<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/> NetJets Inc, the luxury aviation unit ofWarren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said on MondayJordan Hansell is stepping down as chairman and chief executive,in the midst of a bitter two-year contract dispute with itspilots.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Hansell, 44, had been chief executive since 2011, two yearsafter joining Columbus, Ohio-based NetJets as general counsel.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Adam Johnson, also 44, was promoted to chairman and chiefexecutive, effective immediately, from the role of president.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>NetJets also said Bill Noe, 50, rejoined as president andchief operating officer, a position he held before leaving a fewmonths ago for General Electric Co.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>It was not immediately clear why Hansell left. A NetJetsspokeswoman declined to comment.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>"For his hard work and his success in leading NetJetsthrough a very tumultuous economic period, Jordan has earned oursincerest thanks and best wishes for his next endeavors,"Johnson said in a statement.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>NetJets specializes in "fractional" aircraft ownership,which lets individuals and companies buy shares of private jets,and travel on short notice with greater privacy than oncommercial aircraft.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Berkshire paid $725 million for NetJets in 1998, but thebusiness became an albatross as it took on $1.9 billion of debt,losing $711 million in 2009.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>Buffett then installed top deputy David Sokol to fix what hecalled "Berkshire's only major business problem," only to haveSokol leave in 2011 after revealing he had bought shares in achemical company that he was successfully urging Buffett to buy.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>NetJets has been profitable under Hansell, but his tenurehas been marred by a dispute with the NetJets Association ofShared Aircraft Pilots, which represents more than 2,700 pilots.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>The union has accused NetJets of trying to unnecessarily cutjobs and obtain concessions on health care, job security andwork rules, and bait pilots through bogus Twitter postings toconduct work slowdowns for which they could be fired.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>At Berkshire's annual meeting on May 2, Buffett maintainedthat "we have no anti-union agenda whatsoever."
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Pedro Leroux, the union's president, in a statement said hehopes Johnson and Noe "share our goal of rebuilding a onceprogressive labor-management relationship."
<span id="midArticle_13"/>NetJets is one of Berkshire's smaller units, generatingabout 2 percent of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate'srevenue, according to regulatory filings.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Berkshire owns more than 80 other businesses in such areasas insurance, railroads, energy, and consumer goods. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by RichardChang)
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<span id="midArticle_1"/>Hansell, 44, had been chief executive since 2011, two yearsafter joining Columbus, Ohio-based NetJets as general counsel.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Adam Johnson, also 44, was promoted to chairman and chiefexecutive, effective immediately, from the role of president.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>NetJets also said Bill Noe, 50, rejoined as president andchief operating officer, a position he held before leaving a fewmonths ago for General Electric Co.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>It was not immediately clear why Hansell left. A NetJetsspokeswoman declined to comment.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>"For his hard work and his success in leading NetJetsthrough a very tumultuous economic period, Jordan has earned oursincerest thanks and best wishes for his next endeavors,"Johnson said in a statement.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>NetJets specializes in "fractional" aircraft ownership,which lets individuals and companies buy shares of private jets,and travel on short notice with greater privacy than oncommercial aircraft.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Berkshire paid $725 million for NetJets in 1998, but thebusiness became an albatross as it took on $1.9 billion of debt,losing $711 million in 2009.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>Buffett then installed top deputy David Sokol to fix what hecalled "Berkshire's only major business problem," only to haveSokol leave in 2011 after revealing he had bought shares in achemical company that he was successfully urging Buffett to buy.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>NetJets has been profitable under Hansell, but his tenurehas been marred by a dispute with the NetJets Association ofShared Aircraft Pilots, which represents more than 2,700 pilots.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>The union has accused NetJets of trying to unnecessarily cutjobs and obtain concessions on health care, job security andwork rules, and bait pilots through bogus Twitter postings toconduct work slowdowns for which they could be fired.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>At Berkshire's annual meeting on May 2, Buffett maintainedthat "we have no anti-union agenda whatsoever."
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Pedro Leroux, the union's president, in a statement said hehopes Johnson and Noe "share our goal of rebuilding a onceprogressive labor-management relationship."
<span id="midArticle_13"/>NetJets is one of Berkshire's smaller units, generatingabout 2 percent of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate'srevenue, according to regulatory filings.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Berkshire owns more than 80 other businesses in such areasas insurance, railroads, energy, and consumer goods. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by RichardChang)
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