Nabil was in Nigeria for many years before his retirement last December and for many of us the question wasn't whether he would return, but when. He always had the trust and respect of national and expatriate employees at all levels in the company. If anyone can sort out the CHC mess and get the company back on track it's him. Good luck Nabil - welcome back
I suppose you mean a saviour . That remains to be seen and I doubt anything can save CHC, but to keep Aero intact and restore its reputation - ah, that's another matter. Nabil held many positions within Aero when it was a reputable company with standards and partnered with Schreiner. He's been a helicopter pilot, fixed wing pilot, Chief Pilot, managing Director, deputy Managing Director, consultant and no matter what, until he finally hit 65 last December, he's always been a supremely professional pilot. Entrepreneur, maniac , manager, no matter what, always respected unlike so many who tried to fill his shoes. I don't know what he can do, but if anyone can revive the company it's him. His energy is intact and his knowledge of Nigerian aviation unmatched - I wish him luck.
Not knowing Nigeria, and seen from this thread it really looks grimmer and grimmer every day
Nothing to say else than to take care; flying helicopters in this kind of context is more than wearing .
Good luck !
Oil Companies pulling out of Nigeria? Any major helicopter operator want to chance getting paid in this situation?
From today's <money.cnn.com>
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) Monday took the drastic step of declaring force majeure on its energy operations in Nigeria because of an ongoing labor strike, signaling the damaging affect the dispute is having on its operations in the country.
"The (Exxon) affiliates will not speculate about the length of the shut-in nor how long it will take to restart production," an Exxon spokeswoman said.
Nigeria's main militant group Monday said an attack it made on a Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) oil facility last Thursday knocked out 350,000 barrels a day of production.
If true, it would mean that about three-quarters of Nigeria's effective pumping capacity of 2.5 million barrels a day is off line, according to Dow Jones Newswires estimates.
Anyone heard of an Operator fixing a portion of remuneration from the Oil Companies to the price of a barrel?! Cheap flights and continued exploration during hard times and then a nice bonus when the shareholders also get a whack of the exorbitant profits! Instead when the price is low they successfully whinge and get ridiculously priced rates to keep going! Good on those that are standing up to this treatment. (But don't forget - you won't see the payouts either unless you are a shareholder! - perhaps the Bolivian President's words ring true!)
And so why bother to make any effort to keep production going when it only raises the price even further as there is a perceived lack of supply. The militants achieve their aim, they wouldn't benefit from any of the government earnings from it in any case! Win, win! All good fun!
Oil companies profits for this quarter have been reported to be 17,000,000,000 USD. I would imagine they are barely getting by on such low returns to their investments....thus the reason they continue to nickel and dime helicopter companies.
OK anjouan I'm with you if it means Nabil's buying if we go visit the Aero bar in Lagos
It's not just the oil companies which are greedy, the helicopter operators don't seem too anxious to give away any of their rate increases to the people out on the front line who are now actually getting shot at to bring the bacon home for them
Into the fire ?? Word is the Mobil staff strike is over so they'll be opening the taps and making money again. But the contract staff still have a beef and are not going back until it's sorted out. If the oil is flowing I don't suppose there will be the same urgency in getting a resolution. Or am I being a touch cynical ?
I'm sure you're right, but in more ways than one. The Pengassan demands were that Exxon had to improve pensions and pipeline safety, and reduce the expatriate and casual labour it employs. They agreed to go back to work because XOM agreed to all of those demands. That sets a good precedent for the next industrial action Pengassan decide to take as well. Far from having shown that they have the heart for winning a fight with the Nigerian labour unions XOM have shown how weak they really are.
But I'm sure that with all the major oil companies having announced new record profits this quarter, and the example shown by XOM, your MD will be rehiring all the nationals he's just had made redundant and improving the delightful international standard luxury hotel in which you're lucky enough to reside . Have any more Legionnaires joined your ranks lately ? Several friend have told me that the new redundancy policy is paying off in that it increases the level of fun and interest in Lagos, wondering where the new drivers will end up taking them . It must give a lot of confidence knowing that if you're ambushed on the way into work you can totally rely on the new drivers to look after your interests and try to drive you out of trouble, not just run away and abandon you to your fate . Never mind, I'm sure that you have every confidence in the MOPOL looking after you eh?
At least in Bristow you know who your managers will be next month (well, apart from the new MD of course ) while CHC don't even know if they'll have any managers in Nigeria next month . Word is that all will be revealed next week - and of course that Nigeria is now the world's least corrupt country and the last elections were totally free and fair
Is there a moratorium on Pan/Bristow on hiring from the GOMEX?
I know of a few recent new hires heading down there with very little experience; however guys with already working offshore in singles and twins in the GOMEX are getting the run around – “Not hiring international at the moment.”
Don't know why that would be. There are quite a few ex GOM Air Log guys in Escravos or on the S76 in Lagos/Port Harcourt. Must be more to do with internal Bristow politics than anything else, though out here quota positions often have a temporary affect on who can be hired, when.
It's good to read that Nabil (and Mani?) are back with Aero and nothing to do with the maple leaf crowd. Schreiner may not have been the most successful company, but it did fairly well in its long association with Aero and Africa, particularly as many of the managers had a very long association with Africa, understood it and empathised with it. Nabil and Mani are part of that long association and can only improve matters. When CHC arrived in Nigeria you could see the open contempt on their faces and hear it in their voices when they talked of the past and how they were going to be the new broom which swept everything clean . Nigel was just given a few weeks to quit his desk and be replaced by the Squirrel, all his experience counting for nothing. They couldn't wait to get rid of Mani and how many times has he already been back to sort out the mess the idiots who replaced him made? If not for him they'd have lost several contracts a long time ago . If only they're able to bring back some of the others who managed to operate helicopters there successfully for over 40 years. It certainly hasn't taken CHC long to make a mess of Nigeria, though I'm actually surprised they haven't come to this stage long before now. Has anyone heard what has been decided about the future of CHC in Nigeria? I guess it doesn't matter too much as with all the problems in that country, the major oil companies are shifting the focus of their big investments in Africa to Angola as evidenced by the opening day of the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston: OTC Opening Day
It's surprising that a company as large as Bristow has nothing in Angola, but CHC, Chevron and the French seem to have that sewn up. Bristow is not without its problems in Nigeria from what friends tell me. Is SAGS staying on beyond 65? If not their problems will get much worse as they don't seem to have put anyone in training to replace him and Akin's successor isn't nearly the man Akin is. Many friends there would not like to join CHC (but if they go and someone else takes over Aero, a few could be persuaded), but they're not happy with the way Bristow is going. In all fairness, that could be due just as much to the security situation causing them all to be imprisoned as anything. However, they complain of being kept more in the dark than ever, lousy housing and food (especially in Lagos and Eket), pathetic allowances and flying old, clapped-out rattletraps (especially the old 412s and A++s). Nobody seems to have been told who their new MD will be, though it's widely rumoured he'll be another accountant with no previous knowledge of aviation. Doubtless he'll be another new blade making a thousand small cuts to improve his profitability bonus .
The complete lack of forward planning by BHNL senior management to replace anyone anywhere fell by the wayside when the focus changed to pleasing the shareholders and boosting the board's performance bonuses. Not that there was much before then. If you upset someone in a "position" 10 years ago you will still be paying the price.
Now people are off to the ME as their wages match or exceed that paid in Nigeria, with all sorts of fringe benefits such as being able to leave your apartment (yes, apartment) without an armed escort.
The amount of talent which is wasted or goes elsewhere beggars belief. But if you pays peanuts you get the proverbial..........
Nabil's the MAN
. That remains to be seen and I doubt anything can save CHC, but to keep Aero intact and restore its reputation - ah, that's another matter. Nabil held many positions within Aero when it was a reputable company with standards and partnered with Schreiner. He's been a helicopter pilot, fixed wing pilot, Chief Pilot, managing Director, deputy Managing Director, consultant and no matter what, until he finally hit 65 last December, he's always been a supremely professional pilot. Entrepreneur, maniac 
, manager, no matter what, always respected unlike so many who tried to fill his shoes. I don't know what he can do, but if anyone can revive the company it's him. His energy is intact and his knowledge of Nigerian aviation unmatched - I wish him luck.
. If only they're able to bring back some of the others who managed to operate helicopters there successfully for over 40 years. It certainly hasn't taken CHC long to make a mess of Nigeria, though I'm actually surprised they haven't come to this stage long before now. Has anyone heard what has been decided about the future of CHC in Nigeria? I guess it doesn't matter too much as with all the problems in that country, the major oil companies are shifting the focus of their big investments in Africa to Angola as evidenced by the opening day of the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston:
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