Gulf Air: CEO Andre Dose starts TODAY. TELL HIM WHAT HAS TO CHANGE!!
PLEASE STICK TO THE TOPIC HERE, EVERYONE, and HELP FIX what could be A REALLY GREAT COMPANY to work at. It had so much potential when I left. It was truly sad to go!
Having said that, I address this to my friends and co-workers who are still with Gulf Air...and your new CEO.
You really need to let Andre know what MUST be fixed at your airline. Make him know loud and clear things MUST be fixed or you will continue to bleed away while many more leave for "elsewheres".
Why do I care, you ask? First off, I lived there for quite a number of years, and put my heart and soul into the place. Crew left (and continue to leave) Gulf Air for many reasons. It is a shame to leave places where the PEOPLE - locals and expats - made the difference. They were the reason that many of us stayed there so long before finally saying "ENOUGH!!". But unless things improve, there will not be many left to drive the machines, mate, since so many say "enough" and walk out. To those of you who are going to leave GF soon, LIST your reasons LOUD AND CLEAR so that you don't just say
"ENOUGH!" and walk out, too! MAYBE it will change. I just wish it had changed before I threw in the towel and left for much greener (green-backs) pastures. I care, because of the people I got to work with who are still there, still hoping, and still waiting. My family LOVED Bahrain (so did I). My children LOVED it there - we all had many great friends - locals and expat - and found it to be such a pleasant place to call home. I left (on good terms) for money reasons. We even enjoyed the short-lived fiasco that had us in the UAE for a while then back to Bahrain again.
I have no regrets leaving (my bank account loves me!). My family loved our time there, and even some of the schools are good there (NOT the School FEES GF says you get, mind you!). Sadly, because of various reasons, mostly INEPT departments and senior managers, we had to go!
Andre, you MUST listen to these complaints. What you hear will only be a fraction of the story on what needs to be done. Start by cleaning the rats out of that pretty pink house you have inherited. I've heard all of the VP's are gone or going (Are they?). Well, that sounded like an intelligent pre-arrival move. Good on ya, mate.
There are so many departments that must be fixed that have been brought up in numerous postings here but LISTEN to the concerns of your crew, and take action on these things - fast.
I've also heard that FIFTEEN LOCALS ARE LEAVING now (and who knows how many more expats)?!! Maybe many more have already either been interviewed elsewhere, and more awaiting their interviews. Isn't an instant 60% raise a good reason to leave? Start by fixing your pay issue, and you won't spend so much money being a training facility for everyone else's crew!
Eliminate the garbage that is screwing your airline up, and aim high. Higher than your now-leaving HOFO, PM, who so correctly chose to walk out of that mess there. Damn fine person to work with, and he supported every reason why I left. Losing him is one huge loss to your company. I bet if half of the headaches he faced there were FIXED and not just mindlessly given the reply of "we'll think about it" whenever he tried to correct wrongs, PM might have stayed. Aim higher than your now-leaving HOFT, CR, who also chose to leave after being there for many, many years. Another loss to GF.
Good luck, Andre, with your seemingly-useless "BORED" of Directors, too. Simply clean the house of the poor performers that infests that place. While the biggest cleaning could take place with the higher-ups, look way down, too. On average, MOST of the workers there does maybe an hour of honest work. YES, there are a great many who are dedicated. However - many arrive, swipe in, park their cars in the car park (or go shopping and return at swipe-out...). It was PATHETIC to see!
Many of us who left to better places will remember the many great people we got to work with. What is happening there is no fault of the people that FLY there, but of those higher up who are responsible for the stagnation in that place. THEY are the real targets Andre. THEY are the reason you are losing more good people!
Ask yourself why so many of us left, and so many others are going to. It gets scary when the locals are leaving, and I am glad I left when I did.
Issues at Gulf Air still:
Pay!!! There are airlines that pay 50% better with 100% better equipment! WAKE UP GF - no wonder people are leaving, with the $hit pay that is still being offered, and NO WONDER people still change their mind about going there!
So many other companies have an organized Staff Travel. I asked this in an earlier posting, but is the Staff Travel Manager still there? Nice guy but in the wrong position. He's bloody useless in making effective changes for the better!! And CLEAN ALMOST ALL of that p!ss-poor Staff Travel STAFF OUT!! What a joke it was to stand in a non-moving queue for HOURS while EVERY Staff Travel staff-member except for Abdulla and one guy (another local Bahraini - Mustaffa?) who knew his stuff, and WORKED, while the rest sat and pecked messages on their mobile phones while the queues kept growing!! Is it still as bad as a couple of years back? Is it??
School Fees! Need I say more?
A decent RETIREMENT FUND.
So many other airlines have non-corrupt housing departments (Mr "T" had a shady background and yet he still oversees the housing contracts? And can you say 10%???!!! Kick-backs are a crime, aren't they?) And how about the paltry amount that they give to find your own place (nothing is "provided" like they said in the contract...). Get one of the "BORED" of Directors to find a place with what GF thinks ANYone might find with the money they say will get something decent. NOT!! NO WONDER people are pissed off about their housing - and still leaving! (Read what is in the contract and what they "offer"!!!).
So many other airlines have a true HR department - USEless - "Human Remains", not Resources! It was a slide downhill when Ali S was moved from helping the pilots - what a terrific, sincere gentleman he was - only to be shoved into a corner by some pathetic ex-secretary-now-manager who she thinks she now runs the place (is she still there?? BAD APPLE!!!). I hear SHE ("A") SELECTS PILOTS NOW?? How sad is THAT?!
...or an engineering department that can hire and retain a legitimate amount of engineers. The poor blokes there can hardly cope. You have a dedicated group in engineering - treat them well and things can be fixed - with enough engineers needed to do the job!
...or a medical clinic that WORKS (unlike the mess that GF has. Are your Doctors still quitting in frustration?! Ever wonder why the clinic is open 24 hours then not then 24...? The doctors know it is spiralling out of control, too, and they end up QUITTING!!)
...and with this latest fiasco you are dealing with...who oversees the maintenance there now?! At least someone had the balls to bring them in for checks. (Oh and your acting big-boss said it was "minute traces" of "minor corrosion" in his letter to everyone that someone posted here?! HAH! He needs glasses. LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND READ THE REPORTS of what sure is NOT "MINUTE TRACES of MINOR CORROSION"!! Minor my eye. Glad I am not driving those Boeing's there anymore...!)
If these issues would be addressed, instead of being mindlessly ignored, your company would retain ALL of the people that left, and attract lots more.
As I said before....and I sincerely mean it: Good luck, GF. You truly are a great bunch, and I will never forget the people there. It's too bad that those at the top have left it rusting too long in the sand. It could still be a great place to work.
I can't watch this thread from afar without tossing in some legit comments about other areas that have been touched on briefly by others. Please feel free to respond back to whatever I say, and good luck to all of you there.
Time for a SERIOUS clean sweep, Andre.
Cheers,
R.D.
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