Solenta forcing pilots to return to Abidjan
 

Just as a matter of interest, I heard today that Solenta Aviation (management) is putting a lot of pressure on their pilot's to return to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in order to resume operations from their once main West-African DHL hub. They notified their pilots 6 days before the relocation and are threatening guys who are not willing to return.

It seems that Solenta are slave-driving their pilots and manipulating them in order to achieve their profit levels.

I find it sad that a company such as Solenta Aviation is building such a bad reputation for themselves regarding their attitude and disrespect for their workforce - the pilots and engineers.

Its not a new attitude. Unfortunately I think some of the people there still think they are in the army.

Things seem to have calmed down in Ivory Coast. No news is good news they say.
Having said that, Solenta needs their aircraft to fly and I would guess that they judge the situation in Abidjan to be safe. If the guys are not willing to go and FLY then I'm sure that there will be plenty others waiting to get an opertunity like this. Just have a look at the "Jobs in Africa" thread.

Solenta management are not forcing their pilots to return,but soon will make it very uncomfortable for the crew if they choose not to return.

The bigger issue is that it is Solenta's client which is doing all the dictating, and to blame. Eventhough Solenta Management are not directly to blame-they do lead a poor example in not backing their boys abroad and getting bullied by their main cash producer.This is a cuththroat world and business only operates when money talks-Its just sad that the little pilot building hours at the end of the line who has to live in a hostile unstable place without incentives

126.7- as for your comment:I laugh, did they issue you with AK47 when you got your commercial licence. You cannot honestly believe those chaps should be grateful for their "opportunities", Its not the FLYING as you put it...its the living there, carry on reading your jobs column...some vacancys in Fallujah i think

TurbineTank
You said it! And I was talking about flying, not living there. I will try my damnedest not to live there. Not after I saw a chap being interviewed on CNN asking for a white man to eat! Then I'll rather face Falluja......Just gimme enough ammo and some Tanks and planes and nukes and napalm.....

We find it a mystery that Solenta claims Abidjan to be safe again. Management has not been able to provide us with anything on paper that says Abidjan is stable and safe to operate in again. In fact, the DHL contract in West Africa consists of a pair of B727's operated by a Spanish company and 4 ATRs operated by Solenta Aviation. The 727's are crewed by Spanish and German pilots and they have flat out refused to go back to Abidjan. On the contrary to what Solenta is saying, the Spanish and Germnan embassies in Abidjan has told their citizens that the place is still unstable, volatile, and unsafe and advises them not to return. Solenta on the other hand says that that the South African embassy claims it safe to return again. Funny though, the South African Forreign Affairs office has recommended that South Africans only return in the most extreme required cases. Other than that, they still advise the guys to remain clear until after the presedential elections. Even the US Department of State has a Travel Advisory on Abidjan that is current.

Abijan safety
 

If you look at what is happening in our own country (safety & security) I can believe that our goverment will say it is safe to return.

I am looking at joining Solenta on the 727, do you people out there think that it is a good move? Are the 727's still flying or what is happening there?

Must say the pay they offer for working in Africa is not great. All the living conditions is bad and then we don't get the compensation for that.

I would only recommend the 727 move with Solenta if you can not find anything else. Yes, the 727s are still fying but I believe the DHL 727 contract is in the process of getting transfered to Solenta. The 727's currently serving the West African network are Spanish-registered but will become SA registered with the transfer to Solenta. It is no secret that Solenta doesn't look after their guys and they will make no exception for the jet guys. I have also heard that the pay being offered to crew joining the 727 fleet is a joke for the pub. The living conditions aren't too bad but they do not adjust SNT allowances according to your location. Guys doing tours in Libbreville for example are getting paid the same SNTs as guys doing tours in Lome or Abidjan where the cost of living is about a quarter of that in Libbreville.

Also, if you are used to a well-run flight operations department, it will be a MAJOR adjustment going to those guys. It is standard ops to fly Solenta Part 25 aircraft without proper Jepps. Instead, the pilots rely on Jeppview cd's which are more out of date than current. Also, not ONE of the ATRs on the fleet has a GPS which database is up to date. Instead, they are placarded "NAV DATA OUT DATE - DO NOT USE". Fine when you fly in Europe where the country side is littred with nav aids, but a different story when flying acrros the African continent at night, and mostly out of navaid ranges.

With the Spanish operator ending their contract with DHL at the end of January. They will be replaced with the new Solenta B727 crew apparently, and too will be expected to be based where Solenta wants them. I wonder if Bleedvalve and other prospective B727 crew have been informed that they will be off to Abidjan when they handed in their cv?

Also heard that the company told the pilots they would replace all items that were stolen in the raid on their accommodation in November. Some of the guys have still not received their claims but management was very very quick to inform them that they had to move back to Abidjan.

Also, they are now telling guys that personal items will not be covered by the company and that personal belongings are taken into the field at own risk. This when they say it is safe and stable again to return to Abidjan.

solenta
 

its official now that solenta are forcing the pilots to go back to abidjan or threatening to fire them.
initially they said they will honour the pilots choice to go or not to go back there but now they have gone back on their word because 19 pilots said they did not want to go due to the fact that the political situation there is very unstable at the moment.

they are asking the pilots to trust them that abidjan is now safe but it does not instill much trust in them when they can go back on their word so easily.

Very sad indeed.It is sad that this company has continued it's ways and amazingly continued to have the most unhappy pilots in the industry.The wheel turns,and when it does,man o man.They have said that we are all replaceable,well lets see.Solenta needs to develope a new attitude towards their crew.Don't they know that a happy crew is a productive crew.At the moment I don't know one happy pilot at Solenta.Only time will tell....

It angers me senseless to see dear friends of mine at Solenta in this current predicament. I can vow for the fact that every pilot who joined Solenta, be it 3 months ago or 4 years ago, was flooded with loyalty and excitement. Who else in the South African insdustry provide pilots with an opportunity to gain invaluable experience on an ATR.

BUT (and that's a huge BUT), the price that the guys pay in the end stretches much farther than the $15 000 they had to fork out for a co-pilot's rating. I know so many guys there who are in serious debt, wholly to blame on the initial loan they had to take out and the fact that Solenta pays some of the worst salaries in the contract business.

Now they have blatantly told the pilots who (justifyably) are not willing to return to Abidjan that they will be replaced as soon as possible unles they keep their mouths shut and go back to work. This sad and abusive nature of Solenta Management are the cause so many pilot's there are bitterly unhappy and getting out as soon as an opportunity elsewhere presents itself.

How come some other pilots working for other outfits (namely Air Inter Ivoire) never left Abidjan and are still working there now? :ouch:

And as far as some Solenta pilots pretending to be the "most unhappy in the industry", well... When is the last time you took off in your ATR with more than 2 tons overweight? When is the last time you flew more than 120 hours in a month? When is the last time you took an airplane off with two engines way beyond TBO? Well, that's the lot of most operators in Central Africa... I don't approve this; I'm just saying: look around you before complaining, folks...:rolleyes:

TREETOPFLYER
When last were Air Inter Ivoire pilots stuck on a appartment roof without any of their belongings while masses of local Ivorians ransacked the pilot/engineer rooms(while some of their collegues are still in them) and dodging stray bullets as Army Helicopters cannot evacute them because it is too dangerous with hundreds of chanting Ivorians baying for their blood outside, and only to rescue themselves-and end up in a hotel in Accra 4 days later with none of their posessions and told they will return to Abidjan,then told they are all replaceable....
Pretty harsh!
:suspect:

no one at solenta has any experience flying more than 2 tons over weight, more than 120 hours a month, or with unairworthy aircraft because everyone at solenta has more common sense than that.

i am sure there are plenty of operators out there with a total disregard for the rules governing aviation but we are not talking about those operators on this thread,we are talking about "professional" pilots.("professional" pilots rumour network)

if we start using your posting as a medium for what constitutes an unhappy pilot we are all in trouble!i am sure putts for dough was referring to the legal side of aviaiton when he made his comment.i dont think any of us reallly want to know that there are operators out there breaking the laws in ways which you posted.

i just hope for everybodys sake that there are not to many people out there that are operating as you say!!!!!

While Solenta management claims that the situation in Ivory Coast is back to normal, and is safe for their pilots and engineers, articles like this are appearing in local newspapers all over the country.

The following is an attempt at a direct translation from an opposition newspaper of Ivory Coast that you can find on the net.

Insecurity:
Here are the death squadrons again: Opposition and journalists on Gbagbo's black list.

"Le patriote" No. 1578 of Tuesday January 4th 2005.

The information is big. It comes from credible sources. It has to be taken with serious behaviour by Ivorians and the International community highly represented in our country since the arising of the armed insurection in September 2002. Laurent Gbagbo, in effect, has not ended up his deadly project to kill his opposition. He still dreams to reduce to silence any bell sound different than his.
Laurent Gbagbo has, these days, engaged a faster gear. The last week of 2004 already, his services have given more than 20 millions CFA to Lieutenant Séry. An officer of his personal guard. Lieutenant Séry is dangerous. Very dangerous as he is feared even from his relatives. The ones who know him affirm he's an easy shooter even more than the sadly famous Bahi Patrice.
In addition to those millions from the Ivorian tax payers, more than 150 individuals, all mercenaries from Angola, Guinea, Sierra leone known as contract killers have been affected to his squadron. There are also 3 Israelis qualified elite shooters. Their mission is to proceed to the physical elimination of certain kind of Ivorians. In the top of the list is the opposition with the actual members of the G7 directoire. There are also all those accused in the neighbourhoods as Abobo, Adjamé, Koumassi, Anyama to be partisans of the rebellion. With them, numerous journalists of "Patriote","Jour plus", "Nouveau Réveil","24 hours","Front" judged too extremists by the régime.
As a decided strategy, they (the killers) have decided to operate through hijackings.
In other words, these killers recruited by the president must at least build up a generalised insecurity climate.
With the confusion, they should be able to go on with that project. To justify it the president will use the same arguments he always used for the past political crimes. That is to say"These crimes are linked to the war situation"
The operation might already have begun. Abidjanees can already have seen that hijackings are multiplied in the economic capital and could extend to other localities of the country.
This is not unorganised. Our sources are precising that kiddnapings have arised, anonymous for most of them.
In the execution plan, this week is the one for crimes. So this week is determinant for everybody. These contract killers have silent automatic handguns and sniper riffles.
Yesterday, Monday, they finalised there execution plans in a secret meeting in a prestigious hotel of the place. Ivorians are now informed and advised, mostly UN impartial forces.
Let's wish that mixt patrols will be able to stop these attacks from the republic that only broughts sadness and desolation in numerous families.

Edgar Kouassi


...... NO COMMENT

Airforce1

Agreed, what happened to the Solenta guys is anything but a nice experience. Yet many expats who endured the same fate in Novembre have come back to Abidjan by now. And if you guys don't want to go back, other people will...

But I guess this is all over, as most Solenta guys have finally accepted today to go back to Abidjan. Is that right?

Two qoutes from the memo as qouted by GB. Unless typos crept in during the posting on this thread, I would not even consider working for an MD that allows a memo like this to be issued. What happenned to the LR Act and BCE Act? What's ALPA SA's view on this? Or do we still have charter COMM/ATP pilots not flying for the scheduled carriers being viewed as not important enough to have absolute ALPA SA support? Or is it a matter of the aforesaid charter COMM/ATP pilots not showing enough interest in ALPA SA to care? Just asking. Sad state of affairs anyway. :(

This sounds like a job for the Flying Lawyer . I bet he would pick that memo to absolute shreds.

I should think after something like that being published and anything happening to the crew, especially if there are deaths, that Solenta could be held liable.

Why don't they go about it in the proper manner and just offer higher S&T's to anyone willing to go. If the S&T's are high enough they will get their crews and everyone will be happy. Those who don't want to go, don't have to - those that will do it for the money - fine.