Very sad.
I left AAI in December 1999 and at that time Capt. Alan Nicholson was the fleet Captain of the B747 fleet.
Top days staying at his beloved George Hotel when doing simulator revals. Tony Bellis checking and eager to get back to Madrid !
Now that was a great base - but gotta say I enjoyed Gatwick flying down to south of Spain ports during the summer months.
Then there was Jeddah and the old Rose Village. Noddy Parsons and his bloody garden and Paul "Yarpee" Terone with his BBQs around the pool area. Lots of great people to work with - cabin crew, ops people and aircrew. No one took life very seriously back then and we were all reasonably happy with the conditions.
AAI was a great Company to work for in those days and it saddens me to read all the above on this thread.
I guess that's change - sometimes it's for the good and sometimes for the worse.