Capetonian, excellent, word by word the truth. And almost 4 years in India, also some time ago, fly past my memory and see all these pictures in real again...yes, the Ambassador, had one for six months myself before I swapped it for a Tata Sierra...plus some lakhs of Rupees on top...
It has already been mentioned, however, I need to add a few words here.
There are obviously some colleagues who still dream of a life in India like the grand Raj; for these incredible India dreams I may have some more spices to supply.
After an interesting conversation with a friend I feel the need to open the eyes to the last dreamer as well.
The well known and awarded airline I spoke of earlier here is still in need, and now even more, to secure contracts with expats. There are more and more agencies pulling out of this lucrative alliance after their presented pilots receive the "incredible" treat.
Not too long ago, and I am speaking of just a few weeks here, some Greek friends were forced to find new jobs, and they did, and yes, you guessed right, with said airline.
Something has happend, and there is the usual magic carpet flying very low to cover the dust, and no one of the concerned colleagues is aware of what this may be. Since the company was expecting to have its new recruits exchanging fuel bills in paid tickets and this is obviously not happening, a quick change in the salary payments, just as the contract allows, has been implemented.
This affects "only" 6 pilots and it is "only" 50% of the promised salary which is in dispute now, however, the agency which supplied the pilots has also not received any contractual payments for its work.
Since agencies are also frequently consulting the rumors spread on this forum, this will morph the situation now into a very interesting picture. An agency does the pre-selection, provides all the arrangements (at least that is what should be the case) and all promises with nice PowerPoint presentation from the land of the software gurus are broken. Not so much major news some may say, however, reputable (and also claimed not-so-reputable) are pulling out of India.
While there are ideas to look into a court case, I doubt that anyone has a chance to tackle (as the Indians love to say) the paragraph in the contract which clearly says:
"4.2 Your payment and benefits may be reviewed by the company from time to time at the company's sole discretion......" this beside the fact that there is
"4.1 ....Your compensation is confidential. You should not communicate in any manner, any information with regard to your compensation to any other employee or anyone outside the company."
Now, that will keep you away from courts and lawyers...
Democracy, as I stated earlier in my first posting here, does not work in this airline at all...
Are you still hoping to escape your financial problems in taking on contracts like this one? The only thing you may achieve is the geographical separation with your family, you are still at the wrong end of the foodchain.
Another agency, so I have received confirmation, has stopped working for this extraordinary outfit but, as the whistle blows, the next one has lined up already, this time from the UK again, to collect the litter and transfer this into a shiny and exciting job, of course located in incredible India.
And the Colonel is still on the telephone stuttering and mumbling his useless and empty phrases to eager and unaware colleagues...
Prepare for a tough and rough awakening, the Sun Group holds clouds only for their unaware newcomers...also known as Expats.