Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > PPRuNe Worldwide > African Aviation
Reload this Page >

Payday at Arik Air

Wikiposts
Search
African Aviation Regional issues that affect the numerous pilots who work in this area of the world.

Payday at Arik Air

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 13th Jul 2010, 07:23
  #121 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: FACA/DNKK
Posts: 80
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
How does this fit into the whole picture.
Arik Air gets certificate to operate direct flight to US - latest news, breaking news, business, finance analysis, comments and views from Nigeria :: Businessday

So if I understand this Arik wants to
Open a flight school
Go direct to the US with a US AOC and 5N a/c
Add Paris, Dubai etc
Fleet change to Airbus
and still not pay staff on time
lets see Oga AJ work his magic..
5N-OSA is offline  
Old 13th Jul 2010, 11:36
  #122 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Halifax
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Pay day at Arik Air

Does anything make sense at Arik Air.Lets see how this one will turn on its head.............looks like other factors are very much at play here.
Airbus have finally broken into Nigerian aviation, as regards aircraft sales. Nation Air, coming out of the ashes of Bellview, are talking to Airbus about A320s.......
With all this taxes not paid
Circle is offline  
Old 13th Jul 2010, 12:45
  #123 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Age: 76
Posts: 1,561
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Is there a surprise in this?

Nigeria Airways was a very loyal customer of Boeing... until they swapped their 737s for A310s, and we all saw how that worked out!

Arik got a lot of free publicity over their massive order for new Boeings yet now they are switching horses in mid-stream to Airbus. Yes, and did you suppose they really would have taken delivery of all those new Boeings they had ordered?

I am a racist bigot of course, so that all of this looks like mismanagement verging on fraud to me. You would have hoped to see this company pay all its workers first and not last, laying a solid foundation for its operations. Instead here we have rumours of only one set of crew being paid on time and everyone else being forced to wait to see when the pay finally appears; a rather clear sign of a shaky operation. Yet there is far bigger money in there somewhere for new aircraft? Oh, really?

I am not an expert on this but there must be someone here who can tell us all about the mysteries of buying new Boeings or Airbuses and how you can get your piccy in the trade press, big smiles and handshakes all around, yet have no real money changing hands, just rather meaningless signatures (or in the case of some of these ogas, probably just a scrawled "X" with two witness signatures attesting to just which illiterate that was) on a piece of paper with no real expectation of a deal being done, just a vague hope that this dream will some day become a reality.

Just look back at the boasts in "Arikmetic" here and please tell me that those numbers are still valid. They might be; I don't know. You local guys, tell us what you know!
chuks is offline  
Old 13th Jul 2010, 13:38
  #124 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Poinciana
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Snoop

Flying to New York would be intersting on the Long run as some smart American Lawyer who knows the staff problems would be waiting to take ARIK to court on a variety of charges that you would need a Dictionary a Law Book and another Lawyer to understand...try some Human right group with Placards around JFK calling ARIK a slave driver
9jarep is offline  
Old 13th Jul 2010, 17:32
  #125 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Atioro
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Danger Working In Reverse

This is just bloody crazy to me,All this hogwash about aircraft orders ,flying schools et all,How do tested professionals continue to wear uniforms with pride and call for start everyday without Pay?Safety issue apart,The only language this SOB Chairman would understand will be a strongbow from all concerned.Methinks we deserve whatever comes our way becos we got da Right to choose getting paid or working in arrears for a oaf who acts like he owns da Airline when we collectively know He's just a Foreman.Wakey wakey.Say NO to been taken for Granted in any manner...........
Gidigba is offline  
Old 14th Jul 2010, 08:56
  #126 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: on the beach
Age: 68
Posts: 2,027
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Airbus have finally broken into Nigerian aviation, as regards aircraft sales.
Anyone want to hazard a guess as to how much 'dash' exchanged hands?
Evanelpus is offline  
Old 14th Jul 2010, 09:14
  #127 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Age: 76
Posts: 1,561
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sure...

10 percent is traditional. Have a look around the local landscape to see how many "ten-percenters" there are, particularly in Lagos and Abuja, shadowy figures with lots of bling and a shiny Tokunbo with clear plazzie covers on its grubby seats but nothing much going for them but their connections.

Boeing is a bit handicapped by US SEC rules about bribery, sorry, commissions. This should apply to all companies traded on the US stock exchange and it can really put the mockers on Boeing and Bell competing with Airbus and Eurocopter, unhampered as they are by such rules.

You may occasionally be puzzled to read that Twangoland International Airlines has just torn up a contract for Boeings to go for (more expensive) Airbuses, when you can only scratch your head and wonder if it is so that the Twangonians are stupid people who cannot do their sums, or that the Airbus is so much better that it sells for a premium, or did someone just collect a very handsome commission, what we crudely call, yes, dash?

Sometimes there can be a great falling-out among thieves, when we get to hear what has gone on, after someone doesn't get his share of the booty. For now we can only watch and wonder.

By the way: Scratch that "finally." Airbus broke into the Nigerian market years ago with the sale of four A310s to Nigeria Airways. Get someone who knows the local airline scene to tell you how that one ended!
chuks is offline  
Old 14th Jul 2010, 21:33
  #128 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
@chuks: If you truly think boeing is 'handicapped' because they don't 'dash' money to Nigerian businesses or govt. officials as you claim Airbus does you are sorely mistaken. Afterall, this is the same Boeing whose first bid for the US Airforce tanker replacement program was nullified and had a couple of it's top executives jailed for bribery/corruption.

If they can do this in their own country where said laws are more stricly enforced, do you truly believe they don't do the same in Nigeria where these laws are much more easily circumvented? You might need to open your eyes.
Mr. Smith is offline  
Old 14th Jul 2010, 21:43
  #129 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Age: 76
Posts: 1,561
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Do tell...

Can you enlighten me then? Do you know something specific or are you just making an informed guess about what Boeing get up to? Same as I was doing re: Airbus, I guess...

Thanks for the tip about keeping my eyes open. I love getting advice in that way and if we ever meet, as a special treat I may let you carry my flight bag. So, something to look forward to! Mwah!
chuks is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 01:59
  #130 (permalink)  
Mistrust in Management
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 973
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Can we keep the thread on track please? Airbus; Boeing; bribes whatever

Still not been paid despite assurances that the cash would 'start flowing' on the 7th. I do like the word 'flowing' as used by the 'Doctor'.

As I understand it the cash is either in my acount or it isn't - I've never seen it 'flow' dollar by dollar.

Rang head office in London today and spoke to a lady who says she hasn't been paid either. Much commiserations between us etc etc and the lady stated that she fully expects us all to be paid by the end of the working week - she did add however that she wasn't 100% sure and so please don't hold her responsible if there is no money in the bank.

A friend of mine still down in Lagos (I'm on leave) has told me that he has been suspended for a week (suspended without pay!) because he is refusing to fly until he has been paid. (you can't make this sort of thing up) I'll not be flying on my return unless the pay is in the bank on the 5th and I hope others follow suit.

The folks I really feely sorry for are the local Nigeria ground staff - appallingly low pay and they have to wait as well - the poor buggers have nothing to fall back on.

Still we can all look on Johnsons brand new global express and thank the fellow who drove a vehicle into the radome.


Kind regards
Exeng
exeng is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 02:11
  #131 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Emirates Living - The Meadows
Age: 79
Posts: 405
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Angel No money no honey

Exeng don't go back I've found us all better and more reliably paying jobs at McDonald's
Vortex Thing is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 06:18
  #132 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Lagos
Posts: 201
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
he has been suspended for a week (suspended without pay!) because he is refusing to fly until he has been paid.

That is absolutely a perfect performance!!! Bravo.

Again, the chief pilot has promised pay on the 14th, but no surprise, no money.

Pilots continue to quit.
Oba1kanobe is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 09:25
  #133 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Age: 76
Posts: 1,561
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sorry, but...

I understand that the primary concern must be, "Hey! Where is my pay?" but an obvious secondary one must then be, "So, why haven't these guys been paid on time?" That is where this stuff about the ins and outs of buying shiny new Airbuses when wages haven't been paid comes from; it isn't totally unrelated although it is secondary.

Arik seemed dubious right from its beginnings, since it seemed to have been set up using stolen government money, a sort of follow-on to some of the funny business that had been going on there in Rivers State. We used to look at that Embraer flying around (doing what, exactly?) on behalf of one of the less well-managed Nigerian states, wondering what in the world was going on there.

When Arik started many were jubilant, this sort of "You see now! Ah-ah! We ah building a wahld-class ailine heah fo' Naijariah!" This is stuff that you really would expect to hear from your tea-boy, not from serious professionals. Never mind, off they went with totally uncritical press releases about this mass order of new Boeings, service to all four corners of the know universe and all the rest of the usual palaver with just a few grumpy old souls trying to tell everyone it was a scam.

Now we have got to the point where there is a chorus of moans about unpaid wages, when that must be just about the most basic thing that any serious employer has to take care of and never mind service to New York with Boeing 787s or whatever.

So to you guys going unpaid, of course that is the main thing and I cannot argue with that at all. That said, though, I think it is worth bringing up what may possibly have led to you going unpaid, a contention that Arik simply is not a serious attempt at having a properly-run major airline but just another scam perpetrated by known, obvious scammers.

Do not take my word for this, simply guessing at most of the truth as I am. Google "Arik" to read numerous stories about what is going on, not least how the Nigerian fraud squad has been on the case of some of the people behind it, when we can simply say, "Where there is smoke there must be fire."

I would hope that many or most of you have got some valuable experience flying for Arik that will let you go out and get better jobs, ones that at least see you paid for your work, once things take an upturn, as they are sure to do. It isn't that we are trying to divert attention from this primary issue, just that some of us want to look at the background that has led to this sorry pass.
chuks is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 14:55
  #134 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Emirates Living - The Meadows
Age: 79
Posts: 405
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Angel Nada

Still no money another 3 pilots left now! Those who are not near a lifeboat may want to make their way towards a nearby exit.

Does anyone out there actually think that we are in a recoverable situation any more. By anyone I mean anyone who is actually out there or with us not the onlookers at the spectacle that is slowly becoming the towering inferno.

VT
Vortex Thing is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 15:16
  #135 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: on the beach
Age: 68
Posts: 2,027
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Exeng don't go back I've found us all better and more reliably paying jobs at McDonald's
Now repeat after me, 2Would Sir like to supersize this order"?

Again, the chief pilot has promised pay on the 14th, but no surprise, no money.
First it was 7th and now this. C'mon, wake up and smell the roses and not what you put on them to make them grow.

Does anyone out there actually think that we are in a recoverable situation any more. By anyone I mean anyone who is actually out there or with us not the onlookers at the spectacle that is slowly becoming the towering inferno.
Does it matter where you are? Stevie Wonder could tell you this airline is going down the pan fast. GET OUT and do it NOW!
Evanelpus is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 15:27
  #136 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Earth
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What is happening at Arik Air seems like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

If you've been around Africa for a while, you know how this is going to play out.

Good luck to all involved.

jt
JTrain is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 17:01
  #137 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: on d glide
Posts: 80
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Code:
What is happening at Arik Air seems like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
If you've been around Africa for a while, you know how this is going to play out.
Good luck to all involved.
Code:
Does it matter where you are? Stevie Wonder could tell you this airline is going down the pan fast. GET OUT and do it NOW!
Are things these bad at W3? It will spell big doom for families in this Naija
atedo is offline  
Old 15th Jul 2010, 18:21
  #138 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
How Many? How Long?

Hi Guys,

Sounds grim at W3 at the moment, sorry to hear that things seem to be getting worse!

How many pilots have left and how many are stll there?

Are there enough left to run the operation and published schedules?

Anyone got an educated guess as to how long W3 will keep flying?

The Vanguard is publishing headline stories that W3 aircraft are returning from C - Check (why?), NCAA has given W3 the new AOC and the FAA have approved W3 to operate to the US - even though NCAA is not yet Cat 1? Lot's of good news but underlying tone is they owe big bucks everywhere.

I have a 'very' wild theory that things are going to come to a head in late October onwards.

Just look at what is happening at VK = no longer indebted to UBA! Yes, Nicon have apparently paid off USD237M!!!!!!! (Are they mad?)

JI is stating VK will have 12 A/C by October and will be flying to UK/US by end of the year?

Is there a bigger picture where W3 is allowed to to 'fail'? Then it and it's shiny a/c can be 'seized' by the FG, who take on the debt and sell to / merge with VK at a knockdown price. VK who already have IOSA & IATA Interline & GDS presence worldwide = Voila, a monopoly NG airline created and ownership changed from OBJ's boy AJ and given to GJ's boy JI.

The only thing missing to ensure success is a decent global brand... oh yes, I remember now, UBA made VK give that up as they refused to pay the royalties.

And all done with 'funny munny' of course (alledgedly).

Any thoughts?
westafricanair is offline  
Old 16th Jul 2010, 15:15
  #139 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: usa
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Arik going the way of Okada Air

Possibilities Arik may go the way of Okada Air, Harka, seems to have been a flash in the pan afterall. What now happens to all these pilots and newbies, where would they be absorbed as the aviation industry is in dis-array? Aero a stable of the industry is heavily bleeding, even rotary wing is affected, any solutions?
fabso is offline  
Old 17th Jul 2010, 16:26
  #140 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: uk
Age: 42
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I hear there is a shortage of molue drivers in Lagos....hmmmmm...
onefatpilot is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.