GILL OUT OF ADMINISTRATION

[fightercommand]

Did anyone see Channel 3 local news this evening detailing the emergence from administration for Gill Airways? Apparently the MD has bought the Company for 4.5 million. Not seen it myself, heard second hand but no mention on Channel 1 BBC local. Very good news if true.

[Bluelabel]

It wasn't a figment of your imagination FC!

Several other people saw it too....but just the once. Whats the betting that our esteemed journos cocked it up again, and pre-released an embargoed press release!

Lets hope it's good news soon! Tomorrow?

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Bluelabel

[HugMonster]

Don't know about any embargo, but Gill indeed did emerge from Administration as of 16:00 on 23/04/01.

The notice on the company board says that letters are being sent to all employees by snailmail.

[OpsBoy]

Just heard the news on Essex FM, great news for all at Gill!!

This coupled with Brymon pulling NCL-BHD surley warrents a big p%ss-up!

[dv8]

Yesssssssssssss !

More info on teletext. Buy-out with the help of Bank of Scotland.

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dont dv8

[This message has been edited by dv8 (edited 24 April 2001).]

[RVR800]

Excellent news,
Good Luck for the future boys and girls!

... A winner never quits
... and a quitter never wins

[4Screwaircrew]

Wonderful news, good luck for the future.

[VAT1]

Now, who do they take back first?
The ones who bailed out when things got tough (e.g. to Brymon, etc), or the ones who stayed loyal but were made redundant?

Ah, but of course, the spokesman said there had been no redundancies! I must remember that next time I go to the Job Centre.

[keepitlit]

As expected :) :) :)

[Hoof Hearted]

Well done chaps and chapesses. I am delighted to hear the news.

[SOPS]

Great news for all

[Straight & Level]

VAT1

A bit tough old boy. I for one left for another operator, but only to secure my future in all the uncertainty that surrounds a company in administration. Incidentally I loved every minute of empolyment with Gill and was very sad to leave.

Good luck for the future Gill

[keepitlit]

Vat1
Son waita tell ya,my departure was due to a base closure and Im sure that even you could work out which one it was.
The only reason for going to another job was due to my quality of life.
I respect the unsung hero's who just got on with it.
There may be a few people who left on not the most happiest of terms but I for one can say that I enjoyed my time there and that the sucess of Gill is due to the "above and beyond the call of duty" people it has.
I would like to think that this time round that the drivers get a better say,no sorry I mean get a say.

So guys & girls Respecta Selecta,Ahi

And remember son I know your name :) :) :)

Best regards and wishes

Keepit lit son!

[Static Wick]

And about time too......

I for one only left due to being offered more security (and more money I hasten to add) but I had some of the best years of my aviation career with a great group of troops. I too was sorry to leave but goodwill don't pay the mortgage.

When will MN wake up & smell the flowers & give CP the big heave ho so Gill get go from strength to strength.

Best wishes to those that stuck it out, you deserve a bright & prosperous future. No forgeting MN who made it all possible.

[LondonGoodEvening]

.............keepitlit.............
Are you ze real madonna????????
AHI!!!!!!!!

[CredeSigno]

Indeed MN has indeed done an excellent job in sorting out the problems. I'm sure the troops however would like to see an end to the Company making significant announcements via the media before the employees know wghats goinbg on. This is the second time in succession that major items have been announced to the television and newspaper media before employees have been officially told.

Please, cease this practice forthwith!!!!!!

[InFinRetirement]

You know. I am a simple soul really. I believe in good old fashioned values and I also value high standards and good manners. They don't cost anything, but are very hard to come by sometimes.

It is then, very sad to note that the knockers, and the ungracious, are no-where to be seen in Gill's mammoth success. It would have been just plain nice to have seen those 'names' just say "hey guys congratulations, you did it". Not much to expect - is it?

[BALLSOUT]

InFinRetirement....Most of those you refer to were people who had left Gill and were simply trying to convince themselves that they had made the right decision.
Of course, had Gill gone under, they would all be crowing now, however, THEIR SILENCE SAYS IT ALL.

BALLSOUT

:) :) :) :)

[ScottyDawg]

Just got back from a trip...... and heard the good news..... :) :)

Congratulations to MN and the Team for pulling off this spectacular success.

Your not far off of the mark there Ballsout...the silence is most condeming...!!! http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/tongue.gif http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/tongue.gif

My fondest regards and best wishes to all, may this be the start of continued growth and prosperity for Gill and all its loyal employees.

[HiSpeedTape]

All seems pretty self congratulatory to me. Perhaps the abscence of good wishes from external sources is a true indication of the ill feelings felt towards Gill Airways not least by those to whom it still owes a great deal of money.

[HugMonster]

HST, you don't know a thing about it. I suggest you keep quiet until you know what you're talking about.

Gill has no debts, and has had none since the creditors' meeting in February.

Since Gill is the first scheduled airline in this country ever to come out of Administration, it speaks volumes for the way the business has been turned round in the past year.

Previous creditors could, had they wished, have voted against writing off their debts. Sure, it wouldn't have done them much good, but the fact that they voted to forego those rights can only be based on their being convinced that the best way forward for the airline was to contine to trade. Had the airline not been seen as viable, it would have been wound up. That would have resulted in massive redundancies, not only within the airline, but also among other companies who rely on Gill.

Perhaps you would have preferred that option? If you have some personal grudge against Gill's previous owners or management, I suggest you state it. But since the first act of the current MD on arriving at Gill was to place it into Administration as its only hope of survival, rapidly followed by a great deal of restructuring from bottom to top, any grudge against previous management would be like hating modern-day Germany for what Hitler did.

So grow up, and join in with those who are glad that one of the few independent regional airlines in the country has survived some very difficult times, that people's jobs and livelihoods have been saved and that Gill will continue to contribute a good route structure and service for the travelling public, an excellent source of first-time jobs and training for new pilots, and continue to further British aviation.

Or, if you'd prefer to sulk in a corner, please feel free to do so.

[This message has been edited by HugMonster (edited 27 April 2001).]

[Hudson Bay]

GREAT NEWS !! WELL DONE!

[PoodleVelour]

Congratulations Gill.

I must say though Hugmonster, that your remark about Gill not owing anyone any money shows your usual insensitivity. May I suggest you would feel a little differently if you were one of the Companies forced to write off millions of pounds sterling of debt in order to help Gill stagger back into existence. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted no-one has lost their jobs, but your usual prating is both insensitive and inaccurate.
It would be quite nice to hear a heartfelt "thankyou" from you or maybe some other Gill employees to the many Companies who have had to write off large sums of money to secure your jobs. In the end (and you're not alone as an inefficient, badly run, lossmaking Company) is it really in anyone's interest to support the sickies rather than foster what is supposedly an open skies, level playing field (to mix the odd metaphor).

And before you mention it, no, I don't agree with the Chapter 11 rules across the pond either. If you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, you shouldn't be there.

So, whether you like my views, or put me in the category of being a 'knocker' maybe ill advised remarks like "Gill has no debts" are best left out of this forum. The reason that Gill has no debts is nothing to do with the economic performance of Gill.
A bankrupt has no debts, but that doesn't mean he should be lauded for his performance.

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Arf, arf, arf!!

[HugMonster]

Poodle, thank you for your congratulations.

Don't get me wrong - I am extremely grateful that the former creditors of Gill saw the only option for the continued employment of hundreds of people the way we say it ourselves, and agreed to wipe off the indebtedness. Those that continue to trade with us will see a return on their faith in us.

However, your continued knocking of the company is in extremely poor taste since "bad management" is not something of which the present incumbents are guilty. In fact, exactly the opposite, given our performance over the past year. It has, perhaps, been a feature of Gill in the past (I can't comment since I have only heard stories second-hand and my presence at Gill only overlapped the previous management by a few months).

Your post is seriously in error. We are not inefficient, nor loss-making, nor badly run. Perhaps you are speaking from personal experience? I think, given the current status of your own employers' base at NCL and pulling off two routes lately, laying off cabin crew etc., you would be ill-advised to crow. Your company did everything they could to try to kill an independent airline. It is not unheard of around the industry. The company of which yours is a subsidiary don't like competition, and don't want a level playing field. And given the previous incumbent at the head of the "group" leader, I think bad management is not an accusation you can use with much justification. People who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers...

[This message has been edited by HugMonster (edited 29 April 2001).]

[fightercommand]

On a lighter note - when's the next hangar party then to celebrate??????!!!!!!!! Think we all deserve a drink!!!!

[Flightrider]

Pleased to hear about the exit from administration.

Is it just a total coincidence that Brymon have pulled off Newcastle-Belfast at the same time as the Office of Fair Trading is investigating a complaint by Gill about the proposed takeover of British Regional by Brymon's parent company? I appreciate Brymon has operational difficulties at the moment but it makes you wonder whether there's something more than meets the eye to its withdrawal from Belfast. I'd be interested to know whether Gill has withdrawn or modified its objection to the OFT about the BA/BRAL deal.

[Static Wick]

Sorry to have to break the bad new fightercommand but hangar has been sold to Anglo Normandy Engineering of GCI fame.

Cut & paste the following link in Netscape or Explored address location for more details.

http://icnewcastle.ic24.com/0500business/0100local/page.cfm?objectid=11034632&method=full

Looks like the big restructuring has started. Not part of the core business so Engineering get the Big heave ho. Hopefully more focus on the main activity of flying bums on seats....

Looks like the party will have to be held in the Aviaiton Club as per normal unless Anglo want to subcontract space.

[Boris2]

So wht is the great plan which will enable Gill to be successful where it has formerly failed to impress. Let's not get all emotive Hugmonster, or combative Poodle, but in simple businesslike terms, tell us what has changed?
What new routes are there?
New fare structures?
New customers targetted?
New equipment?
What areas for future expansion are there which were somehow overlooked before?
Or are we talking the usual regional line of cost-cutting and restructuring the debt patterns?

Like to wish you all the best, particularly those of you who have stuck with Gill over the years, but lets get realistic - if it was that simple, you'd never have gone bust in the first place! The two postees above DO have a point in inferring the only reason you are extant is that you have reneged on several huge debts.............


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Greed is good, Greed WORKS !

[Mender 1]

Boris 2
I don`t think you need to have new routes all the time you have to ensure that the ones you do have work and make money and the people in charge aredoing a good job and have the companies best interests at heart and not just thier own.

[BALLSOUT]

Boris 2... I see your profile actually confirms you live in cloud cuckoo land!!!!

Static wick.... the deal with Anglo apparently includes the use of the hangar for our bashes!!

BALLSOUT

:) :) :) :)

[Static Wick]

Ballsout,

Thanks for the update. Very generous of Anglo, seeing that they were one of the mob that got their fingers burned.

When it comes down to business, don't you think a maintenance slot for a valued customer will come well before a bash for a bad debtor.

Whatever & wherever, I think that MN should treat those who stuck it out & made it work to a slap up do....!!! This yet again goes to prove that it's the troops that make the business work & they should never forget that.

SW
http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/cool.gif

[Underdog]

Congrats to Gill.

I flew for them for 5 1/2 years, left in '94. A great comaraderie (sp?) from what I remember, rather like being in the trenches I imagine.

Anyway, we used to make plenty of money until we decided to concentrate on pax instead of the bread and butter work for the Post Office. (Mail bags weren't sexy enough for the investors!) Then, just like so many other small turboprop operators they get jets and go south.

Not actually blaming the jets for the state of affairs - as I heard it MH became a rather 'creative' accountant. Whatever, good luck for the future - I need somewhere to work in my retirement; can't spend ALL my life going round the world playing golf! :-)

Tin hat on.....

Underdog


[This message has been edited by PPRuNe Towers (edited 04 May 2001).]

[dogsbreath]

I would just like to add my congratulations to all at Gill for turning the situation round, due in no small measure to the dedication of people such as Ballsout and I hate to say it, Hugmonster (only kidding) and the skill and forsight of both Simon Rawcliffe and Malcolm Naylor. I couldn't be more pleased for everyone, well done and good luck for the future.