Its Me
Great, someone in another PPRuNe forum said:
"Maybe a beautiful fleet
but an ugly management
!!!!!!"
Right on man! Very true...love it!
Crews are still 95% perfect. Like in life, rest represents some streamlined asshole with no guts. BUT: Most of the 95% are highly demotivated, because of the mentioned "ugly management".
Things changed rapidly last 12 month. A lot, and I mean a
lot, new CHs are being employed. 80% are from the magical Island (by now a standing term at VJ). Why? They really accept ridiculous contracts. On their 5-day inprocessing course in FAB they also learn for the fist time:
Uniform cleaning on your own.
Handbag, Stockings, etc..also your duty.
-
Never turn your Blackberry off during rotation. So guess how stress-free their crew rest nights are, when Messenger and Email is ringing all night
The new Hostesses are the BEST. Even though lots of them have never seen an airplane from the jumpseat before. etc..
Old contracts (Germans and Austrians) are kicked out, hence they are too expensive. And criticize a bit more.The outstanding Catering Team is somewhat doing a job like Scientology.
Well, actually all VJ departements are good at this. Therefore lots of old
knowledgeable girls are leaving. Very sad, as they knew how it works. New CHs get 1400 Euro/month in the first 6 month. Then a bit more. Donīt forget: Mostly they are doing more than 17 days on. And without post compensation (longer Off period etc). Just like any other employee.
For the pilots there is no difference. TF (everyone knows I guess..) is a big fan of England, London, etc..So not only a vast majority of English pilots are being employed. They also jump right at key positions like Trainingsmanager, Flight Safety, (Dep)-Fleet Chief, etc..If you are not British or donīt have a proceeding airport starting with EG...? Get lost!
Money is cut everywhere. Crews are happy to stay at Holiday Inn now. Shuttle buses have to be used, a telephone budget has been introduced. You go beyond 150 Euro/month with your phone bill? Well, you better have a solid excuse or pay the rest yourself. HR offers to deduct it straight from your pay. So, no worries.
Internet in Hotels is only acceptable if no Business Center or Lobby WiFi available. Breakfast? Well, if your Captain cheats the Hotel Bill, youīll get it. Otherwise a hungry day starts. Forget about Crew Meals!
Very nice is the introduction of the famous "Crew Meal Box". Each Crewmember is allowed to purchase cheap food for 10 Euro per 17 days rotation. If you then ask for more, guess what the answer is: F.... off!
Aircrafts are getting older. The original concept of "not older than 2 years"
is obsolete. More and more Maintenance issues due to this.
Proceedings are mostly an adventure: You always (alllllwaaaays) get the cheapest travel option. Means: If you can save 30 Euro on the ticket, Crewplanning accepts a proceeding of 12 hours instead of 4 hours with a (possible) direct connection.
Upgrades Right to Left on Lear60 is pretty much impossible,
as they have 14-15 Captains already. Perhaps the old Copilots get an offer for 850 or Global. But: No PIC!
Upgrades 605 have been possible, but only for fast career track pilots (FCT). If you donīt share TFs vision, make suggestions, use fair critique, ask for vacation, etc: You are NOT a FCT pilot! Hence: NO Upgrade! Others are passing left and right. And guess which proceeding airport they all have? Exactly: EG....something!
Upgrades Global: Not very likely. Even though new ones arrive (next 6 or so aircraft are all said to be BD700), old ones leave. So future is unchanged. Also, the COP that came from L60 or 605 without prior PIC rating will need to go back to 605 or 850 for PIC before being allowed to be PIC on Global. Guess how big that chance is?
By the way: New contract also means: You donīt have vacation anymore. Well, you do, but you agree upon signing to take them within your Off days exclusively. If you have family and would like 14 or more days for some package vacation, forget it! 13 MAX! Have fun...
Some 8 pilots on 605 have left so far this year.
And about 6 or more are to follow in 2012. They actually meet at pretty much all Interviews from Bosch, AeroLogic, Imperial Jet (yes, even there!), DCA, Emirates, etc.. Most of them just wait for the best opportunity to leave.
As far as I know half a dozen pilots are using a laywer from VC in
order to get their rights. This laywer is well known to VJ, as they have had
court cases in the past. VJ never won a single one of them!
Overall guys: Situation is pretty bad. And getting worse daily. The only positive thing worth mentioning is: Your payment is always on time. But: If thatīs all you need to be happy, go ahead and send your CV. The english community is waiting just for YOU!