DHLAir wannabe? read this.

[SQP2]

I’ve just heard about this thread and I’m now glad to have read it. There’s some good honest stuff here and the title says it all - anyone considering joining DHL Air needs to be aware of the FACTs and this thread is a true reflection of what’s going on.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, there is a massive problem with fumes in DHL. Sadly, even if the fumes wasn’t an issue there are a whole host of other issues that need to be addressed to get this outfit back to what it was and what it could (so easily) be once again.

SQP1, you are a lone voice here and from your own admission, a lone voice amongst your colleagues. In fact you have more or less single handedly kept this post alive – something we must all thank you for!

It has just been declared that the reports of fumes incidents in DHL Air has reduced significantly, the ONLY reason for this is that exposure to these fumes, in most circumstances, has been decreed by the company to be normal and therefore not reportable. I guess if you ask Blair he’d find a way of “spinning” the facts and proving that the incidence of stabbings in London has reduced in his twilight years! That’s what’s happening at DHL, a lot of spin and bluster about how things are and will improve, yet the fact is absolutely nothing is getting better.

I’ve no doubt that the engineers are doing their best within their means, but what can they do with engines leaking oil into the air conditioning ducts without spending the huge amounts of money required to replace all of the seals? BA aren’t stupid – they saw this coming and got rid of the aircraft before they were lumbered with them - as DHL Air now are. Of course there are ways to fix the problem but guess what, it costs money and lots of it – that’s why you ain’t gonna see a whole lot of action until something serious goes down.

In years to come there are people reading this thread now who will suffer ill health because of their exposure to fumes whilst flying 757’s for DHL Air – of that I have no doubt. It maybe one of the “Famous Five”, it maybe me or it may even be you SQP1 – WAKE UP!!!!!!! And where will DHL Air be when the long term affects become apparent and it’s time to sue!? They’ll have long gone which is why right now they don’t give a stuff.

There is a lot of talk going on at management level, but no action. This needs sorting fast, the “moaners” have long gone and the rest are quickly following. We are all slowly waking up to the fact that we are being poisoned, nothing is being done about it and so the only option left is for us to leave.

Attrition amongst the pilots is appalling (not to mention what’s been going on in the office!) and must be approaching 25% for the last 12 months – the bad news is that this is the tip of the iceberg, there’s a lot more in the pipeline. How can any company sustain this reduction in numbers and sit back and let it happen? The worst and most worrying aspect of this though is that they simply don’t care, they are letting this happen and losing some of the best people they have and doing absolutely nothing about it. Why, what is the real agenda?

This leads onto another cause for concern – dilution of experience. There is a huge experience gap opening up because they are unable to recruit experience and at the same time to plug the hole at the top the number of guys going through command upgrades is huge. The result is we have lots of inexperience at both ends with morale probably the lowest of any company in the UK at present – we are far from the jewel in the industry that DHL Air profess to be.

This thread is not helping DHL’s recruitment program and we all realise that. But for those of you ready to have a pop at anyone posting here, think about it. Why have we turned to this forum, somewhere I do not personally frequent? Desperation! It’s a known fact that our hierarchy read this and we have all given up on any other means of communication, so maybe, just maybe if we air our views here someone may do something about it.

Nothing is more important than our health. I don’t want to go, I want to see this sorted and to get the job back on the rails. Sadly I don’t believe this is going to happen and more than likely will follow in the footsteps of the others who have held out in vain for something to be done.