Payday at Arik Air
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Mr Smith wrote:
With Ariks financial woes, hopefully this will atleast put to rest some of the talk of illegal financing of the airline
Think about this...
Arik have never had a sustainable business model from day 1 (how many shiny new a/c sitting around) and yet they have only had money woes since GJ became President?
Add to that the fact that VK have come back from the dead after being bought out by JI who is the Chairman of GJ's election committee.
I wonder does anyone know who actually owns Arik's fleet?
With Ariks financial woes, hopefully this will atleast put to rest some of the talk of illegal financing of the airline
Think about this...
Arik have never had a sustainable business model from day 1 (how many shiny new a/c sitting around) and yet they have only had money woes since GJ became President?
Add to that the fact that VK have come back from the dead after being bought out by JI who is the Chairman of GJ's election committee.
I wonder does anyone know who actually owns Arik's fleet?
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High Fuel Costs In Nigeria
How can one of the richest oil producing countries claim to be impacted by higher fuel prices! LOL!
In 1991 I was working for Saudi Aramco, flying out of Dhahran. Like everyone I bought a car and bought gas at the Aramco Camp gas station. It only cost about $0.50 per gallon. And one day the station ran out of gas! All the expats were shouting, "We're sitting on top of the world's largest supply of petroleum, and there's no
gas?"
In 1991 I was working for Saudi Aramco, flying out of Dhahran. Like everyone I bought a car and bought gas at the Aramco Camp gas station. It only cost about $0.50 per gallon. And one day the station ran out of gas! All the expats were shouting, "We're sitting on top of the world's largest supply of petroleum, and there's no
gas?"
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ET/ASKY expanding?
I know that ET and ASKY are both expanding, and that they are looking for pilots. I would bet that things are better in Addis or Lome than in Lagos. At least one would get paid on time.
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How can one of the richest oil producing countries claim to be impacted by higher fuel prices! LOL!
Politics is basically to blame for the situation. There used to be regular mogas shortages too when I used to rotate out of there.
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With Ariks financial woes, hopefully this will atleast put to rest some of the talk of illegal financing of the airline
I disagree. I think that it suggests otherwise. For those of us flying here, Arik has always been an absolute mess with regard to finances. Even last year, pilots would show up at training events, only to be turned away for non-payment. So, Arik would pay the pilot's paycheque a few days late every month, the hotel and airfare, and per diem... only to have to do the training event again anyway. Every airline training company in the WORLD knows Arik, and not in a good way !
I wouldn't want to guess how many MILLIONS of dollars have been wasted that way. The Q400 crews were paid for a year to sit at home, waiting for airplanes that... weren't paid for. More MILLIONS wasted. At the same time these millions were being wasted, they were out paying millions for new planes. Absolutely GROSS mismanagement. As noted in the indictment of Arik principles for money laundering, six new airplanes were added to the fleet from the time Arik agreed to a payment plan of taxes/fees (which they didn't adhere to). GROSS mismanagement.
The gross mismanagement still exists. The company still has crews sitting at home waiting for Arik to pay for their recurrent training. Crews are waiting in hotels in Lagos for Arik to pay for their rotation back home.
What's significantly different now is that they clearly don't have money. That probably isn't due to ONLY a change in political clout in Abuja. Customers are not impressed with frequent cancellations, late being the norm.
When I hired on, the then DFO told us that this company had enough money to operate for 5 years without a profit. That money didn't just fall out of trees. Obviously, it came from somewhere. At the end of 5 years, they hoped to have market share, and have the competition run out of business. This October will complete the 4th year of operations. The other airlines didn't disappear. The competition going into more US or European markets will only get greater. Continental/United is not going to let Arik stroll into IAH for free.
How can one of the richest oil producing countries claim to be impacted by higher fuel prices! LOL!
Nigeria does not produce the fuel. Zero production. They only poke holes in the ground for the stuff to squirt out of into ships to be delivered around the world. It has to come back in ships as a refined product at a premium price.
I know that ET and ASKY are both expanding, and that they are looking for pilots.
Our fellow pilots are having no problem finding jobs in Europe, and around the world. 1/3 of the pilot workforce has left in 2010 alone. Rumours abound with the following probable outcomes for attempting to retain flight crews:
1. Nigerian crew's pay has already been "harmonised", however, not yet on par with expats
2. Expat rotation changed to 4 weeks on / 4 weeks off
3. Crews allowed in business class
4. Expats paid $500 per month to buy their own travel arrangements from gateway cities of New York and London (they will fly business on Arik there). This $500 is increased by $500 for each year of service, to a maximum of 3 years, or $1500 / month.
5. Expat 6 month recurrent training to be completed during rotation home
6. Expat crew compound should be ready by Jan 2011
7. Begin actively transitioning pilots to larger aircraft within the fleet, and upgrading first officers to captain.
8. Getting paid on time, which is promised to start this month, on the 28th to 30th.
9. No word on per diems, but they need to be addressed. A330 crews are paid $150 for an overnight in J-burg, while lowly B737 crews get significantly less. Per diem for training was lowered from $200 to $150, and has now been set to $200 again.
Naturally, the devil is in the details. Crews are not going to just believe promises from this company. Action, and now.
Getting an MD would seem to be a good idea. One who knows how to run a profitable airline.... that's not the current group, BTW.
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Arik looking for A330 crews
Looks like Arik is looking for A330 crews. Will that be to replace Hifly pilots or just to supplement them?
Global Airline Jobs - Arik Air
Global Airline Jobs - Arik Air
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Looks like Arik is looking for A330 crews. Will that be to replace Hifly pilots or just to supplement them?
Hifly operates the A340, not the A330. Yes, Arik is recruiting on every airplane. See above comments pertaining to 1/3 of the pilot workforce quitting in 2010.
The A330 just got a new fleet manager, who has stated that he will not work with the former acting fleet manager with 5 stripes. Doesn't want him in the fleet at all.
Arik is scheduled to receive a second A330 this fall, and 2 more in 2011/2012. It would be anybody's guess where they might go, how they'll keep crews for it (at the current pay). Or if they'll even show up.
Like most things Arik, it's as irrational as anything else. Five B777 and some B787's are officially on order, also. Since Arik has already been offered the 777's, and turned them down, I'll just speculate that they'll never show up.
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Oba1,
What then, of the refineries in PH and Warri? Are they now totally defunct?
Nigeria does not produce the fuel. Zero production. They only poke holes in the ground for the stuff to squirt out of into ships to be delivered around the world.
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Arik Looking for A330 Crew
That ad on Global Aviation Jobs shows Kevin Dudley as COO - didn't he escape months ago?
I believe he left before the MD (JH) and CFO (JR) also bolted!
It also mentions preparation for the IOSA audit, can this be achieved without an MD, DFO & COO?
I believe he left before the MD (JH) and CFO (JR) also bolted!
It also mentions preparation for the IOSA audit, can this be achieved without an MD, DFO & COO?
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IOSA ha!
Re IOSA Arik may be able to pull the wool/bribe the NCAA but they are not going to fool the rest of the world with their startlingly poor management. Not only are they missing the key players required, anyone who had any interest and ability to do the job wrt to getting the manuals , systems and processes in place has given up trying to get VE to see that it has to be done correctly not the "Nigerian way" and have left due mostly to the attitude of VE.
With aircraft being cannibalized and pax increasingly being delayed, pilots disillusioned and services cancelled at no notice Arik will be lucky to still be operating by Xmas. The desperation of bringing in the 4on/4off roster with the pay rises that we have asked for for over 2 years is just too little too late.
Arik have brought this all on themselves by letting men like VE have a hand when he was clearly out of his depth and then rubbing salt in the wounds by promoting the man responsible for the triple decimation of the pilot workforce.
Simply put no one in their right mind wants to be there and those that remain do so only until they get the ink dry on offers with the many other operators out there who actually 1) Want expat pilots and 2) Treat them as a higher lifeform than dingos.
When VE is sitting in his office presiding over the remnants of what could have been a beautiful airline using writs, injunctions and summons as fire material to keep warm maybe then he will rue the day he decided to loose sight of the fact that this may be Nigeria but the world and even his own country is growing up and refuses to be treated like he probably was in his youth.
Pilots these days vote with their feet. RIP Arik RIP
With aircraft being cannibalized and pax increasingly being delayed, pilots disillusioned and services cancelled at no notice Arik will be lucky to still be operating by Xmas. The desperation of bringing in the 4on/4off roster with the pay rises that we have asked for for over 2 years is just too little too late.
Arik have brought this all on themselves by letting men like VE have a hand when he was clearly out of his depth and then rubbing salt in the wounds by promoting the man responsible for the triple decimation of the pilot workforce.
Simply put no one in their right mind wants to be there and those that remain do so only until they get the ink dry on offers with the many other operators out there who actually 1) Want expat pilots and 2) Treat them as a higher lifeform than dingos.
When VE is sitting in his office presiding over the remnants of what could have been a beautiful airline using writs, injunctions and summons as fire material to keep warm maybe then he will rue the day he decided to loose sight of the fact that this may be Nigeria but the world and even his own country is growing up and refuses to be treated like he probably was in his youth.
Pilots these days vote with their feet. RIP Arik RIP
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Today in the News:
International Group Financing Corp. (ILFC) is negotiating with several national and commercial airlines to try and double its footprint in Africa by 2015, including Nigeria.
Vice President at ILFC, Ozzie Chraibi, told Reuters,"We would love to double our exposure in Africa from, I think it's 20 aircraft at the moment, in the next 5 years". The Los Angeles based corporation, with a portfolio of more than 1,000 aircraft, currently leases Boeing and Airbus passenger aircraft in about eight African countries, including the national airline of Africa's biggest economy, South Africa Airways.
More news: The bombing attempt (Xmas last year by a Nigerian national of Delta Airlines) pushed Nigeria into signing an agreement allowing air marshals (from the USA) aboard international flights between the US and Africa's most populous nation, US Ambassador Sanders told reporters Wed.
Two direct flights now leave for Lagos; Delta Air Lines from Atlanta, and Arik Air from New York. Continental Airlines plans to launch new daily non-stop flights between Houston and Lagos late next year.
Vice President at ILFC, Ozzie Chraibi, told Reuters,"We would love to double our exposure in Africa from, I think it's 20 aircraft at the moment, in the next 5 years". The Los Angeles based corporation, with a portfolio of more than 1,000 aircraft, currently leases Boeing and Airbus passenger aircraft in about eight African countries, including the national airline of Africa's biggest economy, South Africa Airways.
More news: The bombing attempt (Xmas last year by a Nigerian national of Delta Airlines) pushed Nigeria into signing an agreement allowing air marshals (from the USA) aboard international flights between the US and Africa's most populous nation, US Ambassador Sanders told reporters Wed.
Two direct flights now leave for Lagos; Delta Air Lines from Atlanta, and Arik Air from New York. Continental Airlines plans to launch new daily non-stop flights between Houston and Lagos late next year.
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Oba1,
I was not nit-picking there, merely curious as the fate of the refineries. When I was last in Nigeria Warri was shut down for refurbishment and I was wondering if they had given up on them or actually gone through with the refurb and restarted production.
I was not nit-picking there, merely curious as the fate of the refineries. When I was last in Nigeria Warri was shut down for refurbishment and I was wondering if they had given up on them or actually gone through with the refurb and restarted production.
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some good news to go along with the not-so-good news.
Arik Air gets US govt?s recognition Vanguard
Arik Air gets US govt’s recognition
LAGOS—UNITED STATES Government has granted its recognition of Arik Airlines as one of Africa’s leading carriers, crowning it with an invitation to the Chairman, Sir Joseph Arumemi Ikhide, to make a presentation at the just concluded eighth African Growth and Opportunities Act, AGOA, Forum in Washington DC.
Vanguard learnt that Arik Air was invited to the Forum, which held August 2 to 3, 2010, for facilitating trade between the U.S. and Africa, especially in view of the volume of investment it had put into aircraft acquisition, mainly from Boeing Corporation.
Speaking at the Forum, which had in attendance U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, William Fitzgerald; President of United States’ Export_Import (EXIM) Bank, Mr. Fred Hochberg, acknowledged Arik Air’s contributions to the growth of aviation in Africa and trade relations with the U.S.
Hochberg noted that Arik Air had significant trade major with U.S. companies, stressing that the airline had the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in Africa, and had invested over $4.57 billion in Boeing aircraft acquisition, including orders.
He said the airline had also done $220 million worth of transactions with US EXIM Bank; purchased about $1 million explosive and narcotic trace devices from General Electric, GE; and $3 million screening machines from Rapiscan, among others.
Hochberg particularly referred to the commitment of the airline to develop the air transport sector in West and Central Africa.
Arik Air Chairman, Sir Arumemi Ikhide who was invited to speak on facilitating trade through investment and infrastructure showcased achievements of Arik Air as a model for all of Africa and its strides at making Nigeria a hub for travel to the continent.
In his presentation at the Forum, which also had in attendance ministers of trade and commerce from several African countries, Sir Arumemi_Ikhide, also made allusions to the current and planned fleet acquisition (new orders from Boeing and Airbus), route structure, unique training programme, first class maintenance support from Lufthansa Technik, and plan to build a first class maintenance facility in Africa, OCC.
He also listed the recent AOC re-certification by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, as part of efforts at attaining United States’ Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, Category 1.
Arik Air gets US govt?s recognition Vanguard
Arik Air gets US govt’s recognition
LAGOS—UNITED STATES Government has granted its recognition of Arik Airlines as one of Africa’s leading carriers, crowning it with an invitation to the Chairman, Sir Joseph Arumemi Ikhide, to make a presentation at the just concluded eighth African Growth and Opportunities Act, AGOA, Forum in Washington DC.
Vanguard learnt that Arik Air was invited to the Forum, which held August 2 to 3, 2010, for facilitating trade between the U.S. and Africa, especially in view of the volume of investment it had put into aircraft acquisition, mainly from Boeing Corporation.
Speaking at the Forum, which had in attendance U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, William Fitzgerald; President of United States’ Export_Import (EXIM) Bank, Mr. Fred Hochberg, acknowledged Arik Air’s contributions to the growth of aviation in Africa and trade relations with the U.S.
Hochberg noted that Arik Air had significant trade major with U.S. companies, stressing that the airline had the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in Africa, and had invested over $4.57 billion in Boeing aircraft acquisition, including orders.
He said the airline had also done $220 million worth of transactions with US EXIM Bank; purchased about $1 million explosive and narcotic trace devices from General Electric, GE; and $3 million screening machines from Rapiscan, among others.
Hochberg particularly referred to the commitment of the airline to develop the air transport sector in West and Central Africa.
Arik Air Chairman, Sir Arumemi Ikhide who was invited to speak on facilitating trade through investment and infrastructure showcased achievements of Arik Air as a model for all of Africa and its strides at making Nigeria a hub for travel to the continent.
In his presentation at the Forum, which also had in attendance ministers of trade and commerce from several African countries, Sir Arumemi_Ikhide, also made allusions to the current and planned fleet acquisition (new orders from Boeing and Airbus), route structure, unique training programme, first class maintenance support from Lufthansa Technik, and plan to build a first class maintenance facility in Africa, OCC.
He also listed the recent AOC re-certification by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, as part of efforts at attaining United States’ Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, Category 1.
Mistrust in Management
Sir Arumemi_Ikhide, also made allusions to the current and planned fleet acquisition (new orders from Boeing and Airbus), route structure, unique training programme,
Regards
Exeng
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Haut Cuisine al La Park Lane
Well they say that the proof is in the pudding.
Have you personally tasted any of Arik's "pudding" lately.
It certainly leaves as pleasant a taste in one's mouth as the Park Lane Sunday afternoon, "Lobster Surprise" where the surprise is that that there is no Lobster in it and that the hybrid dog/grass cutter/rat thing that they have replaced it with is not cooked and spent it's Saturday afternoon being basted in cockroach and ebola jus.
Eeet taste niiiice Sir, you are very welcome
Have you personally tasted any of Arik's "pudding" lately.
It certainly leaves as pleasant a taste in one's mouth as the Park Lane Sunday afternoon, "Lobster Surprise" where the surprise is that that there is no Lobster in it and that the hybrid dog/grass cutter/rat thing that they have replaced it with is not cooked and spent it's Saturday afternoon being basted in cockroach and ebola jus.
Eeet taste niiiice Sir, you are very welcome
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the sad part
Arik had the potential to be the very thing they set out to be. a leading class airline.
in the time there i worked within the system to get stuff done with the limited resources and normal "obstacles". but there were many brilliant people there who fought day in and day out to make happen, the vision of a leading airline. even had that real nice article in Airliners magazine. the sad part is that it really had a chance to become something better than what it is/becoming. many extremely talented people were never given the freedom to get things right for IOSA, NCAA.
what I can tell you is that almost no one complaining on here ever spent a day in fltops working to keep Jepp from pulling the plug or process pilot reports or working on anything. most scoff at you when you were in the office writing manuals or analyzing fuel burns or trying to argue for Flaps 1 data to be used. so just remember that a lot of talented people tried hard to keep things going in a direction forward until management caught up.
Arik could have been great, we were all sold on their ambitions. but when organizations are left to their own devices, interesting downhill trends seem to take over when particular politics are being played.
Capt5 Stripes......he did manage something that no one ever imagined A 5N reg A330 . quite a feat giving the challenges faced by him
Tony Williams- that one captain?.....she is a BITCH, good on ya mate!
yes i worked there!
in the time there i worked within the system to get stuff done with the limited resources and normal "obstacles". but there were many brilliant people there who fought day in and day out to make happen, the vision of a leading airline. even had that real nice article in Airliners magazine. the sad part is that it really had a chance to become something better than what it is/becoming. many extremely talented people were never given the freedom to get things right for IOSA, NCAA.
what I can tell you is that almost no one complaining on here ever spent a day in fltops working to keep Jepp from pulling the plug or process pilot reports or working on anything. most scoff at you when you were in the office writing manuals or analyzing fuel burns or trying to argue for Flaps 1 data to be used. so just remember that a lot of talented people tried hard to keep things going in a direction forward until management caught up.
Arik could have been great, we were all sold on their ambitions. but when organizations are left to their own devices, interesting downhill trends seem to take over when particular politics are being played.
Capt5 Stripes......he did manage something that no one ever imagined A 5N reg A330
. quite a feat giving the challenges faced by himTony Williams- that one captain?.....she is a BITCH, good on ya mate!
yes i worked there!
