I feel so sorry for the staff who tried to do their best despite the "upper floor" rantings. It's particularly tough at this time of year as there are too few positions out there being chased after by too many good people.
Get to the jobcentre now and start the ball rolling. The odds are they will not find you a job but at least you may get some benefits to tide you over.

Best of luck to all.

A friend of mine assures me that FlyGlobespan are owed GBP 36.4m of credit card payments by E clear.

Can this be true? If so, it is a scandal.

"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"

Its not that I expect the fare should be that low, quite the opposite. However for me when flying Ryanair it has been more of a 'why not' trip, prompted by the ridiculously low fare, a flight I would not have taken had it cost more. Having flew with them numerous occasions, all around the £10 mark, I'm reluctant to pay more with them. Why? Because the next day there could be a sale on offering the same seat at 1p.

It's not that I find a higher fare unreasonable, and when necessary will happily pay it on other airlines. Take Globespan for example, covering bucket and spade routes. Had the trip in question been a week long holiday, yes I would have paid far more than £89. But an overnight in Paris that is simply a cheap overnight - no.

I think Ryanair have set themselves up in a manner where customers will not accept high fares, as they've came to except such low fares. It's nothing to do with what's reasonable or acceptable, but simply buying when the price is right.

This number does not surprise me at all. What would surprise me is if E-Clear is really holding the funds in a designated account on behalf of Globespan as they should.

BarbiesBoyfriend

Absolutely possible. That is how clearing services work. You wont know if its a scandal unless the detail of the contract is known.

Sorry to all old friends
 

As a former Pilot that was forced to leave in October I am sorry for all of you left.
Not the best of jobmarkets this time of the year, but hopefully next year it will turn around again.
And so sad the day after the Dreamliner made the first flight.

Good luck all ex GSM crews

Parcelpuppy wrote:
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.

Perhaps then it is slightly skewed. You implied that Flyglobespan were started from the ashes of Cougar Leasing Ltd. This is not true GSM started operations in November 2002 when Cougar were still operating as a cargo airline (they ceased pax in oct 2002). Cougar (GCR) did not cease operations until summer 2003 and did not sell the AOC to Flyglobespan until early 2004. TD was also never a director at GCR and I believe that most of the old GCR directors had left GSM by the end of GSM possibly with the exception of one DH.

The demise of GSM may well have been on the cards for some time and there are many factors involved in the failure of any business.

To all the FGS crew and employees all the best, what a brutal time of year to receive such lousy news!

MPA thanks
 

After a few years on a bi annual trip to the Falklands, GSM were clearly the best operator the MOD have chartered on this route.

Sorry to hear the news guys. Gutted for you at this time of year especially.:(

Onwards and upwards, eh??
We will all be ok. We are the same as all of the rest of the airline staff out there........AMAZING.
What doesn't kill us can only make us stronger. And respect to RG for standing up in front of us this morning to apologise...ok, only words, but we didn't see TD doing the same??

Sad times...
 

As wife of one of the captains, i've travelled with GSM numerous times and have got to know many of the flight deck, cabin crew and engineers.

What sad news this is for such a fantastic bunch of people, and that's every one of you without exception! You guys have worked so hard to pull it all together in the recently uncertain environment, and I applaud you all.

Best of luck for the future to all the guys and girls on the front line, the spanners, the flight deck and not forgetting our two lovely lady pilots!

J and the Captain

"Glamour takes a nose-dive!" says the headline. Not in today's paper, but the dateline is November 9 1968, and there are the sad faces of the LHR check-in girls, sitting on the counter with BRITISH EAGLE emblazoned above them. "It nearly broke my heart," said 24-year old stewardess Miss Jackie Tingrell, as she sadly handed in her plum-coloured uniform.

History went on to repeat itself, time and again, of course: Court Line, Laker, Dan-Air, and Air Europe are the ones that immediately spring to mind, and now Globespan.

I note the snowploughs positioned behind the two parked 737s at Glasgow. Is that really necessary in this day and age?

I wish the staff all the very best in their search for new employment.

To the employees I say best of luck.To the poison dwarf I say what goes around comes around.

They done that with zoom, it dose look awful

Which carrier is bringing folk back from Tenerife and Faro tonight ?

Easyjet and Ryanair- don't you watch the news?

Sympathies to all the staff affected. I know how upsetting and traumatic it must be, and what a rotten time for it to happen. Good luck to you all- I hope you can re-enter the profession soon. I hope 2010 brings the recovery that will see full employment again.

Spotter alert! Check your teletext but my guess would be Globespan pax coming back on other carriers ie Easy, Ryanair etc. I didn't think there was a special airlift planned for stranded pax but things could have chnaged in the last few hours.

Sorry about the news, same "overnight" closure happend to the company i was working for a while back.

Thoughts go out to the staff and familys.

Haven't had time to read right through, but as one who has spent time with his passengers bearing bad news about their tickets, this snippet from the Beeb stood out.


I'd certainly make it my business to find out where the money was, and indeed, who owned the company that was holding it.


BBC News - Flyglobespan collapse strands thousands of passengers

let me add my best wishes to all at Globespan. Many of us have had it happen, and it is a dreadful experience!
However, we are a tenacious bunch in this profession, stay positive, look after your families, you will survive to fight another day!
Good Luck!

From the Cyprus Mail thisevening...
 

"A CYPRIOT controlled financial services firm is poised to bail out a Scottish budget airline and package holiday company in a deal that could in turn boost Cyprus’ ailing tourist industry.
Halcyon Investment Corporation, which is controlled by the Cypriot credit card procession firm E-Clear, is negotiating a deal with Scottish Airline Flyglobespan.com to generate both upfront and future investments.
Globespan has denied reports that it is on the brink of collapse. However some British media have speculated that without Halcyon’s investment, the holiday firm will go into administration.
The Independent on Sunday reports that one of the big-four accountancy firms is on standby and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is keeping a close eye on the progress of the deal.
The deal was due to be concluded on Tuesday, but was granted a 48-hour extension by the CAA to finalise the deal, with the outcome expected this afternoon.
The outcome could have real implications for Cypriot tourism. Crawford Blaikin, Spokesman for Globespan, said yesterday “At the moment, Globespan flies from Scotland to Paphos throughout the year. In winter two planes per week fly from Glasgow and Edinburgh and in summer another route operates from Aberdeen.”
“I can’t speculate on any possible extensions, however” he added.
The Boeing 757’s that make the trips carry up to 180 people, which means the collapse of Globespan could spell the loss of several thousand Scottish tourists to Cyprus next year.
Globespan chairman Tom Dalrymple said: “This (deal) is good news for the company, our customers and our staff” and that it could “expand its airline and associated products and services”
Flyglobespan is a subsidiary of Globespan Group was founded in 1970, has 900 staff and operates a fleet of more than 10 aircraft
The company is not alone in facing speculation over its financial status. E-clear is currently six weeks late in filing its accounts at Companies House and they were hit hard by the collapse of other airlines such as XL and Zoom Airlines.
E-Clear’s marketing and communications director, Constantine Seraphim said last week
“We went through this last year and we’ve cleared the situation. We are in a strong position ... Airlines have gone down but our position is really not weakened. We are just assessing our risk like any other bank or financial institution is. We are assessing the risk and we move on.”

Slow connection downroute, sorry if this has already been mentioned. Looks like E-Clear may have some explaining to do...

Anyhows, good luck in the jobhunting to all GSM crew - amongst the others...

500

TRSS has been banned but asked me to post this.

He has been in touch with the Head of Recruitment at Ryanair and applications from GSM Captains are very welcome.

The full details of the experience requirements are on the website.

At the moment no applications are being processed for SFOs or FOs, but, the word from the horse's mouth is keep checking the website as things change day to day.

He wishes you all the best in your search for another job.

So Sorry For You All!
 

The sad news of Globespan's demise puts our own disputes with management in the shade! I would rather have crappy conditions and still have a job. I think many of my crew colleagues don't feel this way because they have never experienced what being out of work is like - I lost my job three times when the "Iron Battleaxe" was Prime Minister and I would never wish that on anyone.

Good Luck to you all at Globspan - I'm just so sorry BA has a recruitment freeze and the aviation industry is in such a mess.

Is there a fund being set up to help wish our Globespan friends a bit of Christmas cheer and help cushion the blow for our " colleagues in airmanship"? Mrs Bealine and I can't afford much, but we would certainly put a few quid into a PayPal account if someone would get one going!

Come on Ppruners - Let's Get Something Going!

Cash is King
 

The simple truth in this game is that airlines spend the money they take today (for next years travel) on paying this weeks bills. Always has been so and ever will be.

Loss making airlines stay in business simply because they still have cash to pay people. They are not broke today, only in the future, if they cant carry people then who paid today, if you follow me....

They will of course because then they will use someone elses advance cash to pay for those bills...

The crisis comes when the cash stops flowing from the card people and suddenly there is no advance money to meet current debts.

Curiously, the US charter scene operates in much the same way this credit card company has operated and companies are denied access to cash until the pax have returned. They have got used to the scheme and work with that expectation in mind but when it is suddenly imposed on a business that was not expecting it, there is no way out.

As with everything else in this life recently it's the bankers and the money men who have shagged the rest of us and they didnt even stop to kiss us in the process!

smell a rat ?
 

Hmmmmmm..... putting this:

together with this (from the Guardian online):

does make one wonder......

Hoping to not break the rules of PPRuNe Towers, but in these times of sadness and depression, and jobless individuals, I may be able to help.

Ops Controller vacancy, non airline, mostly GA, Essex based.

PM me for info.

:ok:

Moderators
 

What was Slim banned for? Or are you allowed to divulge?

Very disappointing...
 

Like a few other of the users on here I too was in at the start working closely with all the directors even handling the first few cabin crew job applications and dotting the i's of the first finance lease. I don't see any point in hiding that I was in charge of the airlines finances from inception to launch and for a few months after launch and worked closely with all departments - there weren't many employees at the time so I can guess who a few people on the forum are. Hello I hope you are all well.

TD is a passionate person who I admired for his drive and ambition however his stubborn refusal to listen to anyone during this period resulted in a number of decisions which were ridiculous. I left as he was impossible to work for which was a shame as the people there were great.

He seemed to find it difficult to take any advice and let's not even mention his sidekick during this period who was a waste of space. If he had a better sounding board the Flyglobespan may still be here today.

I'm not going to get dragged into the legalities surrounding cgr and the AOC - which flyglobespan had to reactivate - I know the full details of what happened as I was in several of the key meetings with the CAA but some people need to move on. I'm not saying what happened was right or wrong just that it is in the past and I suppose what has happened may give you closure.

JF, KN and DH were old school but they were all fully dedicated to Flyglobespan. They were also good to work with and were certainly not shy of work.

My overall feelings tonight are sadness for the airline and its excellent staff and confusion as to how this could happen. Unfortunately this is TD's second airline that has collapsed and I think his goose is now cooked. I'm assuming the banks simply said no more.

G/A F15

He gets band from every thread at some point!

Has the Hajj 767 returned?

Farewell FGS
 

It is sad that small enjoyable airlines like FGS have to go in this way. I worked for them for a while as a contractor and was let go with the rest of us at the end of October.
I was very happy there and sad to leave. Made some friends and all the staff were very good to me.
So farewell guys and girls and good luck to you all:ok:

Very sorry to here of Globespans demise, I have some good mates there and I wish you all the very best of luck :ok:

Sorry to hear the news for all those who have lost out. Wishing all of you best wishes and hoping 2010 is a better year for all of you.

GSM crews are still returning to the UK.
4 flew back to EDI on bmi last night.
I would never wish that on anyone. They where in uniform still. Not sure what they had brought into LHR or had paxed in.
Good luck to all at GSM.

I hope Unite well get it into their heads that airlines are not cash cows and dont have bottemless bank accouts cos we dont. Every UK could go bust if it runs into trouble and GSM is the lastest sad loss.
There is no Chapter 11 here!

Could someone with contact details for Globespan Flight Ops Management please PM me?

e-clear
 

Two threads going, so I'll post a link to my other post about e-clear.

My sympathy for all of you at Globespan.
When Skyeurope started to have problems last September(15 months ago),the crews did all their best to help out the airline,most gave up to a month salary concession while Eclear was holding back our money....
I decide to stay till the end just because the company gave me my first job in Europe and I just loved that airline and all its employees..
Eclear didnt send the money on time and only a portion of it(20 000EUR) they agreed to send on the day... Vienna airport deadline passed and the airport management stopped our operation which lead to our newly found investors apparently to back off and all to lose their jobs..

Fortunately,I secured a job 3 weeks later, however my total salary backlog over those 15 months amounted to 45 000 EUR without having added perdiems/expense claims...
So then i wished Mr SLIM ryan air offered me 100sterling..NOT! ryan feminine staff (you may know who im refering to)came TO OUR OFFICES(ground floor of our building)to tell us about ryan air.It still makes me sick.
Anyways...if you are a CAPTAIN and have 500 hours + on NG send me a pm and ill get you an interview in SE Asia for a great package.
Other airlines are hiring such as PEGASUS,JET AIRWAYS,JADE CARGO(second captain)....

Good luck to all of you...time to go where the sun shines:ok:

Itsasmallworld - when you say "Unfortunately this is TD's second airline that has collapsed"....which was the first? He's kept that one verrrrrrrry quiet.

dontdoit

I believe it was Excalibur

I can confirm it was EXC! TD closed us down a day before pay day!

Best wishes to all at GSM, but this industry is one step nearer to a 'nicer' place without businessmen like Dalrymple! Good riddence!