Astraeus - 2

[Puritan]

Duh! I was only offering a possible explanation as to why a 'rumour' about Astraeus getting 5x B737-700's could potentially have some validity and might be feasible (it is a rumour network after all, right ?!)... and then some on here get all defensive!

Aside - Imho, one B757 (from a fleet of 5) making it around the world, crewed by 4 Training Captains (one of whom is the Ops Dir who's under orders to deliver a WorldWide AOC, and another of whom is responsible for the charter itself.... dare one say 'vested interests'?), plus two engineers, is all well and good. BUT it can hardly be denied that there have been instances (in the past) when AEU's B757 fleet has been far from 'reliable'; wherein I could quote a number of events, but I'll leave it at that.

[amber 1]

Just to keep stirring things up a bit, "rumour" also has it the bmi guys and gals, especially the SFO's, are none to happy about the 757 LHR deal (see the bmi thread)

[BYALPHAINDIA]

So, are the 757s still spectacularly unreliable or have they got better (or worse)?

They must be getting well worn by now.

G OOOB ex Air 2000 got around 68,000 hrs + on it.

Built in 1987.

They are workhorses.

[Aviator 101]

Hmm.. I do know of a European operator with 757's, of which at least 3 of them have about 90.000 hrs+ built 1989-1991 and in excellent condition still

[Heffer]

AEU have renewed their 757 fleet. G-OOOB has moved on.

Their average fleet age is now down to around 14.8 years. The newest is 1997 build (Boeing stopped production in 1999).

Other UK carriers have older fleets. MON 757 fleet average is 22.3 years (oldest 1983 - newest 1988!).

[Max Angle]

Just to keep stirring things up a bit, "rumour" also has it the bmi guys and gals, especially the SFO's, are none to happy about the 757 LHR deal (see the bmi thread)

Think it may turn out that its the Astraeus pilots who won't be happy, looks like quite a lot of bmi pilots are going to be checked out on the 757 for the duration of the contract. Expecting a bid form for it shortly.

[OLNEY 1 BRAVO]

I think you will find that 757 production ceased in 2004 (not 1999) with the final two examples being delivered to Shanghai Airlines.

[fade to grey]

Max angle,
I was under the impression the deal is for 'damp lease' i.e aircraft and pilots - I cannot understand why Bmi would got to the expense of getting their own folks type rated for the contract.
Furthermore as bmi has no 757s on it's AOC what would happen - would you have bmi pilots re employed by Astraeus ?It s not as simple as getting' checked out' (we're not talking about Cessna 152s here !),

furthermore I find all the bleating by the bmi pilots about their promotion prospects rather distasteful as we are actually talking about people's jobs here - not just getting an extra stripe !

[Max Angle]

Well a lot of bmi SFOs have been waiting many years for commands (we have just had the first 3 promotions since 2001) so I think they can be excused for feeling a little aggrieved that two aircrafts worth of extra work is going to be farmed out to another carrier.

As for the check out well it's the same process as a 152 it just costs more and takes longer but it's not a big deal. It's all pretty tedious though and there is nowhere to put your dinner on a 757 so not for me I think.

[fade to grey]

well if the bmi folks have been waiting from 2001 for promotion that shows either blind faith or lack of imagination.......if they were that desperate what about ryanair or easyjet in the past 7 years ?

anyway the point i am trying to make is spare a thought for the aeu boys and girls, we are uncertain of the future

but i guess in this industry you would cut your granny's throat for a fiver..it was ever thus.

[standbyils]

AEU will only use bmi pilots to plug their own holes, not disadvantage AEU pilots.

[Tail-take-off]

Flying for Ryanair? Now that would be desperate.

As for bmi pilots flying the 757s it would be the same scenario asa the bmi guys who flew the BMED aircraft when they had seperate AOCs. ie following a conversion they would complete an Astreaus LPC/OPC & line check & would be seconded to Astreaus for the duration of the contract.

Almaty, Bihskek & Freetown are very popular nightstop destinations for a variety of reasons so the bmi pilots are unhappy to loose these. The SFOs are unhappy with the loss of promotion prospects & the junior FOs & Capts are unhappy about the lack of job security offered by having people below you on the seniority list.

AEU will only use bmi pilots to plug their own holes, not disadvantage AEU pilots.

They don't seem too worried about the effects on the cabin crew why should the pilots be any different.

[Fat Dog]

They don't seem too worried about the effects on the cabin crew why should the pilots be any different.

Now that really is a bit naive - recruting B757 Captains is a bit of a different kettle of fish to recruiting cabin crew (no disrespect intended to our friends who work their ar$es off in the cabin...)

[standbyils]

The bmi contract for AEU is surley the shape of things to come for Astraeus. AEU supply the aircraft and pilots (AEU's AOC) and the customer airline keeps it's image in the cabin, which is all the pax see (cabin crew who can operate on 2 AOCs/2 aircraft types). In the case of the AEU/bmi deal, the Cabin Crew will still be able to fly for bmi on 1 of the bmi types when required. This is a different story for pilots, of course.

WW AOC for AEU next I hear. With the backing of their Icelandic Board, good luck to them.

[Dan D'air]

So does anyone know if it's true that most of the CC are losing their jobs this month??

[FlyingFromTheUK]

Yes, this is true...

A large number of crew are finishing with AEU 2wards the end of the month and it has to be said it seems alot of them are happy...

Alot are moving onto Ba, Virgin, Qantas, BMI and EZY so i wish them al the very best with there new airlines and hope the crew who have been kept on (about 30people) that it stil works out within the company

[OliWW]

News that Iceland Express are starting 5x weekly Gatwick - Reykjavik which is being operated by a B737.700 operated on behalf of Astreaus, based in Reykjavik, starting 29th Sept, so with Astreaus only having 2 B737.700, does this mean that there will be a cut back in the flights the B737.700 did this winter compared to next, e.g East Midlands - Gambia on a friday

[airhumberside]

AFAIK AEU are pulling out of the regular charter and scheduled business. Just doing ad hoc charters and wet leasing

[aztruck]

2 737-300's gone away somewhere where someone else flys them.
2 737-700 in Stockholm and Oslo for the Summer, scheduled, AEU Pilots, Sterling Cabin Crew.
757 in Kef, AEU Pilots, Icelandic Cabin Crew. All Year round.
757 in Warsaw till October, AEU Pilots Polish Cabin Crew.
2 757 in Heathrow for 2 years. AEU Pilots BMI Cabin crew.
757 Ad hoc in Gatwick year round. AEU Pilots and Cabin Crew.

Transatlantic ex KEF flights kick off this winter I believe, plenty of other work lined up.
Felt museum and Yurt making highlights of the stop in Kyrgystan!

[BOAC]

Not forgetting the 2 Astraeus 700's twice a week KEF-GOT-KEF from 15 May and KEF-ARN-KEF from 1 June that handling in GOT/ARN have been notified of? You sure you are up to date? Things move fast.