Very good, I just about choked on my musli! Someone with a good sense of history, I'm struggling for a suitable repost. What was particularly interesting was the responses from some of the windees, (as opposed to the winder). I remember, as I'm sure most of us do, the first transfer of power from Alan to Brian and the sense of forboding we all had with the idea that an accountant would run the business. The situation then deteriorated further with the series of New Suits which through the many 'Management Buyouts', stripped the last semblance of operational dignity (as well as the cash) from the company while monthly bollockings were handed down through the chain of command via telex demanding why there was an error of 10 minutes on the Non-Rev time for LU in August, or the regular scolding we got from the 'Red Palace' as to the level of Non-Rev training Eket was doing (the center of training excellence in Nigeria), all with the BC moniker attached. As one of the major legs of the oil business the helicopter industry does it's self a disservice, with the oil price fluctuating in the region of $100, and the extraordinary forsight that was used when Ab Initio training became a filthy word, the pilots SHOULD be the best treated on the planet.
Alan understood the business and did a great sales pitch to the oil industry. Brian only knew money and had the Nigeria connections from his Fisons days, though they both shared a common weakness (and I say this with the greatest deal of irony).
As a way of comparison, we in the squalor of the desert my masters have been rubbing their hands with glee. It seems only weeks ago that there were full page articles in the local papers, agonising over where all the extra pilots were going to come from, now I just have to mention the Litany; Oasis Hong Kong, Zoom, Silverjet, Eos and today XL along with the others too minor to mention or those hovering in the sidelines like Alitalia and 'A Major American Carrier'. The grass is greener here, (though regularly watered by a small army of Sub Continent refugees). Any time I fly with a whiner, I just drop into the conversation my 7 years in Nigeria and the noise from the other seat seems to dry up for a few minutes (some serial whiners will just NEVER be happy).
Respect guys, you need to be treated better - but you'all knew that already.
Speaking of respect, I have been missing Chucks acerbic sense of humour, how has my desert squalor sharee been doing, I would have thought he would have dived in here...
Idle Des in Dubai