover hotels. He was always the last to leave the airplane on a layover, and always the first in ops for the predeparture flight briefing. Unless it was some rare publicity trip in his later years, he barely interacted with pilots or flight attendants outside his tight-knit circle. And yet, if you can believe it, there were a few line guys who actually liked him after the strike.
I do not begrudge the man his accomplishments as an aviator prior to May 1985 - they are unique, they are noteworty and they are tremendous. However, his choice to cross the ALPA picket line and the way he conducted himself as a businessman in general, overshadows these achievements. No book, no TV special, no hand-jobbing by a politician can change the fact that Ol' Herschel is, and always will be, the biggest SCAB in the business.
Ol’ Herschel eventually hung up his wings at age 62 as UAL System Seniority Number 0001—the first, only, and last pilot to squeeze out age 62 in the Left Seat before the regulations changed. But you see, that’s a tale for another time. The real twist in that story involves none other than the slick, well-greased FAA Administrator, Alexander Butterfield....
He is younger than he is, but, older than he ever was, that Ol' Herschel.
A misjudgment, on the other hand, is assuming—without any real basis—that the guy sitting next to you has airman skills on par with yours, only to discover that he can’t handle a 5-knot crosswind after just one leg together. You quickly realize he couldn’t fly his way out of a wet paper bag, and, as a professional aviator, you are all the better for it.
Then there’s ol’ Herschel. The man had a knack for slipping away from UAL to run his Part 135 operation, all while keeping just enough time in the DC-10 to keep his currency intact. And when the Clipper guys came onboard, he quietly slithered over to the 747. Now, I know for a fact that he spent many a long, quiet night in solitary confinement flying the -400 across the Pacific. All those "worldwide" charters, "speed records," and that grandiose style of his? Pure overcompensation for being a SCAB very few pilots wanted to share a cockpit with. After the strike, he was ostracized and thoroughly despised by those who flew the line.
Let me spell it out for you: if his wife wasn’t working the Upper Deck, he wouldn’t so much as take a can of Coca-Cola from a stew. Ol' Herschel had his contacts at FBOs in layover cities whisk him and Lois away planeside—if customs allowed—rather than ride with the crew. They almost never stayed in the company-provided layover hotels. He was always the last to leave the airplane on a layover, and always the first in ops for the predeparture flight briefing. Unless it was some rare publicity trip in his later years, he barely interacted with pilots or flight attendants outside his tight-knit circle. And yet, if you can believe it, there were a few line guys who actually liked him after the strike.
I do not begrudge the man his accomplishments as an aviator prior to May 1985 - they are unique, they are noteworty and they are tremendous. However, his choice to cross the ALPA picket line and the way he conducted himself as a businessman in general, overshadows these achievements. No book, no TV special, no hand-jobbing by a politician can change the fact that Ol' Herschel is, and always will be, the biggest SCAB in the business.
Ol’ Herschel eventually hung up his wings at age 62 as UAL System Seniority Number 0001—the first, only, and last pilot to squeeze out age 62 in the Left Seat before the regulations changed. But you see, that’s a tale for another time. The real twist in that story involves none other than the slick, well-greased FAA Administrator, Alexander Butterfield....
He is younger than he is, but, older than he ever was, that Ol' Herschel.
Last edited by VDemerest; 08-19-2024 at 09:36 PM.
08-20-2024, 05:29 PM
#43
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,142
A minor miscalculation? That’s setting the altimeter off by .01 hg or dialing in the Vref bug ten knots too slow after a grueling 17-hour duty day spent dodging thunderstorms in and out of Chicago’s summer chaos.
A misjudgment, on the other hand, is assuming—without any real basis—that the guy sitting next to you has airman skills on par with yours, only to discover that he can’t handle a 5-knot crosswind after just one leg together. You quickly realize he couldn’t fly his way out of a wet paper bag, and, as a professional aviator, you are all the better for it.
Then there’s ol’ Herschel. The man had a knack for slipping away from UAL to run his Part 135 operation, all while keeping just enough time in the DC-10 to keep his currency intact. And when the Clipper guys came onboard, he quietly slithered over to the 747. Now, I know for a fact that he spent many a long, quiet night in solitary confinement flying the -400 across the Pacific. All those "worldwide" charters, "speed records," and that grandiose style of his? Pure overcompensation for being a SCAB very few pilots wanted to share a cockpit with. After the strike, he was ostracized and thoroughly despised by those who flew the line.
Let me spell it out for you: if his wife wasn’t working the Upper Deck, he wouldn’t so much as take a can of Coca-Cola from a stew. Ol' Herschel had his contacts at FBOs in layover cities whisk him and Lois away planeside—if customs allowed—rather than ride with the crew. They almost never stayed in the company-provided layover hotels. He was always the last to leave the airplane on a layover, and always the first in ops for the predeparture flight briefing. Unless it was some rare publicity trip in his later years, he barely interacted with pilots or flight attendants outside his tight-knit circle. And yet, if you can believe it, there were a few line guys who actually liked him after the strike.
I do not begrudge the man his accomplishments as an aviator prior to May 1985 - they are unique, they are noteworty and they are tremendous. However, his choice to cross the ALPA picket line and the way he conducted himself as a businessman in general, overshadows these achievements. No book, no TV special, no hand-jobbing by a politician can change the fact that Ol' Herschel is, and always will be, the biggest SCAB in the business.
Ol’ Herschel eventually hung up his wings at age 62 as UAL System Seniority Number 0001—the first, only, and last pilot to squeeze out age 62 in the Left Seat before the regulations changed. But you see, that’s a tale for another time. The real twist in that story involves none other than the slick, well-greased FAA Administrator, Alexander Butterfield....
He is younger than he is, but, older than he ever was, that Ol' Herschel.
A misjudgment, on the other hand, is assuming—without any real basis—that the guy sitting next to you has airman skills on par with yours, only to discover that he can’t handle a 5-knot crosswind after just one leg together. You quickly realize he couldn’t fly his way out of a wet paper bag, and, as a professional aviator, you are all the better for it.
Then there’s ol’ Herschel. The man had a knack for slipping away from UAL to run his Part 135 operation, all while keeping just enough time in the DC-10 to keep his currency intact. And when the Clipper guys came onboard, he quietly slithered over to the 747. Now, I know for a fact that he spent many a long, quiet night in solitary confinement flying the -400 across the Pacific. All those "worldwide" charters, "speed records," and that grandiose style of his? Pure overcompensation for being a SCAB very few pilots wanted to share a cockpit with. After the strike, he was ostracized and thoroughly despised by those who flew the line.
Let me spell it out for you: if his wife wasn’t working the Upper Deck, he wouldn’t so much as take a can of Coca-Cola from a stew. Ol' Herschel had his contacts at FBOs in layover cities whisk him and Lois away planeside—if customs allowed—rather than ride with the crew. They almost never stayed in the company-provided layover hotels. He was always the last to leave the airplane on a layover, and always the first in ops for the predeparture flight briefing. Unless it was some rare publicity trip in his later years, he barely interacted with pilots or flight attendants outside his tight-knit circle. And yet, if you can believe it, there were a few line guys who actually liked him after the strike.
I do not begrudge the man his accomplishments as an aviator prior to May 1985 - they are unique, they are noteworty and they are tremendous. However, his choice to cross the ALPA picket line and the way he conducted himself as a businessman in general, overshadows these achievements. No book, no TV special, no hand-jobbing by a politician can change the fact that Ol' Herschel is, and always will be, the biggest SCAB in the business.
Ol’ Herschel eventually hung up his wings at age 62 as UAL System Seniority Number 0001—the first, only, and last pilot to squeeze out age 62 in the Left Seat before the regulations changed. But you see, that’s a tale for another time. The real twist in that story involves none other than the slick, well-greased FAA Administrator, Alexander Butterfield....
He is younger than he is, but, older than he ever was, that Ol' Herschel.
08-21-2024, 06:25 AM
#44
Speed, Power, Accuracy
Joined APC: Sep 2007
Position: PIC
Posts: 1,725
Being a career-long, West Coast charter/corporate/fractional pilot all I know is, corporate cultures often outlive the person that created them. Corporate cultures are a direct reflection of the person that created them. To this day, CLA is someplace you don't want to work unless you're out of options. And I mean completely out of options.
08-23-2024, 11:21 AM
#45
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,412
I think everyone agrees about the former owner, but you realize that he sold out years ago. I believe that other than the name, he has nothing to do with the company.
A minor miscalculation? That’s setting the altimeter off by .01 hg or dialing in the Vref bug ten knots too slow after a grueling 17-hour duty day spent dodging thunderstorms in and out of Chicago’s summer chaos.
A misjudgment, on the other hand, is assuming—without any real basis—that the guy sitting next to you has airman skills on par with yours, only to discover that he can’t handle a 5-knot crosswind after just one leg together. You quickly realize he couldn’t fly his way out of a wet paper bag, and, as a professional aviator, you are all the better for it.
Then there’s ol’ Herschel. The man had a knack for slipping away from UAL to run his Part 135 operation, all while keeping just enough time in the DC-10 to keep his currency intact. And when the Clipper guys came onboard, he quietly slithered over to the 747. Now, I know for a fact that he spent many a long, quiet night in solitary confinement flying the -400 across the Pacific. All those "worldwide" charters, "speed records," and that grandiose style of his? Pure overcompensation for being a SCAB very few pilots wanted to share a cockpit with. After the strike, he was ostracized and thoroughly despised by those who flew the line.
Let me spell it out for you: if his wife wasn’t working the Upper Deck, he wouldn’t so much as take a can of Coca-Cola from a stew. Ol' Herschel had his contacts at FBOs in layover cities whisk him and Lois away planeside—if customs allowed—rather than ride with the crew. They almost never stayed in the company-provided layover hotels. He was always the last to leave the airplane on a layover, and always the first in ops for the predeparture flight briefing. Unless it was some rare publicity trip in his later years, he barely interacted with pilots or flight attendants outside his tight-knit circle. And yet, if you can believe it, there were a few line guys who actually liked him after the strike.
I do not begrudge the man his accomplishments as an aviator prior to May 1985 - they are unique, they are noteworty and they are tremendous. However, his choice to cross the ALPA picket line and the way he conducted himself as a businessman in general, overshadows these achievements. No book, no TV special, no hand-jobbing by a politician can change the fact that Ol' Herschel is, and always will be, the biggest SCAB in the business.
Ol’ Herschel eventually hung up his wings at age 62 as UAL System Seniority Number 0001—the first, only, and last pilot to squeeze out age 62 in the Left Seat before the regulations changed. But you see, that’s a tale for another time. The real twist in that story involves none other than the slick, well-greased FAA Administrator, Alexander Butterfield....
He is younger than he is, but, older than he ever was, that Ol' Herschel.
A misjudgment, on the other hand, is assuming—without any real basis—that the guy sitting next to you has airman skills on par with yours, only to discover that he can’t handle a 5-knot crosswind after just one leg together. You quickly realize he couldn’t fly his way out of a wet paper bag, and, as a professional aviator, you are all the better for it.
Then there’s ol’ Herschel. The man had a knack for slipping away from UAL to run his Part 135 operation, all while keeping just enough time in the DC-10 to keep his currency intact. And when the Clipper guys came onboard, he quietly slithered over to the 747. Now, I know for a fact that he spent many a long, quiet night in solitary confinement flying the -400 across the Pacific. All those "worldwide" charters, "speed records," and that grandiose style of his? Pure overcompensation for being a SCAB very few pilots wanted to share a cockpit with. After the strike, he was ostracized and thoroughly despised by those who flew the line.
Let me spell it out for you: if his wife wasn’t working the Upper Deck, he wouldn’t so much as take a can of Coca-Cola from a stew. Ol' Herschel had his contacts at FBOs in layover cities whisk him and Lois away planeside—if customs allowed—rather than ride with the crew. They almost never stayed in the company-provided layover hotels. He was always the last to leave the airplane on a layover, and always the first in ops for the predeparture flight briefing. Unless it was some rare publicity trip in his later years, he barely interacted with pilots or flight attendants outside his tight-knit circle. And yet, if you can believe it, there were a few line guys who actually liked him after the strike.
I do not begrudge the man his accomplishments as an aviator prior to May 1985 - they are unique, they are noteworty and they are tremendous. However, his choice to cross the ALPA picket line and the way he conducted himself as a businessman in general, overshadows these achievements. No book, no TV special, no hand-jobbing by a politician can change the fact that Ol' Herschel is, and always will be, the biggest SCAB in the business.
Ol’ Herschel eventually hung up his wings at age 62 as UAL System Seniority Number 0001—the first, only, and last pilot to squeeze out age 62 in the Left Seat before the regulations changed. But you see, that’s a tale for another time. The real twist in that story involves none other than the slick, well-greased FAA Administrator, Alexander Butterfield....
He is younger than he is, but, older than he ever was, that Ol' Herschel.
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