Royal Brunei-Another One Bites The Dust

[Borneo Wild Man]

Go to the Far East Forum

[Colonel Klink]

A great pity to see the demise of another excellent carrier in the Far East. I worked for them for four and a half years, and the training, aircraft, routes and the pilots were all top notch. If the management is going to trim costs by slashing the expat working conditions, then think of the money they will save by not having to pay pilots at all: then soon there will be no flights either saving them even more money!! They are all well qualified and can leave at the drop of a hat, and have done so in the past: the year I left so did about 60 others. They could always try filling the seats!!

[Anti Skid On]

Col. Klink, I was recently looking for cheap seats for relatives. Royal Brunei were doing UK to Oz for £400 or so - and that clearly didn't fill the seats. It could be for a couple of other reasons. J. Public seems to want to go through Changi on Singapore Airlines - free booze and seat back TV, plus more choice on routes. I think it is all down to size, sadly Royal Brunei were too little.

[Colonel Klink]

Anti Skid On: you may be right. The "product" is excellent but hardly anybody knows about them and almost no-one wants to route their flight to Australia or Bali via Bandar Seri Begawan.Especially when you can stop off in Singapore for a days shopping or whatever. The airline is essentially a flag waving excercise but it seems cheap deals and convenient connections are not enough to turn it to a profitable enterprise overnight.But, as I said earlier, slashing conditions and sacking pilots isn't the place to start, either!!!

[thegypsy]

This Airline has always been a flag waving exercise and never made money and because of the criminaL waste of money by the socalled royal family of Brunei is now showing itself up for what it is. No airline that does not serve alcohol makes money. They just rely on very cheap flights to Oz stopping off god knows how many times on a slow B767 for the backpacker brigade,. .. . 411A will be happy if the pilots are made to pay for the wasteful behaviour of the Brunei mafia.

[Colonel Klink]

Gypsy, you know not what you are talking about. The airline was set up to waive the flag a bit, BUT is mainly a vehicle to keep the Bruneians employed.Flag waving is hardly a new reason to run an airline, look at how many airlines there are in Europe and how few make money.The pilots who went there did an honest days work and got paid for it, but we never would have been needed if the locals could have trained up to become pilots. Few have, those that did are generally very good.Why would 411A be happy if the pilots were made to pay for the excesses of the Brunei Royal family? The guys that worked there are decent pilots who needed a job and were given one, and most of us were considered lucky to get one! I think you talk a load of cr@p!!!

[Iz]

Okay where's the official news about the demise of RBA? Can't find it anywhere.. .Had a wonderful time there doing a type rating course.

[Anaksatan]

Iam having trouble understanding exactly what has happened in Brunei. Is the airline still operating? Please explain. It is always a sad day to see a carrier go down.

[slingsby]

The airline is still operating. Albeit RBA are having a major restructuring and rescue program, whether for the good or the bad, we will all have to wait and see. Someone pushed the panic button in the higher echelons of RBA management.. .FYI, not only have some expat pilots been removed, there has been at 40 expat (local) cabin crew removed as well. Cadet Pilots on loan are being recalled. So it's not just an anti expat exercise as some would have you believe. This is a major business saving program which unfortunately got off to a very poor start. Give it time for the waves to settle and RBA to actually start talking to their employees before we write them off.

[G.Khan]

Off topic but does RBA have a web site giving schedules and prices please?. .. .I need to get from Australia to London and back in April. Thanks.

[Blacksheep]

Always pleased to serve a customer Khan. Website is at:. .. .<a href="http://www.bruneiair.com." target="_blank">http://www.bruneiair.com.</a>. .. .Contrary to rumours, Royal Brunei is very much alive and kicking. A few in-house difficulties are being sorted out thats all. . .. .Oops! edited to correct url.... .. .**********************************. .Through difficulties to the cinema. . . . <small>[ 27 March 2002, 02:22: Message edited by: Blacksheep ]</small>

[Anaksatan]

is it true that the DFO and his son a Junior Captain have been dissmissed?

[THINALBERT]

DFO has retired at age 60. His son read about his "dismissal" on a local news web site. So far he is still been paid but not flying. No one in senior management seems to have the bottle to either confirm or deny the story. What a sad state of affairs.. .. .I am told that morale has hit an all time low and that goodwill has been totally withdrawn; no FDP discretion etc etc.. .. .Hang in there Jason.. . . . <small>[ 27 March 2002, 09:09: Message edited by: THINALBERT ]</small>

[Anaksatan]

He (the Junior Capt) will have quite a legal argument for unfair dissmisal if the rumours prove to be true. . .I offer my sympathy to all concerned

[Ivor Bigun]

Just a quickie,not really this thread but well........I hear the ever so bent Banana has been fixed at LHR by the "dream team" at BA and is now back in service.Three and a half months of hard work,good to see we still have the skills in this company(but for how much longer)?Congratulations boys another fine job. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="rolleyes.gif" />

[Bus429]

Anakastan - wouldn't guarantee successful legal action. Any local lawyer would be taking on the government.

[Anaksatan]

you would of course sue them at there London Office as a British registered company.. .I beleive others have been successful in doing this. Perhaps a lawyer amoungst us could clarify

[G.Khan]

Thanks Blacksheep. .. .Ghengis K.

[thegypsy]

Colonel Klink, You have missed the point entirely!!. .. .411A loves it when pilots salaries etc etc are reduced, you obviously do not read PPrune much or you would know that.. .. .I never made any comments about the pilots ar RBA so what are you on about??. . Iam well aware that they have a good bunch of pilots. Their safety record is exemplary which is more than you can say about SIA and others in that region.. .. . What I am saying is that it is a pity that pilots conditions are being reduced because of the excesses of the Royal family there.. . As for saying it was set up primarily to employ locals I cannot agree with that. It was primarily a flag waving exercise when money was no object in the heady days of high oil prices.. .. . How many locals are employed there doing real jobs??

[COWPAT]

What a shame. We have just had a superb night out in Brunei with some fellow (non RBA) expats and almost managed to put our cares and worries away for the evening.. .. .How sad that we have to wake up tomorrow morning to the reality of looking for another job when we really would like to stay here. However we have our pride and cannot accept being treated like this.. .. .Good luck to those that will remain.

[G.Khan]

theGypsy - If you think SIA's record is bad then what on earth must you think about BA's? (which is far worse than SIA's, in case you didn't know, go check the facts). <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="mad.gif" /> . .. .If you have a point to make about RBA fair enough but why spoil it by putting in gratuitous cr@p about other operators? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="mad.gif" />. . . . <small>[ 28 March 2002, 22:55: Message edited by: G.Khan ]</small>

[Anaksatan]

Good Night out in Brunei Cowpat. Which one of the many nightspots did you hit. Perhaps a restaurant, a fine meal with a fine bottle of wine, followed by dancing to Jazz till the early hours. Are we talking about the same Brunei. everytime I talk to you you cant wait to get back to Blighty!. .I sympathise with your situation but lets get real.

[COWPAT]

Anak, Yes we did have a superb night out in Brunei. Several bottles of red wine (Bordeaux) were quaffed at a very nice restaurant where pork was available. You just need to know where to go.. .. .Basic lesson of life number one for you. Its not where you go that matters, its who you go with.. .. .Please keep to the thread, theres a good chap.

[Only A Few More Seasons]

Sorry to use this platform but is Chas still there?. .. .Trying to find "The sod"

[thegypsy]

G.Khan I am not a spokesman for BA but when did they last kill passengers by pilot error?? also bear in mind they are 4 times larger and have a large short haul operation so statistics would say they say that have a far better record than SIA.. . I am trying hard to think of any accidents BA have had due to pilot error or action {Silk Air} . . What accidents they have had over the years such as Airtours 737 at Manchester was due to exploding engine. Vanguard in Belgium due to corrosion due to seapage of toilet fluid, B707 with engine that dropped off in Epsom, B707 that crashed due turbulence around Mt Fuji, Oh yes the Trident that crashed in Staines reservoir due to someone retracting droop at too slow a speed. But that was a long time ago and lessons have been learnt since then which SIA have totally failed to grasp owing to the control freak way that they operate and the loss of face syndrome that makes the SE Asia area a high risk zone for accidents. This is a fact easily confirmed by the record.. . Your nom de plume says it all.

[slingsby]

Yes, Chas is still here.

[Ttree Ttrimmer]

I am sure everyone here is checking the Far East forum too but just in case go have a look!

Also interesting to see that everyone seems to be getting all their information on this situation from here by the number of views shown next to the number of posts! From what I gather, nobody else knows anything else.

[uaecamel]

Ttree Ttrimmer, I have heard that many meetings about the next moves in Flight Operations are ongoing. However, Flight Operations themselves are not involved , nither are they being consulted. Word has it that they are waiting for Fox ( just retired ) to leave the county, in next couple of days he will be out. Then they will announce where the long knives will strike. So good luck to you all, and I guess we will all learn your fate through this forum.

[Ttree Ttrimmer]

Their fate was decided without consulation as you so correctly predicted, uaecamel. If any of you readers out there are looking for a job, get in line behind a very professional, experienced bunch of operators. RBA's loss, no-one else's.

Solve it. Vote feet!

:(

[411A]

Expats can only scoop up 'da cash for sooooo long....then it's the locals' turn.
Clearly, the bloom has gone OFF the rose.
Tough beans...should have seen it coming...wonder why more did not?

[Blacksheep]

Its interesting to see the view of outsiders, especially the expats versus locals rubbish, but whats all the fuss really about? The new board fired most of the Departmental Heads, who, with the exception of Engineering were all locals. The old fox retired gracefully and was succeeded by his deputy. Fifty employees were fired - about half of them local for the record - and none of them were pilots. According to a leaked document, the list of those to be retrenched included four pilots, due to go at the beginning of May; so thats four free-flyers at most, even if the leak turns out to be true.

Hardly anything to get excited about and certainly no justification for the anti-expat gloating that features in several posts. Within the company itself, locals and expats get on very well together generally.

**************************
Through difficulties to the cinema