AAE 727's

[TopperHarley]

NJS were advertising in The Australian for an engineer today - Required the appropriate licences for a 727.

Has the deal been done ??

[BAE146]

signed, sealed & DELIVERED !

[fruitloop]

Where is the off shore posting ??

[rtforu]

I hope all the jobs will be maintained, great news for the employees.

[Dan Kelly]

Just checked with an NJ mate, he says the deal is still progressing, but not yet signed, sealed and delivered. :eek:

Me thinks it could be like Rachel used to say, "it won't happen over night...." :ok:

[Rudder]

It's more likely the add was for the DHL operationa based in Auckalnd and operating thru Sydney

[BAE146]

Danny K - can't get much bigger than my mate at NJS, the Top Dog.

Has offered all aircrew at TAA a 27 month contract with possible extensions if AAE renew contract.

It's all GO GO GO mateeeee!

[Capn Bloggs]

Dan,

Bad quote. Rachel said it "won't hippen overnight..."!! :p

[Dan Kelly]

It maybe all go go go, but that isn't the same as signed, sealed & delivered

Bloggs, point tikken!

:p

[TopperHarley]

Is there a dollar in it for NJS ??

Methinks the 727 could be very costly in terms of reliability/maintenance and the associated contract penalties when aeroplanes go tits up.

Lets hope they are chargeing what it costs rather than what AAE wanted to pay.

[BAE146]

Is there a dollar in it for NJS ??


Is there ever :ok:

[TopperHarley]

Great news !!!

Though is it enough on its own to save NJS post QF??

[Nolights-essential3]

'Fluffy-Bunny-Feet',
"727s expensive in terms of maint./ reliability" ?
.....Big call from the folks who opperate 146s!
Hell, man, when I flew RMX we had 100% dispatch, and that wasnt so long ago.....
72s are still a fine aircraft, in all respects and your facillity there in Melbourne appears to be first-class.
Dont lose any sleep

[leftfrontside]

Word is that the Administrator has parked some B727's and that the SIM in MEL has shutdown.

Fact or fiction ????????? :sad:

[3 Holer]

There is one 727 parked in Cairns at the owner's request and the simulator is fully functional. I'm beginning to think 146's last question to YOU (www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99797) may be a correct assumption.

[FarQ2]

3 Holer me thinks you are ill informed as the Co. I work for has been informed that the B727 SIM is indeed shutdown as lfs asks is correct.

And has been since the 22nd Sept.

In the know!! :hmm:

[d_concord]

I don't know about parking the aircraft but I was talking to someone from the sim the other day and my understanding is that it was shut down to do maintenance and a fidelity.

The sim requires quite a bit of time and money spent on it, however, it was decided that it wasn't worth spending the money until the future of the B727 operations was determined and they could be sure of recovering the investment.

The term he used was it was a waste sending good money after bad without knowing where the future was going. I think they are one of the largest creditors of Aeromarine.

[Sheep Guts]

Would be tragedy to see the Sim stay shutdown. There musnt be many 727s in SE Asia or Pacific Regions. If it were to stay up and running is there away of organising a Type Rating on it?

Whos the contact for the sim anyone know?

Regards
Sheep

[leftfrontside]

Well 3 Holer it appears my sources were correct, from the above replies.

So how do you perceive that it was a wind-up? :8

[FarCu]

Maybe I was seeing things, but the other day one of the two 727's parked at Cairns appeared to have winglets on it, is this true?

[Dale Harris]

No, you weren't seeing things. One of them does. Came with the cargo conversion I think. Looks ok I reckon!

[3 Holer]

leftfrontside - the 727 simulator has been fully functional for the past month with the exception of three days for maintenance. Transmile have used it on at least three occaisions for training and licence renewals.

I perceived your post to be a wind up from your statement.......the SIM in MEL has shutdown.

[Rudder]

3 Holer,

I have talked to one of the shareholders of the sim this afternoon and he confirmed the sim has not been used since the 22nd of last month. I suspect your both right. Transmile have used it but it would seem to be before the 22nd of last month.

I was also told that the building the sim is in has been sold and that a decison to shut it pemanently was made today.

More people out of work because of this fiasco.

[Nolights-essential3]

ok, so I know that the sim has been down for 3 weeks or so. I used it last month, and the bookings indicated 'maint' for the next month. So, since it is the only 72 sim in this part of the world, my question is if the 'new' operation that was TAAE is going strong, and they too have to use the sim, then why shut it down perm.?
Doesn't make sense.

[Rudder]

NoLights,


It only doesn't make sense if you need it or want to use it. I know one of the shareholders really well, and they certianly don't need it anymore. The other one is in the same boat as well I believe. If it's not making money, is to time consuming, has too much money tied up, or it's too risky why do it?

In his case he has other significant aviation and business interests. He's fairly pragmatic as well about these things. I've heard him say before today that the first loss is the best loss and that may be how they see it.

It doesn't surprise what d_concord said. I'm sure they wouldn't spend the money with the future of the 727's uncertain or if they were not as confident about the future as you seem to be. After TAAE's little effort how could you blame them. The sim may also just not make financial sense.

I can only assume that they don't see the future as rosy as you may. Wonder what they know!! Perhaps they don't believe all the propaganda that your likely being fed right now to keep the spirits up.

What I do know is that everyone was wandering around within TAAE and saying the same things you have just said some 10 months ago. According to what I heard, 757/767 freighters were on the way. Look what happened!!

I'm sure there may be other factors in this decision to which we're not privy as well.

While my friend didn't say it, I had the feeling the whole situation was more trouble than it was worth when I last spoke to him and knowing what he is involved in the decision didn't surprise me at all.

[d_concord]

I heard that there may have been some good developments on the sim situation today.

I hope so for everyone involved.

[Nolights-essential3]

Ruds - I know that Mr T is pretty fed up with the sim, and is still owed some major bucks by TAAE.
Now, I dont know anything about the new Nat-Jet operation, but isnt it going well or what?

It just seems that the 72s will be here for quite a while....what else shifts 20 ton of freight .....146s wont come close...we all know the 72s are fine, so what else is going on?
......is the new operation going sour already?

[Rudder]

NoLights,

I don't want you to missinterprete what I said as the so called Mr T saying anything about the present operation or NJS.

When this saga first started he predicted that if anyone took the operation over it would be NJS, it was logical and that would be the best thing to happen for the staff and operation. I know he thinks the aircrew and people at TAAE that he knows are great people and just in the middle of an unfortunate situation. I couldn't repeat what he has said about some of the management and the way they went about things though.

As far as the situation now - a comment to me on Friday that he thought the administrator had done a great job of running the operation and quote" just shows what you can do when a company has capital". However, he is no doubt seriously sick of the ongoing saga and decided to bring it to and end one way or the other and get on with other priorities. It's clearly not worth the worry in his opinion! I suppose you can do that when you have options. Obviously things were not moving forward.

However, if d_concord is correct seems as though there may have been some frantic negotiations going on.

Any update?

[Life as a journey]

Guys

Does this all mean there may be jobs for pilots?
I'm not in Oz, and would like to return.
Is Cairns a base for the 727?
Is there someone I could contact about employment on these freighters?
Thanks.

[Nolights-essential3]

Life
the short answer is 'no'. The future of the 'take over' is still uncertain. I thought the deal had been done, but apparently not.
Also, the existing crews will continue to do the job. Unless anyone has bailed, and I doubt it, the 72s are fully crewed.

Rudder
My info is that the sim was down as Steve is on holidays. When he gets back, the sim has an actuator to be replaced, and some other stuff, then its back on line. We have it in November, according to our CP.

[d_concord]

Steve was only on holidays for a few days and what Rudder said was correct. However, I understand that an agreement was reached with NJS last week, Maintenance has begun and a fidelity will be completed this week.

I believe NJS finally completed the purchase as well so this should be the end of the uncertianty for both the staff of TAA and the sim.

[shocka]

The dactyl will still be around after some of us won't be, have fun while it last's boys, I did, now did I tell you about the time we were in DRW and we............... ?? :p maybe some other time then

Cheers, The Reverend;)

[BAE146]

AUD100 million says the old 727 may be around for some time.:D

[Wingnuts]

TXE departed Cairns as N328FV for USA on Saturday.:{


Question mark now hangs over TBS which is coming up for a chk C. Alot of money was spent on it last time so this one should be fairly painless but aluminium white ants could be an issue. If NJ have bought it, that would be a positive sign. They definitely need a 6th 727, particularily with the withdrawal of QF 767s to Darwin. Darwin primary producers are screaming out for capacity south ( and north to Singapore)

To ensure their long term viability, NJ needs to set up operations independent of QF.

If TBS goes, there is a ideal replacement available for it. The RNZAF combie is currently up for tender along with 4 spare engines, parts and tooling.

Hopefully, NJ won't try to 'improve' the 727 operation too much and leave well alone. There is much truth in that old adage, 'if it aint broke then don't fix it'. But we all know that new brooms inveriably can't help themselves. Having said that, todate and to their credit, they have been gentle.

[bitter balance]

Wingnut - didn't it go broke? Isn't that why they've got to fix it?

[Sheep Guts]

Is there anyone that can do 727 Type Ratings in Australia?

Any comments appreciated

Sheep

[Wingnuts]

BB,

There were several reasons why TAA went tits up. CASA didn't help ( I bet my left nut they are also involved with the toppling of Horizon. Their obstruction, their inceassant, petty but expensive demands, bleed you like an ex wife) and someone had their fingers in the till. Large sums of money are unaccounted for. It was the ATO who tipped it into administration. Over $1mil. of GST and and employee tax deductions went south. The administrator has not been happy with explainations given and no doubt the liquidator and ASIC will follow it up.

Since being in administration, 'it's been a nice little earner'.