SkyEurope
PeterPaul has gone awfully quiet
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Welcome back
Mr. Zsolt
B737-300, -500, -700, -800
LTC/TRI/TRE
FOM SkyEurope
God's gift to aviation
All of you guys at SkyEurope, Good luck! You will need it...and this I mean.
Mr. Zsolt
B737-300, -500, -700, -800
LTC/TRI/TRE
FOM SkyEurope
God's gift to aviation
All of you guys at SkyEurope, Good luck! You will need it...and this I mean.
Last edited by seventhreedriver; 3rd Jun 2009 at 20:24.
SkyEurope hrozí konkurz | Firmy | ekonomika.sme.sk
Rough summary of the story:
Czech marketing company 'Beyond Interactive' is owed a big pile of cash by NE, and they are now publicly threatening to file a petition for NE's bankruptcy if they don't get paid within a few days. SkyEurope have said they are dealing with the issue.
Rough summary of the story:
Czech marketing company 'Beyond Interactive' is owed a big pile of cash by NE, and they are now publicly threatening to file a petition for NE's bankruptcy if they don't get paid within a few days. SkyEurope have said they are dealing with the issue.
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PeterPaul will never believe me, but I find the situation a bit sad and also rather inexplicable. Ryanair and Easy have been very slow to capitalise on the increase in disposable income in the former East (although to be fair Ryanair did go "Polish " when all the Polish who came to the UK could earn big bucks before the pound crashed against the Euro) but the rest of the former East is poorly served.
Wizzair seem to be doing "OK" but not exactly taking over the region, one would have imagined that they, or indeed Sky, had " connections"
to make more of a go of things ? 
Wizzair seem to be doing "OK" but not exactly taking over the region, one would have imagined that they, or indeed Sky, had " connections"
to make more of a go of things ?
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I don't really understand how can they do this bad having in mind that only Wizz is giving them a real competition in this market share.
Just to think that I have 2 importants flights in the 1st week of October:
Lisbon to Prague and Vienna to Lisbon...
In average they warn their customers about flights changing how many days prior to the flight?
Just to think that I have 2 importants flights in the 1st week of October:
Lisbon to Prague and Vienna to Lisbon...
In average they warn their customers about flights changing how many days prior to the flight?
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Overview of the current situation at Sky Europe
Hello,
Facts concerning the current situation at Sky Europe:
1) The company still owes its employees some salaries from 09/2008 (now we have 06/2009, so it is over 9 months that the salaries are not fully paid). For the vast majority of flight crews the amounts owed by the company are around 50% from each monthly salary beginning from 09/2008!
2) Salaries for 10/2009 - the same applies as above. To this day the vast majority of the employees have not received the 10/2008 salaries in full (still about 50% owed by the company). The 50% of the 10/2008 salary that was already paid has been paid in the second half of 12/2008.
3) At the initiative of the management, the employees were asked to defer 50% of their 09/2008 and 10/2008 salaries until 03/2009 and 04/2009, respectively. So I have to say, that the employees have voluntarily agreed not to receive the full salaries for 09/2008 and 10/2008 at that time, provided they will receive the deferred amounts in the spring of 2009. Obviously those deferred salaries have not been paid to the employees to this day as agreed. Employees have made the decision (to defer parts of their salaries) back in 2008 when they had absolutely no idea that all of the subsequent salaries will be also deferred against their will and that the deferred payment will not be paid-out to them for as long as 06/2009.
4) Salary for 11/2008 - not paid out at all. Salary for 12/2008 paid in full, sometime at the end of January once the employee unrest and their pressure on the management started to build-up. Hence, we can say that for the months of 11/2008 and 12/2008 on average again only 50% were paid-out.
5) Starting with 01/2009 the company informed its employees that a new payment scheme is being implemented (obviously without even trying to obtain the consent of the employees). The strange scheme consists of the company's attempt to pay-out 50% of the monthly salary of each employee in 4 installments - basically amounting to 1/8th of the salary being paid every week, as the cash flow (passengers pre-paying the tickets for the summer season) permits. The payments arrive on the employee's bank accounts with a relatively high degree of irregularity of +/- several days, sometimes a week is skipped, etc... However, it is true that this scheme allowed a little bit of stabilization and allowed at least a minimum degree of financial predictability in terms of earnings for the employees. Second issue is, that the amounts paid to employees in some cases of the regular cabin-crews amounted to as little as < hundred euros a week.
6) Therefore, those that are hit by the situation the most are the cabin crews, who are forced to live on 1/8th of their salary a week. Payments of per-diems, that form a significant portion of the salaries of the cabin-crews are of course not getting paid for severals moths at a time (last info that I had from last week is that 01/2009 per-diems have not been paid yet).
7) Due to the fact that the company was not fulfilling its financial obligations to its employees many experienced people have left the company, especially the cabin-crews. Unfortunately they had no possibility to take a loan from their parents or the bank to carry-on with their job. The company solved this by hiring new cabin-crews and running them through an accelerated course. Upgrades to Pursers are being made from people, that would otherwise not have a chance to be upgraded considering their relatively loew total experience for a Purser position.
8) Last Wednesday (03-June) the company organized an official ceremonious event here in Prague, during which the latest cabin crew course has been welcomed into the company. I think it is a really nice thing to do for the new employees, but only if it took place for example in the company's office, considering the company's current financial situation. But no, instead it was hosted in one of the most expensive restaurants in Prague's downtown on the Kampa island! So the company claims not to have money to pay the employees, while at the same time it is hosting a party in a very expensive luxury restaurant, sticking to old motto of the CEO (Jason Bitter) "Do not worry, company pays..."...
9) Just to illustrate the level of the salaries issue - some cabin crew employees are owed amounts in the scope of >4.000 Euro/person, while many pilots are owed salaries in the amounts of >30.000 Euso/person! It basically coemes down to the fact, that most of the crews are getting only 50% of their salaries beginning from 09/2008!
Facts concerning the overall situation:
1) Debts wherever one looks. Employee salaries owed for over 9 months of operations; almost 2.5mil Euros owed to the Slovak Government in social security payments the company is required to deduct from the employee salaries; >1mil Euros owed to customers in ticket refunds due to canceled flights and I do not even try to guess the amounts owed to Eurocontrol and to individual airports for the landing and handling fees. Companies that are owed large sums of money by Sky Europe, as well as former employees who are still unpaid, have already started preparing legal steps to send the company into bankruptcy sooner than the management thinks. Articles in the Czech and Slovak media are starting to appear, shedding more light on the company's situation and starting to count the endless amounts of the company's unpaid debts: Veritele uhani SkyEurope, dluzi miliony korun - iDNES.cz / Creditors are hunting-down Sky Europe - being owed millions of Czech Crowns
2) The crews are intelligent people, therefore most of them can put 2 and 2 together. Once they did that and open their eyes to the facts and to the behavior of the management, they realize that there is not a chance Sky will survive beyond this summer season without the help of an outside investor. Now tell me who would want to invest in a company with assets of approx. MINUS 100 million Euros. This does not add to the motivation of the crews and the overall mood inside the company is quite dull.
3) I have to admit that the management did a good job in handling the crisis that arose due to the leasing company repossession of 6 NG beginning of this year. However, the airplanes that are slowly replacing the wet-leased ones (following the repossession of 6 NGs by GECAS) are in most cases 20-year old pieces that were scrambled by the company from the desert storage in the US - pieces that were already discarded from the fleet of United Airlines. The company does not even deal with such issues that they still keep the US setup of the on-board systems - everything is in pounds instead in kilograms, including the FMS masses and FUEL gauges. When pilots are used to operate in kilograms on one airplane and in pounds on another one, it does not add to the overall safety levels of operations. Especially with the crews being under s lot of constant stress during the last 9 months of operations - constantly worrying how much of their salary they will receive this time; if they will be able to pay their mortgage; how long will this situation carry on, etc...
4) Mass exodus of qualified crew members - both flight and cabin. In March the company saw a resignation of the PRG Base Chief Captain and the Chief of the Cabin Crews, followed by the resignation of the company's Chief Pilot in April - well, I would not want to have their responsibility for the miss-management of the company on my shoulders either.
Facts concerning the current situation at Sky Europe:
1) The company still owes its employees some salaries from 09/2008 (now we have 06/2009, so it is over 9 months that the salaries are not fully paid). For the vast majority of flight crews the amounts owed by the company are around 50% from each monthly salary beginning from 09/2008!
2) Salaries for 10/2009 - the same applies as above. To this day the vast majority of the employees have not received the 10/2008 salaries in full (still about 50% owed by the company). The 50% of the 10/2008 salary that was already paid has been paid in the second half of 12/2008.
3) At the initiative of the management, the employees were asked to defer 50% of their 09/2008 and 10/2008 salaries until 03/2009 and 04/2009, respectively. So I have to say, that the employees have voluntarily agreed not to receive the full salaries for 09/2008 and 10/2008 at that time, provided they will receive the deferred amounts in the spring of 2009. Obviously those deferred salaries have not been paid to the employees to this day as agreed. Employees have made the decision (to defer parts of their salaries) back in 2008 when they had absolutely no idea that all of the subsequent salaries will be also deferred against their will and that the deferred payment will not be paid-out to them for as long as 06/2009.
4) Salary for 11/2008 - not paid out at all. Salary for 12/2008 paid in full, sometime at the end of January once the employee unrest and their pressure on the management started to build-up. Hence, we can say that for the months of 11/2008 and 12/2008 on average again only 50% were paid-out.
5) Starting with 01/2009 the company informed its employees that a new payment scheme is being implemented (obviously without even trying to obtain the consent of the employees). The strange scheme consists of the company's attempt to pay-out 50% of the monthly salary of each employee in 4 installments - basically amounting to 1/8th of the salary being paid every week, as the cash flow (passengers pre-paying the tickets for the summer season) permits. The payments arrive on the employee's bank accounts with a relatively high degree of irregularity of +/- several days, sometimes a week is skipped, etc... However, it is true that this scheme allowed a little bit of stabilization and allowed at least a minimum degree of financial predictability in terms of earnings for the employees. Second issue is, that the amounts paid to employees in some cases of the regular cabin-crews amounted to as little as < hundred euros a week.
6) Therefore, those that are hit by the situation the most are the cabin crews, who are forced to live on 1/8th of their salary a week. Payments of per-diems, that form a significant portion of the salaries of the cabin-crews are of course not getting paid for severals moths at a time (last info that I had from last week is that 01/2009 per-diems have not been paid yet).
7) Due to the fact that the company was not fulfilling its financial obligations to its employees many experienced people have left the company, especially the cabin-crews. Unfortunately they had no possibility to take a loan from their parents or the bank to carry-on with their job. The company solved this by hiring new cabin-crews and running them through an accelerated course. Upgrades to Pursers are being made from people, that would otherwise not have a chance to be upgraded considering their relatively loew total experience for a Purser position.
8) Last Wednesday (03-June) the company organized an official ceremonious event here in Prague, during which the latest cabin crew course has been welcomed into the company. I think it is a really nice thing to do for the new employees, but only if it took place for example in the company's office, considering the company's current financial situation. But no, instead it was hosted in one of the most expensive restaurants in Prague's downtown on the Kampa island! So the company claims not to have money to pay the employees, while at the same time it is hosting a party in a very expensive luxury restaurant, sticking to old motto of the CEO (Jason Bitter) "Do not worry, company pays..."...
9) Just to illustrate the level of the salaries issue - some cabin crew employees are owed amounts in the scope of >4.000 Euro/person, while many pilots are owed salaries in the amounts of >30.000 Euso/person! It basically coemes down to the fact, that most of the crews are getting only 50% of their salaries beginning from 09/2008!
Facts concerning the overall situation:
1) Debts wherever one looks. Employee salaries owed for over 9 months of operations; almost 2.5mil Euros owed to the Slovak Government in social security payments the company is required to deduct from the employee salaries; >1mil Euros owed to customers in ticket refunds due to canceled flights and I do not even try to guess the amounts owed to Eurocontrol and to individual airports for the landing and handling fees. Companies that are owed large sums of money by Sky Europe, as well as former employees who are still unpaid, have already started preparing legal steps to send the company into bankruptcy sooner than the management thinks. Articles in the Czech and Slovak media are starting to appear, shedding more light on the company's situation and starting to count the endless amounts of the company's unpaid debts: Veritele uhani SkyEurope, dluzi miliony korun - iDNES.cz / Creditors are hunting-down Sky Europe - being owed millions of Czech Crowns
2) The crews are intelligent people, therefore most of them can put 2 and 2 together. Once they did that and open their eyes to the facts and to the behavior of the management, they realize that there is not a chance Sky will survive beyond this summer season without the help of an outside investor. Now tell me who would want to invest in a company with assets of approx. MINUS 100 million Euros. This does not add to the motivation of the crews and the overall mood inside the company is quite dull.
3) I have to admit that the management did a good job in handling the crisis that arose due to the leasing company repossession of 6 NG beginning of this year. However, the airplanes that are slowly replacing the wet-leased ones (following the repossession of 6 NGs by GECAS) are in most cases 20-year old pieces that were scrambled by the company from the desert storage in the US - pieces that were already discarded from the fleet of United Airlines. The company does not even deal with such issues that they still keep the US setup of the on-board systems - everything is in pounds instead in kilograms, including the FMS masses and FUEL gauges. When pilots are used to operate in kilograms on one airplane and in pounds on another one, it does not add to the overall safety levels of operations. Especially with the crews being under s lot of constant stress during the last 9 months of operations - constantly worrying how much of their salary they will receive this time; if they will be able to pay their mortgage; how long will this situation carry on, etc...
4) Mass exodus of qualified crew members - both flight and cabin. In March the company saw a resignation of the PRG Base Chief Captain and the Chief of the Cabin Crews, followed by the resignation of the company's Chief Pilot in April - well, I would not want to have their responsibility for the miss-management of the company on my shoulders either.
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Such a nice airline coming down to this, it's really sad and I would only hope that there was anything that a decent management could to to sustain and recover Skyeurope's financial status.
And to do that you'd 1st need to recover the passengers trust, now, how?
And to do that you'd 1st need to recover the passengers trust, now, how?
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Jason Bitter has announced today he would only need some 20 millions euro of a new loan to be able to continue his "success story". Negotiating with three groups of investors, bla bla... Wait and see. Anyway I'm almost sure that the following text:
will be updated once again next Monday, to spread around this message:
Global Finance II S.a.r.l. has extended the deadline for the repayment of its EUR 15 million loan granted in December 2007 and its EUR 10 million loan granted in September 2008 to SkyEurope Airlines a.s. to 15 June 2009.
Global Finance II S.a.r.l. has extended the deadline for the repayment of its EUR 15 million loan granted in December 2007 and its EUR 10 million loan granted in September 2008 to SkyEurope Airlines a.s. to 15 July 2009.
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It's absolutely incredible, that SkyEurope is even still staggering on.
The old, experienced guys still hanging out there are either heroes, or they are just simply taking it too personal. I must admit that I also loved working for SkyEurope during the better times, often going beyond my obligations, just in order to help.
But we all realize and realized that SkyEurope is not a football-team, to which you may choose to be "loyal until death". In the end, SkyEurope is only a company, by which people earn their money in order to put bread on the table at home.
Management is forsaking all of them now.
In any other company, people would go on strike to demand what is theirs, namely their salaries. Sky-Employees decided to help their company last year, by personally lending money (half a salary) over several months.
I would not even do that for most of my friends! But what happened? They don't even get it paid back, let alone any kind of interest or reward.
"Thankyou, guys. Give more! Or else we all die!"
I'm also deeply disappointed by the safety-breaches from the management. Flying old junk planes, with inexperienced cabin crew and worried pilots (according to the post of Bluebat_CZ) is absolutely crazy.
God prevent SkyEurope literally "going down" in the end!
Maybe it would even be interesting to know, how Mister Fairytale Peterpaul is going to justify all of that. Just for amusement.
Although there is probably nobody laughing anymore.
What makes it worse, is that there are no jobs for all the people right now.
Strange situation: No matter what the Sky-pilots decide to do: Anything will only make things worse. Going on strike, sueing the management, or going public, will simply cause everything to collapse. But keeping quiet, praying for a miracle and holding out will not prevent the end either.
You may merely collect a few more stick-hours in the coming weeks (for whatever it's worth).
Hard to say what I would do in that situation.
The old, experienced guys still hanging out there are either heroes, or they are just simply taking it too personal. I must admit that I also loved working for SkyEurope during the better times, often going beyond my obligations, just in order to help.
But we all realize and realized that SkyEurope is not a football-team, to which you may choose to be "loyal until death". In the end, SkyEurope is only a company, by which people earn their money in order to put bread on the table at home.
Management is forsaking all of them now.
In any other company, people would go on strike to demand what is theirs, namely their salaries. Sky-Employees decided to help their company last year, by personally lending money (half a salary) over several months.
I would not even do that for most of my friends! But what happened? They don't even get it paid back, let alone any kind of interest or reward.
"Thankyou, guys. Give more! Or else we all die!"
I'm also deeply disappointed by the safety-breaches from the management. Flying old junk planes, with inexperienced cabin crew and worried pilots (according to the post of Bluebat_CZ) is absolutely crazy.
God prevent SkyEurope literally "going down" in the end!
Maybe it would even be interesting to know, how Mister Fairytale Peterpaul is going to justify all of that. Just for amusement.
Although there is probably nobody laughing anymore.
What makes it worse, is that there are no jobs for all the people right now.
Strange situation: No matter what the Sky-pilots decide to do: Anything will only make things worse. Going on strike, sueing the management, or going public, will simply cause everything to collapse. But keeping quiet, praying for a miracle and holding out will not prevent the end either.
You may merely collect a few more stick-hours in the coming weeks (for whatever it's worth).
Hard to say what I would do in that situation.
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false info
Bluebat-CZ,
As a captain for skyeurope myself, and having been employed by our Airline for more than 6 years I cant stay silent on a few points you made.
The fact that you are displaying sensitive information about our salaries to the WWW is somehow understandable since we are all struggling with our finances by the burden of reduced salaries. And the figures you mentioned are CORRECT.
I agree the way it was done by management was unacceptable,and that it does
produce some stress within the crews. This restaurant issue is I understand a very big FAUX-PAS,and i have hard time believing it has actually happened even though it did.
What i CANT ACCEPT is that you are giving FALSE information about our aircrafts. (classics).
Yes some of them were parked in the desert, but not more than 2 months.
It hardly qualifies them as junk aircrafts.As based in Prague you are NOT flying them so you have NO IDEA if they are in poor condition or not.
I have flown them since they first arrived, and believe me all, they were well maintained and are flying well.
YOu mentioned the problem with fuel being in Pounds....thats true but the fuel gauges are themselves in pounds so hardly a problem for the fueller...our loadsheet values are given in KGS and CDU entries in Pounds...so when we get the loadsheet we have to make a simple calculation to convert the ZFW into pounds to enter into the CDU,entry which is verified by the other pilot as its done...then fuel on loadsheet is in kgs we just have to check that it is correct compared to our gauges in LBS.
Hardly a problem so please dont insult your colleagues intelligence....
Concerning the pursers being upgraded early..it has happened before,even before our financial problems...i hardly see it as major problem, it happens in other airlines too depending on need.
We all make choices in life, some decided to leave as soon as the problems arose some after and some now..i wish all my colleagues who left the best in their career because they were all great to fly with , and their choice is respected by all.
If we go down, it would have been a great experience for me,as i enjoy flying with my colleagues and I hope our passengers understand that their SKYEUROPE CREWS will NEVER compromise on their safety.
If we decide to come to work, we are going to perform our work to the best of our abilities.
YOU have decided to be UNFIT, if you decide to leave i wont blame you either but PLEASE dont send unfounded info.
I wish you all the best and remember people still working for sky europe may have issues with their salaries and their management but we are still here,not blind,working SAFELY and waiting to see what life will bring...
Safe flying to all.
As a captain for skyeurope myself, and having been employed by our Airline for more than 6 years I cant stay silent on a few points you made.
The fact that you are displaying sensitive information about our salaries to the WWW is somehow understandable since we are all struggling with our finances by the burden of reduced salaries. And the figures you mentioned are CORRECT.
I agree the way it was done by management was unacceptable,and that it does
produce some stress within the crews. This restaurant issue is I understand a very big FAUX-PAS,and i have hard time believing it has actually happened even though it did.
What i CANT ACCEPT is that you are giving FALSE information about our aircrafts. (classics).
Yes some of them were parked in the desert, but not more than 2 months.
It hardly qualifies them as junk aircrafts.As based in Prague you are NOT flying them so you have NO IDEA if they are in poor condition or not.
I have flown them since they first arrived, and believe me all, they were well maintained and are flying well.
YOu mentioned the problem with fuel being in Pounds....thats true but the fuel gauges are themselves in pounds so hardly a problem for the fueller...our loadsheet values are given in KGS and CDU entries in Pounds...so when we get the loadsheet we have to make a simple calculation to convert the ZFW into pounds to enter into the CDU,entry which is verified by the other pilot as its done...then fuel on loadsheet is in kgs we just have to check that it is correct compared to our gauges in LBS.
Hardly a problem so please dont insult your colleagues intelligence....
Concerning the pursers being upgraded early..it has happened before,even before our financial problems...i hardly see it as major problem, it happens in other airlines too depending on need.
We all make choices in life, some decided to leave as soon as the problems arose some after and some now..i wish all my colleagues who left the best in their career because they were all great to fly with , and their choice is respected by all.
If we go down, it would have been a great experience for me,as i enjoy flying with my colleagues and I hope our passengers understand that their SKYEUROPE CREWS will NEVER compromise on their safety.
If we decide to come to work, we are going to perform our work to the best of our abilities.
YOU have decided to be UNFIT, if you decide to leave i wont blame you either but PLEASE dont send unfounded info.
I wish you all the best and remember people still working for sky europe may have issues with their salaries and their management but we are still here,not blind,working SAFELY and waiting to see what life will bring...
Safe flying to all.
Last edited by skyeuropecapt; 24th Feb 2010 at 05:19.
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For crying out...
Come on all you ex-Skyeuropeans and "helpful" colleagues, this is getting ridiculous!
"Flying old junk planes"
Come on give me a break! Are we the only airline in the world operating a mixed fleet of NG:s and 300-500:s? The planes are well kept, from major airlines and really nice inside! Itīs true that two 300:s have been brought from storage in Arizona, but they had been there TWO months only! Ex United planes, like new inside.
Pounds system, yes, we double check the numbers all the time, whatīs the problem?
"with inexperienced cabin crew and worried pilots"
Nobody is worried about the safty of the flying, only that such rumors will bring us down and cause us to loose our jobs, we have extremly professional SA:s who does a great job training our new FA:s, period.
It sure is a rough time now but the only thing we can do is to do our jobs as good as we possibly can. And just hope that former and present colleagues wonīt help the media coming up with false horror stories.
Some of us donīt have any other option, as long as we keep going there is always a chance!
-skyeuropecapt beat me to it, well written!
"Flying old junk planes"
Come on give me a break! Are we the only airline in the world operating a mixed fleet of NG:s and 300-500:s? The planes are well kept, from major airlines and really nice inside! Itīs true that two 300:s have been brought from storage in Arizona, but they had been there TWO months only! Ex United planes, like new inside.
Pounds system, yes, we double check the numbers all the time, whatīs the problem?
"with inexperienced cabin crew and worried pilots"
Nobody is worried about the safty of the flying, only that such rumors will bring us down and cause us to loose our jobs, we have extremly professional SA:s who does a great job training our new FA:s, period.
It sure is a rough time now but the only thing we can do is to do our jobs as good as we possibly can. And just hope that former and present colleagues wonīt help the media coming up with false horror stories.
Some of us donīt have any other option, as long as we keep going there is always a chance!
-skyeuropecapt beat me to it, well written!
Last edited by wilbury one; 9th Jun 2009 at 14:24. Reason: similar post
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Alright, let me say something to that before this turns into a word-fight.
It was me who used the word "junk aircraft" and mentioned "worried pilots" and "Inexperienced crew". Not Bluebat_CZ.
I am a former SkyEurope-employee, who left without any hard feelings. The last thing I wish to do is to insult my former colleagues, so I'll explain those expressions.
The aircraft may be well maintained (I assume so if they come from United). They are very old as I know, but to me it wasn't clear that Bluebat actually never flew them. If Bluebat had been more careful with his description of the "discarded" aircraft, I wouldn't have used that term.
I understand the procedure of converting the ZWF on the loadsheet from KG to LBS, and having the 2nd pilot confirming the numbers before entering them into the CDU. However, this IS definitely a maintenance item, to change the software to work with Kilos. And I consider it to be an unsafe practice: Remember the tailstrike of Emirates in Melbourne? It happened after entering a wrong value into the FMC, resulting in false V-speeds. Nobody got hurt, they only wrecked the plane.
Operating a mixed fleet of classics and NGs is no problem, but with different SOPs applying for different planes?
It is not challenging the intelligence of pilots. I am sure that this kind of procedure would not be the case under normal circumstances, neither at SkyEurope nor any other respectable airline. In this case, management is responsible for an avoidable, potentially dangerous threat.
However, it doesn't qualify the aircraft to be referred to as "junk".
Worried pilots: I really do mean that. Is anyone of you not worried by now? Would you say that nobody arrives into the briefing room in the morning being worried, cynic, frustrated, absent-minded, nervous, unrested, angry or indifferent?
And doesn't this have any effect on individual performance? Answer for yourself:
When you arrive at the aircraft, what do you usually talk about to each other? How many times does the subject of your conversation come to personal company-related matters? How often nowadays do you worry more about your own problems, above anything else that the company might say to you?
What do you think to yourself in the morning, when you sit inside the cockpit, having your first cup of coffee?
I don't consider SkyEurope's pilots and aircraft to be unsafe. I have used them myself as a passenger a couple of times in the past, and would still do so today (well, at least it wouldn't be the safety standards I'd worry about, if I were to book a ticket in advance now).
But I would say that management is to blame for avoidable risks. Not due to negligence maybe, but because of financial meltdown.
"Flying old junk planes"
Come on give me a break! Are we the only airline in the world operating a mixed fleet of NG:s and 300-500:s? The planes are well kept, from major airlines and really nice inside! Itīs true that two 300:s have been brought from storage in Arizona, but they had been there TWO months only! Ex United planes, like new inside.
Pounds system, yes, we double check the numbers all the time, whatīs the problem?
Come on give me a break! Are we the only airline in the world operating a mixed fleet of NG:s and 300-500:s? The planes are well kept, from major airlines and really nice inside! Itīs true that two 300:s have been brought from storage in Arizona, but they had been there TWO months only! Ex United planes, like new inside.
Pounds system, yes, we double check the numbers all the time, whatīs the problem?
I am a former SkyEurope-employee, who left without any hard feelings. The last thing I wish to do is to insult my former colleagues, so I'll explain those expressions.
The aircraft may be well maintained (I assume so if they come from United). They are very old as I know, but to me it wasn't clear that Bluebat actually never flew them. If Bluebat had been more careful with his description of the "discarded" aircraft, I wouldn't have used that term.
I understand the procedure of converting the ZWF on the loadsheet from KG to LBS, and having the 2nd pilot confirming the numbers before entering them into the CDU. However, this IS definitely a maintenance item, to change the software to work with Kilos. And I consider it to be an unsafe practice: Remember the tailstrike of Emirates in Melbourne? It happened after entering a wrong value into the FMC, resulting in false V-speeds. Nobody got hurt, they only wrecked the plane.
Operating a mixed fleet of classics and NGs is no problem, but with different SOPs applying for different planes?
It is not challenging the intelligence of pilots. I am sure that this kind of procedure would not be the case under normal circumstances, neither at SkyEurope nor any other respectable airline. In this case, management is responsible for an avoidable, potentially dangerous threat.
However, it doesn't qualify the aircraft to be referred to as "junk".
Worried pilots: I really do mean that. Is anyone of you not worried by now? Would you say that nobody arrives into the briefing room in the morning being worried, cynic, frustrated, absent-minded, nervous, unrested, angry or indifferent?
And doesn't this have any effect on individual performance? Answer for yourself:
When you arrive at the aircraft, what do you usually talk about to each other? How many times does the subject of your conversation come to personal company-related matters? How often nowadays do you worry more about your own problems, above anything else that the company might say to you?
What do you think to yourself in the morning, when you sit inside the cockpit, having your first cup of coffee?
I don't consider SkyEurope's pilots and aircraft to be unsafe. I have used them myself as a passenger a couple of times in the past, and would still do so today (well, at least it wouldn't be the safety standards I'd worry about, if I were to book a ticket in advance now).
But I would say that management is to blame for avoidable risks. Not due to negligence maybe, but because of financial meltdown.
Last edited by Nightfire; 9th Jun 2009 at 20:53.
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Absolutely no false info has been said!
To Skyeuropecapt:
I understand that you may feel unhappy about my previous post. However, I stand very firm behind all of my claims. I have not mentioned a single false piece of information!
1) As you have admitted yourself, the information concerning the salaries is all true.
2) The information posted by me concerning the replacement classics was limited to the statement of several facts. I did not elaborate further than those facts:
As you can see from my post I have not used the word "junk" or "dangerous" or "unsafe". I have merely said that some of them have been pulled out of the desert storage - is this a false statement in your opinion? The fact if I have flown these airplanes or not is completely irrelevant of the facts that I have stated.
As far as the pound system - did I say that the crews are lost and can not cope with it? Did I say anything false? Again, I do not think so. Since you have been flying commercially for a long time, you must be fully aware of the "swiss cheese" concept when it comes to the causes of aircraft accidents. You can not argue your case with anyone, that the pound system used on some Sky Europe airplanes DOES create another POTENTIAL hole in the concept of the safety of the operations. Of course the crews are intelligent people and will be able to cope with it on everyday basis, but in the overall view it does reduce the safety and it is an issue that can be eliminated should there be sufficient will of the management and sufficient finances. It all simply comes down to the fact that statistically there IS an increased potential for error, leading to a potential more serious issue.
The same goes for my claim that the increased stress on board does not help the safety of operations. Again - I am not saying that an airplane is going to crash tomorrow because of this, but it simply and inarguably creates another hole in the swiss-cheese model, which, if lined up with another hole, brings the flight closer to an incident or accident if other factors are involved.
I do not understand your sentence:
I have not decided to be UNFIT - I have decided to leave the company at the end of April. I did my share of flying for free, I did participate on the Sept/Oct concessions. I have simply decided that I do not trust the management that they can lead the company out of the crisis. I have realized that I do not like the way the management behaves towards its own employees when they are the ones who basically allowed the company to survive the winter. I have decided that I have had enough of the management's arrogance and lack of communication, etc etc... I could go on.
With all of the above said it does not mean that I have any hard feelings against the people who have stayed. I have spent several wonderful years with the company and have many nice memories. I wish every Sky employee the best - I wish them that their decision to believe in the competence of the management turned out to be a good one in the long run. I do not want to get involved with the company's internal issues - if the employees are receiving salaries or not is none of my business any more.
But at the same time I can not simply allow the management carry on treating the FORMER employees, including myself, in the same way as they are doing now. It is unacceptable, that the company completely stops paying-out even the small installments of owed salaries to its former employees once they leave the company. Former employees do not care what the company needs to pay first and why. Former employees want to be treated in the same way as the current employees - we have given Sky Europe our share of effort and sacrifice as anybody else. Are we bad because we have decided that enough is enough and we left? Do we not deserve to keep on receiving the small salary installments until the company's moral and legal obligations are repaid to us? I do not know how it is in your base (Bratislava I assume?), but there are simply too many former employees to whom the company stopped re-paying their back-log of salaries on the day they have submitted their resignation. Is this fair?
Are you calling my actions unfair even in spite of the fact that I have personally spoken to Jason and kindly asked him to resume repaying the owed salaries to the former employees - I have even discussed an acceptable re-payment plan over a period of time. But how did Jason respond to such requests and proposals? In his own natural way - he simply put his head into the sand just like an ostrich does and never even responded. When the management shows absolutely no effort to try to come to an agreement concerning its legal obligations and completely ignores us, what do you suggest would be a "fair" treatment then? And do not mention filing a law-suit when everyone is aware of the fact, that without an investor the company is not going to be here within 3 months.
The media attention that Sky Europe is now starting to get is not a result of someone going crazy, but merely a logical consequence of the management's behavior and its absolute lack of interest in dealing with its obligations.
Best Regards,
I understand that you may feel unhappy about my previous post. However, I stand very firm behind all of my claims. I have not mentioned a single false piece of information!
1) As you have admitted yourself, the information concerning the salaries is all true.
2) The information posted by me concerning the replacement classics was limited to the statement of several facts. I did not elaborate further than those facts:
the airplanes that are slowly replacing the wet-leased ones (following the repossession of 6 NGs by GECAS) are in most cases 20-year old pieces that were scrambled by the company from the desert storage in the US - pieces that were already discarded from the fleet of United Airlines. The company does not even deal with such issues that they still keep the US setup of the on-board systems - everything is in pounds instead in kilograms, including the FMS masses and FUEL gauges. When pilots are used to operate in kilograms on one airplane and in pounds on another one, it does not add to the overall safety levels of operations. Especially with the crews being under s lot of constant stress during the last 9 months of operations - constantly worrying how much of their salary they will receive this time; if they will be able to pay their mortgage; how long will this situation carry on, etc...
As you can see from my post I have not used the word "junk" or "dangerous" or "unsafe". I have merely said that some of them have been pulled out of the desert storage - is this a false statement in your opinion? The fact if I have flown these airplanes or not is completely irrelevant of the facts that I have stated.
As far as the pound system - did I say that the crews are lost and can not cope with it? Did I say anything false? Again, I do not think so. Since you have been flying commercially for a long time, you must be fully aware of the "swiss cheese" concept when it comes to the causes of aircraft accidents. You can not argue your case with anyone, that the pound system used on some Sky Europe airplanes DOES create another POTENTIAL hole in the concept of the safety of the operations. Of course the crews are intelligent people and will be able to cope with it on everyday basis, but in the overall view it does reduce the safety and it is an issue that can be eliminated should there be sufficient will of the management and sufficient finances. It all simply comes down to the fact that statistically there IS an increased potential for error, leading to a potential more serious issue.
The same goes for my claim that the increased stress on board does not help the safety of operations. Again - I am not saying that an airplane is going to crash tomorrow because of this, but it simply and inarguably creates another hole in the swiss-cheese model, which, if lined up with another hole, brings the flight closer to an incident or accident if other factors are involved.
I do not understand your sentence:
YOU have decided to be UNFIT, if you decide to leave i wont blame you either but PLEASE dont send unfounded info.
With all of the above said it does not mean that I have any hard feelings against the people who have stayed. I have spent several wonderful years with the company and have many nice memories. I wish every Sky employee the best - I wish them that their decision to believe in the competence of the management turned out to be a good one in the long run. I do not want to get involved with the company's internal issues - if the employees are receiving salaries or not is none of my business any more.
But at the same time I can not simply allow the management carry on treating the FORMER employees, including myself, in the same way as they are doing now. It is unacceptable, that the company completely stops paying-out even the small installments of owed salaries to its former employees once they leave the company. Former employees do not care what the company needs to pay first and why. Former employees want to be treated in the same way as the current employees - we have given Sky Europe our share of effort and sacrifice as anybody else. Are we bad because we have decided that enough is enough and we left? Do we not deserve to keep on receiving the small salary installments until the company's moral and legal obligations are repaid to us? I do not know how it is in your base (Bratislava I assume?), but there are simply too many former employees to whom the company stopped re-paying their back-log of salaries on the day they have submitted their resignation. Is this fair?
Are you calling my actions unfair even in spite of the fact that I have personally spoken to Jason and kindly asked him to resume repaying the owed salaries to the former employees - I have even discussed an acceptable re-payment plan over a period of time. But how did Jason respond to such requests and proposals? In his own natural way - he simply put his head into the sand just like an ostrich does and never even responded. When the management shows absolutely no effort to try to come to an agreement concerning its legal obligations and completely ignores us, what do you suggest would be a "fair" treatment then? And do not mention filing a law-suit when everyone is aware of the fact, that without an investor the company is not going to be here within 3 months.
The media attention that Sky Europe is now starting to get is not a result of someone going crazy, but merely a logical consequence of the management's behavior and its absolute lack of interest in dealing with its obligations.
Best Regards,
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Just as expected 
INVESTOR NEWS
SkyEurope Holding AG announces the further extension of York loans
Bratislava/Vienna 15 June 2009 - York Global Finance II S.a.r.l. has extended the deadline for the repayment of its EUR 15 million loan granted in December 2007 and its EUR 10 million loan granted in September 2008 to SkyEurope Airlines a.s. to 15 July 2009. Both loans were due for repayment on 15 June 2009 in accordance with the loan agreements as amended.
SkyEurope Holding AG announces the further extension of York loans
Bratislava/Vienna 15 June 2009 - York Global Finance II S.a.r.l. has extended the deadline for the repayment of its EUR 15 million loan granted in December 2007 and its EUR 10 million loan granted in September 2008 to SkyEurope Airlines a.s. to 15 July 2009. Both loans were due for repayment on 15 June 2009 in accordance with the loan agreements as amended.
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Like so many things in life, wouldn't it be absolutely fascinating to know the REAL story.
In the meantime, if they want to launder money or whatever it is they have done ,and wish to continue to do , couldn't they at least have the decency to pay, now and retrospectively, the employees who facilitate them in continuing with this charade? or better to have lavicious parties for new CC and welcoming Directors
In the meantime, if they want to launder money or whatever it is they have done ,and wish to continue to do , couldn't they at least have the decency to pay, now and retrospectively, the employees who facilitate them in continuing with this charade? or better to have lavicious parties for new CC and welcoming
Directors