Air Tanker to Spain

[rustybh]

Thoughts go out to the chaps at Cobham:

Cobham air tanker work moves to Spain, 320 jobs to go - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/cob/9348717/Cobham-air-tanker-work-moves-to-Spain-320-jobs-to-go.html)

Will await the verdict in Private Eye!

:(

[NutLoose]

Why does that not suprise me :(

[airborne_artist]

Now they really won't be on time. Spanish practices and all that.

[frg7700]

On the bright side Lewis Page should be able to write a new book.

[Corrona]

if the spanish can knock em out on time even with their 1400 stack, then we should be doing some kind of time and motion study to find out how they achieve so much in such a sort working day.

...or maybe they'll be late...and a bit shabby here and there!

[Rigga]

Cobham had been advertising for staff ranging from mechanics to quality engineers for the last year or more - the paltry pay offered for all roles suggested that the job was going abroad (or the whole contract was going South).
As the ATr contract has no loyalty links with UK all the scheduled work could go anywhere - the last "C" Check (on the one at BZN) was done by Monarch at Manchester a few weeeks ago.
The Airlines I worked with farmed out maintenance checks to the cheapest biddder - wherever! Look out for Lithuania and Poland.

So it looks like the only ATr Maintenance will be "Light & Line" - done in a (EASA Approved) line facility, no doubt.

[Alber Ratman]

Bet you the Spanish will employ a lot of British connies to do it, cos generally their guys are sh*te metal worker and the conversions are mostly detail sheet work... Spanish connie working in my place didn't even know what a hi-lok was!!:E

Know a few guys who lost their jobs today..:(

[ArthurR]

Worked on the Aussie A330 MRTT (flight test) at Getafe for 3 1/2 years, the guys doing the work always came out on time, ok they did swap the pods on me once, and messed up the calibrations, but once we found the problem, no problem, there are some good mech's, ect out there.

[OafOrfUxAche]

The tanker planes, which are 60 metres long, can carry 100,000 litres of fuel and pass it on to other planes at a rate of 5,000 litres a minute.


Is that a fact? Or just the design aspiration?

[Shack37]

Worked on the Aussie A330 MRTT (flight test) at Getafe for 3 1/2 years, the guys doing the work always came out on time, ok they did swap the pods on me once, and messed up the calibrations, but once we found the problem, no problem, there are some good mech's, ect out there.

Arthur, how could you? Obviously speaking from experience but now you've upset some little Englanders. Crap day for the guys who lost their jobs.

"Short working day" "Generally their guys are sh*te metal workers" etc.

Ah well, back to the other jokes thread.

[chippy63]

Scroood again. Why can't the procurement folk negotiate safeguards into contracts properly? In the private sector, you'd be fired for a lapse such as this. MoD et al, NUL POINTS>

[StopStart]

I think Cobham just bit off more than they could chew with this one.

[Doctor Cruces]

Woddya expect when HMG sells their stake in EADS?
The work goes to the countries that have a stake in the company.
I would expect there to be no EADS/Airbus work in the UK at all as soon as the rest can arrange it.

Doc C

[ArthurR]

From the Telegraph "The change means that up to 320 UK jobs will unfortunately go - this affects 237 Cobham jobs and those of 83 contractors - and the change will happen by the end of the first quarter of next year,"

Fact is there are 237 jobs lost, most of the contractors will be looking for new jobs now, and then leaving on an hours notice, wish I could have got 6 months notice when contracting, best I got was a months, and that was in Germany, in UK minimum 1 hours notice either way.