A bit of information gathered up from the lads in the Hevilift camp to answer some of the questions asked earlier in this thread.
The latest on the Get Out of Timor for Hevilift is that all crews will be kept on if they wish. But ALL Hevilift crews have to reapply for their jobs under the new employment contract. As yet nobody knows what is in the NEW contract?? Somebody knows but not saying. Time will reveal the fine print
While chatting with the Timor lads, one question I asked was, If the IFR CP was based there, and the IFR helicopter was NOT IFR , what was the IFR CP doing about it??
For an answer, I was referred back to some posts by BELLFEST. The first one was full of fire and coal(?) dust. In my reply to that I, innocently, asked a few obvious questions. The next BELLFEST post was a quick withdrawal from the scene. It appears that this is typical of the man.
The lads said that they cannot confirm that BELLFEST is the IFR CP but, by the initial bluster and subsequent quick retreat under questioning, they could be twins. If there had of been lots of cappuccino stains over the BELLFEST post, then, they would know for sure!!!
It would appear that they did not expect a lot of effort on the part of the CP to fix the problem thus preempting the Get Out of Timor situation!! Mind you I believe that all standards must be set from the very top. If the owners / top management don’t have high standards, the middle management probably won’t either.
Insurance is NOT fixed up, even though CP says so.
Helicorp have more than one 412 so, perhaps, the heavy landing will not affect their Timor arrival.
I have been told that in Timor the Hevilift contract was with the Army but in Solomons the Hevilift contract is with PDL/TOLL. I wonder how long before PDL/TOLL Helicorp start to eye off the Solomon OP. ??? The Hevilift op there has been less than perfect and, in the word of one of the pilots in the Solomons, PDL/TOLL probably have a little black book of all the Hevilift booboos and will wield it when the time suits them.
One belief is that the Timor contract has been down graded to VFR. Anyone confirm this? Makes it much easier for Helicorp.
The VFR ops in PNG appear to be going quite steadily with the new 407s going well.. One pilot, newly type endorsed on 412, has left. No word why?? The PNG people seem to have pretty good VFR CP and their training guy has been there for years. A pair of old pros who KNOW their stuff and will speak their mind if something is wrong!
Several Squirrels now operating in Indonesia in a joint venture ??
Nothing on any op in Phillipines
The FW side of the Regional/Hevilift operation has been going through a bit of down sizing in OZ. The Cambodia base has closed.
No word on the Myanmar op. But other world class Twin Otter operators are going for the contract! With oil companies it is not ALWAYS about money. Some of them require high standards and will pay for it. ( Not often, but some oil companies do.)
The owners of Regional / Hevilift have been in the transport game for while and are not known for giving up. Probably have a little period of consolidation and then back at. They appear to be able to get the contracts but have a trouble delivering the standards.
Perhaps the new Hevilift CEO can keep them on the straight and level. Apparently he has a heavy aviation background. Good luck to him!
