Here's how the pay works at Max:

1. Go to office and wait to see if the Senior Account bothers to come to work that day. Repeat this step four or five days. When you finally catch the Senior Accountant in the office (trying to sneak out the side door) he tells you the Chief Pilot has not approved the payroll yet.

2. Go to the office and wait to see if the Chief Pilot bothers to come to work that day. Repeat this step two or three days. The Chief Pilot tells you that he signed, but the D.O. has not stamped the payroll yet.

3. Go to the office and wait to see if the D.O. bothers to come to work (sober) that day. Repeat this step three or four days. The D.O. tells you that he has stamped the payroll and it is now with the Director of Finance.

4. Go to the office and wait to see if the Director of Finance bothers to come to work that day. You discover that the Director of Finance is in the office every day, but he hides behind his locked office door. The Director of Finance says the form is with the M.D.

5. Go to the office and wait to see if the M.D. bothers to come to work that day. After several days of waiting, the M.D.'s secretary tells you that the M.D. is in California on business. You make numerous calls to the M.D. before he takes your call. He says the form was approved before he departed and it was left with the Vice Chairman.

6. Try to go to the office and wait to see if the Vice Chairman bothers to come to work that day. You can't get transport to the office because all the crew transport vehicles have been commandeered by the D.O. to transport several loads of goats that he is selling on the side. You take a taxi to the office and are told by the Vice Chairman's secretary that the M.D.'s brother in Kano is handling all the payroll paperwork while the M.D. is out of town.

7. Try to go to the M.D.'s brother's office, but none of the crew transport vehicles have fuel. There is no fuel available in Kano and the lines at the petrol stations are a kilometer long. Take a taxi the next day to the M.D.'s brother's office. He won't see you because he is in a very important meeting. Some "local" guy waiting in the outer office (a freelance money changer) tells you that there's no problem with the salary payment, but the M.D.'s brother doesn't handle pay issues. He suggests that you should speak directly to the Chairman.

8. Go to the office and wait to see if the Chairman bothers to come to work that day. After doing this for a few days, the Chairman's secretary tells you that the Chairman only comes to the office on Sunday evenings. The Chairman's secretary also tells you that the payroll has been approved, but they are having a hard time getting such a large amount of U.S. dollars. He says the Senior Accountant is currently in Abuja working to get the cash. The secretary recommends that you check with the Senior Accountant in a few days.

Back to step #1. The crews in Kano refer to this pay procedure as "The Full Manwani." The system is designed to keep you from getting your money. It's even worse for the fools who contract with a third party. You'll never see what you're owed!!

Warning, stay away from Max Air, both the B-747 and the Lear jets. The Lear jets are doing illegal charter work. They are all private jets without an air taxi certificate. There is very little maintenance being done on the jets. You will be forced to fly the planes. The pay is always late and in most cases reduced. I have not been payed for my service. Conditions are very bad in Nigeria.

bobcat, are you one of the Lear 60 pilots that decided to skip town?

CORRUPTION!
 

Bobcat:

I'm sorry you had to learn about Max Air the hard way. The warnings about these clowns have been all over the internet for a couple of years and things have only gotten worse every year.

The only reason Max Air can continue to do what they do is because of corruption at the Nigerian CAA. I'm sure it is obvious to everyone involved that Max Air does not operate within the bounds of the law, but key officials look the other way only because they have been paid to ignore violations.

The 747 operation relies on corruption in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi GACA have been informed (in writing) of severe safety violations committed by Max Air on several occasions. The Saudi authorities don't even investigate the issues! A Nigerian with a big bag of cash can make any problem in the Kingdom disappear in a day or two. Sad, but true.

Max Air have increased the salary of all crew in an effort to prevent any more current guys from disappearing during the night. They have also upped the offer for 744 crews. It really does not matter what they offer because you will never be able to collect what they owe!

I think anyone who goes to Max now is a fool. The risks there this season are many and you WILL BE CHEATED OUT OF PAY. If they have no intention to cheat you they should be willing to pay you every week IN ADVANCE. If they will not do this then you know what to expect. Do not complain when it happens to you. You have been warned. Again.

gear yanker, how long, and what year did you work for Max Air?

New year.....same old scam!
 

Well, it's that time of the year again. Max Air is searching for another new group of uninformed pilots to fly their aircraft for the upcoming Umrah/Hajj. It's becoming harder and harder for them to find legitimate (no shortage of fakes!) 747 pilots. Most North Americans and Euros know enough about these clowns to avoid the place, but they seem to have found a group of South Americans foolish enough to fly for them last year. That group got cheated on their final pay, so who's next? How desperate for a job do you have to be to risk your life (in what's essentially a war zone) in Northern Nigeria when you know that Max Air is going to cheat you on your pay in the end?

Lots of 74 fakes from South America.
Perfect fit.

It looks like the South American fakes are back! Max Air is also looking for a 744 instructor to train their local pilots, so everyone needs to remember that Max Air lost all of the legitimate pilots a few years ago due to LACK OF PAYMENT!!