malabo,
Bristow has been sending young Nigerians abroad for years to replace the "whisky-soaked, over-the-hill expats" you talk about. They have had a sponsored training program for Nigerians for many, many years (their present MD, a Nigerian, was one of the early beneficiaries of this more than 20 years ago). Even now they have around a dozen guys (and girls) in USA being fully sponsored and are interviewing for the next lot. They even have one young Nigerian (also a product of the Bristow training system) as GM of their southern North Sea operation. The Shell Aviation Managers? Sheep, trained under a free Bristow sponsorship; KK,
Bristow trained; Temi,
Bristow trained. Chevron - Obi Wanobi,
Bristow trained. XOM - Femi,
Bristow trained; Big Mike,
Bristow trained; Kehinde,
Bristow trained. Do you see a trend here? Do you see any sponsored free under a CHC or Aero training scheme? Training Manager Shell Brunei,
Bristow trained.
Do you think CaverDanscammer will offer the same? All they're doing right now is trying to poach pilots from Bristow, and more especially, Aero, because they don't have enough to start the contract. Aero had quite a few AW139 pilots - and didn't they do well on the Agip contract? I wonder why 139s aren't flying from Agip base in Port Harcourt now? MD of Caverscam, the dashing Jon Goulash with the perfect smile and hair - ex Bristow, he even got to be the Captain on a float plane! Operations manager, Sunny, ex-Aero. Chief Pilot, Dan ex Bristow. I expect they soon be joined on the AW139 by Pato, Akin, Udoma, Chris and a host of other stars from Aero.
Still, no matter what you're earning, Sunny will offer you even more, guaranteed and none of that tiresome Integrity or ethics $hit - you want your pay in a brown envelope in cash, no problem - they have a huge stash of brown envelopes ready for any occasion. After all, he's got the backing of the Man Can Jewellers, the wealthy and well-connected Yoruba muslim family which managed to get Lagos State Government to donate them a couple of top of the line 412s
Aero is now getting some short-term loans to keep the helicopters going, though they now have only one operating for Aero. Richard Inkwell is standing as tall as he can in his lifts and with the backing of the Ibrus - definitely not a family you want to $crew with - telling it to Agip and Total like it is
. Still, nobody is kinda sure if he'll be around next week as he's an Ibru stooge, not a CHC stooge and there are rumors of them being so desperate, they're also talking to Caverscam. I see that going nowhere. Aero is in desperate financial straits, and even the Ibru money may not be enough to keep them going any more.
Where do the shadowy background figures of NN and Brave D'Allen fit in to all of this? Will they be part of the brave new world of CaverDanscammer? Maybe they'll be the new Head of Rotary Wing and Director of Training? NEO for CEO and SASless for the ethics committee say I
Me, I've already sent my resume to CaverDanscammer. My sort of company - no rules, no questions asked, no tax, no ban on cigarettes and whisky and wild-wild women in my room after 0630 - bring it on I say
. I'm sure they'll like me, I'm a 40-something (well, you don't seriously believe the profile do you?
), milkshake-soaked, Africa hand with no scruples, morals or hair-dye habit and a pair of pointy shoes just waiting to see the light of day in public, with no need to hide them in the closet any more. I even have my own Bajaj
. I'm ready for the game, locked and loaded and ready to be "one of the elite team of pilots and engineers to make this mission your own". I'm ready to "Join us as we develop the most modern and technologially advanced helicopter services in the world". Yo, Center of Excellence, no more Majah, no more Foamy Coolings, no more Wako Jacko, bring it on baby