Well Mr (not-so-niceguy), it seems the safety trained waiters couldn't have done a worse job than you and your much vaunted management. There are profits to be made out there, Thomas Cook and TUI seem to be doing OK. Bring on the safety trained waiters I say.

AI101
 

Ryanair may or may not be the white knight that you see them as but one part of your post was totaly mis-informed.

When XL went under XL Germany had a full flying program as did XL France, and shortly after XL Germany had a big tech issue with one of the B738's.

In short both the German & French XL sub parts did not have the capacity to help out as you put it..................how do I know?...........I lost my job at XL UK while being attached to XL Germany.

DIABOLUS, you are indeed correct in your information regarding the cougar AOC and FGS and as far as I am aware the remnants of CL left the company winter of 2007 initials being KN I was actualy there when him and TD had a rather large "bust up" you know the type I mean, stick your job etc. I cannot say I particulary liked KN but to be fair he stuck it to TD (who he refered to in the B/Room as No.1:yuk:) that day after that TD remployed one of aviations most loathed men DHugs. i suppose the writting was on the wall then, anyway I had a good time there and sorry for the staff but again I repeat not for TD,RG(fall guy)KB(who's the Daddy?) DSar. or the papermill man BCa.

AI101
Also Easyjet offered flights for £60 yesterday
so your outfit not the White knight you think...
Let's just hope people can get home whichever way.

easyJet rescue package for Globespan passengers

Following the announcement that Globespan has suspended its operations, easyJet, the largest UK airline, will offer those passengers stranded a special rescue fee of £60 (including taxes) to return home on the routes where our flights overlap with those of Globespan. These are:
Faro to Glasgow
Malaga to Glasgow
Alicante to Glasgow
Faro to Edinburgh
Malaga to Edinburgh
Alicante to Edinburgh
Geneva to Edinburgh
easyJet has made this offer available to any Globespan passengers due return home on these routes during the fourteen days (offer available until 23:59 - 30th December).
To claim the exclusive £60 rescue package, passengers should call easyJet customer services on one of the numbers listed below.
Passengers must provide the agent with their Globespan booking reference number and present their Globespan booking confirmation at check-in as further proof of booking.
From UK: 0871 244 2366
From Spain: 807 0700 70
From Switzerland: 0900 000 258
If you are calling from a country not listed above, you can call us on +44 871 244 2366.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors: Offer includes all taxes and charges.
For further information contact Andrew McConnell in the easyJet Press Office on 01582 52 52 52 or email: [email protected]

globespan nisedive
 

Sorry to hear the firm is on the slab guys, a bad time for all. The handful of crew who recently didn't have their contracts renewed must be counting mixed blessings but ultimately, even the pundits had GS on the cards as the next post XL failure. Irrespective of Mr Niceguys' comment on management, this was a text book, mismanaged airline from the start. The debacle over lost ETOPS, poor comms with crews, false promises and MOD contracts all bake an inedible cake. If it wasn't for the resolve of crew, some of whom placed their heads on the block, just to keep the firm flying, the outfit would have gone belly up in 2007. As always, its the coal face that gets shafted and undoubtedly, Mr D will pad his nest to fight another day. Best of luck guys (n gals).:uhoh:

matkat

Where did KN go to?

I wonder if this is the start of the Governments new ADP tax hike's kicking in to the airline industry ...

Spinn, sorry I don't know, after his sacking/resignation he appeared a few times at EDI airport to meet with Mkee. as far as I was aware he just went home and drove his Aston.

License to Fly

I doubt it, its more about the ability of the CEO to competently run a business.

If you have any assets of the company in your possession keep them as security against your outstanding salary.

Still waitting to be told i have no job

anyone know if there are any jobs going at edi?

Niceguy very much on the nail up there. Everyone thinks they can manage better than their managers, few actually make the grade, and those who do quickly realise it's not the cushy number the safety trained waiters think.

A fact of business that many would do well to remember:

• Sales are vanity
• Profit is sanity
• Cash is reality

As unfortunate as it is that another airline has gone to the wall owing customers flights and employees and suppliers money, it doesn't surprise me. In today's economic climate there are fewer SLF around and those who are, are shopping for the lowest fares. "Just being there" is no longer a viable formula for running an airline and you need either a very strong brand image and strategic position (eg BA) or a low cost base to ride the storm (eg EZ). Either way cash remains king and anyone without deep pockets is likely to be in equal danger of following downhill during the hard times that are likely to continue in 2010. When an airline announces it is anticipating a big new injection of capital that says to me "we've run out of money and want to spend someone else's". This isn't the first time we've seen this, I'm surprised so many are surprised.

Good luck to all finding new employment, but I wouldn't count on getting more than a handful of change out of the airline.

matkat

Without KN, there would have not been an airline called flyglobespan. I know all about Cougar and the issues that surround that etc. But, imho KN is a far more astute businessman, although not necessarily a likeable person. (personally, I enjoyed my games of mental jujitsu with him). So, TD with no experience whatsoever in running an airline, decides he can do it alone.

E-Clear has a lot to answer for
 

Globespan grounded - but why?

Douglas Fraser | 22:39 UK time, Wednesday, 16 December 2009



So what did for Scotland's biggest airline? A reckless build-up of debt? Its cost structure too high? Prices being driven down by competitors?
None of these. Yes, it had a rough ride a couple of years back, making a big loss because it had some of its routes wrong.
But it seems it did well to turn that position around, even if it left it with a bruised balance sheet.

Those looking at the business, who ought to know, say it was sound. Debt is under control. Its orders for two of Boeing's new Dreamliners were sensible expansion more than over-ambitious pipedream.
Instead, it was liquidity that did for Globespan - or to be precise, the cash that ought to flow from the company that carries out its credit card transactions with passengers.

This is a business that gets a lot of its payments up front, but these payments weren't making their way into the Globespan coffers. Quite a lot of that money seems to have been withheld by a company called E-Clear, which specialises in credit card transactions for the low cost airline business.

Bosses at Globespan have been in talks over recent weeks with Halcyon Investments, based in Jersey, as a potential investor to keep it going.
And there is at least one report suggesting Halcyon is very closely involved with E-Clear, and its chief executive Elias Elia. The transaction company hasn't returned calls about that this week.

The statements issued by Globespan's chief executive, Tom Dalrymple - carefully cleared with Halcyon and its lawyers - followed weekend reports of a deadline for a funding deal, and the possibility of collapse.
Mr Dalrymple said the funding package was intended to expand the company, when there wasn't much doubt that the only reason it needed an injection of capital was for survival.

The focus of attention now turns to tens of thousands who are out of pocket, with thousands of family Christmas and New Year plans wrecked, as well as holiday plans stretching into next year.
Attention also turns to those who withheld the payments Globespan seems to have been due.
Scotland's the worse off for the loss of a well-liked company.

Muddle
 

Moderator,
Can the serial numbers, sequences, and time tags of these posts be sorted out by your IT gurus? Its a mess.
Then delete this post. Thanks

Nice Guy and Dodo 56

It is refreshing to see a couple of eloquent and realistic posts in amongst all the usual polarised opiniation that is so often the case hereabouts.

Your posts won't offer a crumb of comfort to the customers and staff who have been royally shafted by the nature of the Globespan liquidation, but maybe they could provide useful inputs to the mindset of the bunch over at BA who have yet to discover the consequences in the harsh world of commerce of what happens when demands of employees and the reality of the balance sheet head in opposite directions.

habs_fan

There is another now defunkt airline chasing E-Clear for about 13 million. It's usual for companies like E-Clear to with-hold a % of funds to cover refunds etc. The contract detail can, and often does get complex. However, if E-Clear is operating in accordance with its contract, then that will logically form part of the business and financial model the airline will work to. It is conceivable that the airline could go to a bank and raise cash based upon the E-Clear holding. It seems to me that the airline was trying to re-negotiate its contract. There are almost certainly regulations that must be complied with, and its possible that what the airline wanted was not possible.

Unless E-Clear is running into problems itself, (there would be other airlines screaming out) then I feel it is a smoke screen. The financial difficulties run deep and long.

How many (remaining) airlines do E-Clear now provide service for?

Shame GSM
 

I was there from the start but left over a year ago , its really sad to see some great people losing there job specially this time of the year .It has to be said that we were from the start making good profit from year one but having seen the airline doing well mr TD start putting his nose in . The more he got involve the more the airline got in trouble . I have told him so in person at one of the pilot meeting with the management but he is just an arrogant man . the result is now he has taken his money out more then two years ago by structuring the airline ,I could see it coming but hoped it wont happen . any way it does not change the fact every one worked very hard to keep it going but it came to an end unfortunately .good luck to all the globe span employe ,It was pleasure to fly and work with you .

SASKATOON9999

Lots of reasons, spreading risk, managing cash flow, compliance with banking regulations.

Nearly every company that trades on the internet is using some form of clearing service.

Edit.

To explain what I mean, its worth having a look at e-clear web site. At least it gives a bit of an insight as to why these companies exist. All of the UK banks I have dealt with require the use of an approved company like eclear for credit/debit card payments on-line. Here is the link E-Clear

Crystal clear
 

Diabolous
My memory is not hazy at all. I still have the transcripts from the litigation, documentation from MP's and the addresses of the 258 creditors owed 40 million USD and all of us who were ex Cougar employees cheated by the people who went on to form Globespan.The £128,000 paid for the AOC by the new management was a steal.Those ex Cougar staff that went on to start off Flyglobespan were all part of the scam.Dont believe that TD and all of the other directors were not complicit.

Spicejetter
Last night I was so angry at the demise of Flyglobespan,the sense of deja vu
that will probably allow directors to walk away free whilst the ex employees and passengers suffer, I wrote my reply totally in capitals. Apparently the web site will format the words that way if you do not take the time to preview and check your post. No matter how ugly the printed word looks an intelligent person should be able to see through this and still understand the message.

And Flybe are offering a rescue fare over EXT or SOU:

Following today's collapse of Flyglobespan, Flybe has stepped in with a special one-off rescue fare to fly affected passengers home to Scotland.

For a one-off fare of £59.99 (€65.99) including all taxes and charges, Flybe will wherever possible make seats available on their scheduled services from Malaga, Alicante, Geneva and Chambery for Flyglobespan passengers who wish to return to Edinburgh and Glasgow via Southampton or Exeter.

Affected passengers should phone the Flybe Customer Call Centre with their Flyglobespan booking reference. This offer will also be available via Flybe ticket desks at airports.

Passengers will also need to show proof that they hold Flyglobespan bookings when they check in with Flybe

Only Pilots and CC??
 

Real Slim Shady


While I admire your generosity and empathy, surely there are others just as badly affected by the GSM failure. I have several friends and ex colleagues in the Enginering Maintenance Control department for example. Surely they deserve support too.


By the way, I tried to send this as a PM to you but you have it disabled!:confused:

niceguy you may have a point

atb

Domino effect
 

Turin

You have a point. BCT, the company that employes the engineers for Globespan, are going to have to make their staff redundant as they only did GSM at Edi. TCR, the company that Alba leased the vehicles & equipment from, are going to feel it too.

Have heard from "a source in The City" that Halcyon/E-Clear are currently trying to mount a "rescue bid". The deal may complete within hours. Apparently, there are regular flights to Paphos.

Sounds like rubbish to me....

To all the GSM staff here.
 

Tough break and I do wish you all well and a speedy employ. Enough has been said about the time of year.............

It has been 5 years since I was last in this boat, but as it was a nice close knit 'family' airline that went bump on me overnight, I think I felt the same loss as you.

I am sorry if things have changed since 2004, but I hope it helps:

1/ PWC 'should' advise and help you claim all that is due from HMG, lost salary, proven per diems and expenses etc. Untaken holiday pay included. It is capped though if I remember correctly.

2/ Notice period, again, capped.

3/ Not sure if it is still valid, but we were then advised to seek an Industrial Tribunal for lack of consultation, which was awarded as a protected payment.
This was done en-mass via the internet, sorry I do not have the link.

When duo failed, the administrator also approved 'limited' and 'controlled' Company Credit Card payments to 'repatriate' staff to base.

None of this, alas, will help you today or next Monday, but at duo we certainly received one payment on the next payday, but we had also been payed salary to date.

Good luck and God speed to each of you finding new employment, there is a world out there, as bad as it seems now, today is a new start.


Bored

tcr wont feel it big time they still rent alot of equipment to menzies up and down the country

Spinnaker do you know me? I was there from April 2007 to June 2008 I cannot think who you are but we have obviously met, without puting my name down When you came out of the lift on the first floor I sat in the L/H corner PM me if you are more comfortable, oh and I agree 100% about what you said about KN at the end he had had enough hence he walked away though TD would say otherwise.

Turin, if your friends were the very same that took the jobs of the people at Colinton in May/June 2008 they do not have any of my sympathy as they had none for the people they were ousting at that time slagging them of as incompetent and how they could do the job much better well it is obvious now that they could not and for CHu. well it could not have happened to a nicer guy, we warned you all at the time so now you really see what comes around goes around.
So for the Manchester Mafia thats TX and now FGS, maybe this time you should stick to the gardening leave.
I hope that all staff manage to get things sorted, the Mafia I could not care less in fact it could not have happened to a nicer bunch (Dave F AKA Irish Dave excepted)

My sincere sympathies - Been there, done that!!
 

What Might Have Been
 

.........Dalrymple becomes most enthused and animated when talking about his fleet. He shows me a series of models of the various Boeing aircraft that his airline flies, which are generally leased from International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) and CIT Aerospace.

His eyes light up as he handles a model of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner - a sleek, super-efficient long-range aircraft made from the same composite material as the Stealth bomber. The aircraft will be capable of flying 9,700 miles at a stretch, meaning it could fly non-stop from Scottish airports to the east coast of Australia.

Dalrymple has leased two of these revolutionary new planes from ILFC for 2010 delivery. “Since we are a point-to-point airline, leasing these planes was a no-brainer for me.” It seems likely they will serve the Glasgow to Vancouver and Glasgow to Orlando routes
SUNDAY TIMES ...

I worked for KN in a previous engineering life. Good bloke to work for but wasn't afraid to hold back either. Wasn't aware he wasn't at GSM anymore. I still drive by his house everyday too. Good luck to all flight crew and ground crew affected.

I am just an ordinary passenger who has been critical of GSMs punctuality and scheduling in the past here but am genuinely 100% sorry to see it go - I only flew with them a few times from EDI to AGP and must say the service on board was as good as any airline I have flown with . I will never ever go Lyinair . A relative came back to Scotland with them recently as she could not get a GSM flight and says she was shocked at the cheap nasty interior and everyone being ripped off with baggage - and I mean everyone . FR are one airline I would like to see go bust .
I am disgusted at FRs patronising tone " you are an idiot for not flying with a viable airline " - well I think these words will come back to haunt them in a few years .

matkat

I'm certain we were probably not there at the same time. I left after about 18 months or maybe a year after the airline started up. I was in the office at stn when KN came bounding in announcing that we had an AOC. I was supposed to have been positioning the first -300 but found myself shoving pages into ops manuals instead (the aeroplane was broke). I hadn't flown a -300 for a couple of years and my line training started at 0900 and finished by tea time, including the line check itself. I hadn't enjoyed flying that much since year nineteen canteen. I had a pretty good time helping getting the show on the road, but it soon turns sour, which it did. I know what you mean about the feeling we have met though.

:sad: Another sad day in aviation.

Best of luck to all of the staff at Globespan and I hope you all find employment elsewhere asap.

Maybe this will be a wake up call for Unite and BA cabin crew..

Thank You
 

boredcounter

Thank you, as I have just had to sign on for the first time in my life.
You help is appreciated, and speaking for myself, thank you to all those who have expressed concern.

My thoughts go out to all my colleagues stranded in some strange places.

CMO

david.craigposted on page 1:Therein lies the huge problem facing an industry that eats cash at an alarming rate, chasing the slimest of margins.

Until the travelling public cease thinking that it's reasonable to pay less to fly to Spain than the taxi fare to the aiport there'll be more GSMs

So sorry for the people affected, specially you Littleblue. Good luck

My last single flight with GSM was around €46. The taxi from EDI to centre of town is around £18. This takes about 40 mins.

Here in Spain, if I took a taxi from AGP to my casa it would be another 40 mins journey but cost is set at €120 - go figure!

Once again, 'best of Scottish' to all the good people [formerly] at GSM.

Take care guys and gals. It was a blast flying with you...

Globetrotter79
I am pretty sure this is the last one for E-Clear. They really ought to be investigated to get to the bottom of what they do with the money.