Aviation a battlefield?

[skydriver2000]

has aviation become a battel field ? it has come to a point where aviation in SA is so "full" of pilots that they are batteling it out on the field. what is going to happen to us ?

[chuks]

They are coming to work cheap in Nigeria! That is what is happening! Some of these guys seem to find $3, 500 per month just fine, thanks very much. I guess you can live pretty well from that much back in Sewth Effrica. Trouble is, it just won't reach if you live in Europe or the States.

It is the magic of the aviation marketplace, eh?

The funny thing is, I really cannot find very much to say against them! They seem to have their act together, certainly compared to some of the newbie Germans and Americans I have met.

The current record-holder is 'The 24-hour German' because that is just how long he lasted before being sent home in a state of nervous collapse after seeing a group of black men holding weapons. That this was just a police checkpoint made no difference to him; he wanted to go home soonest so that he went practically by return of post.

[KID Quality]

Hi Guys I here you have some leads for us new guys while I consider coming "OVER THERE" an unlikely proposition (I'm sure to be snapped up by Cathay for a command position or at least shortlisted, my flight school informs me on completion of my first solo circuit) some advice to hand over to my mates would be handy.
I know you guys a crying out for skilled western guys so drop me a note and I'll try and see how I can help.
Cheers
KQ

[SASless]

Chuks dear boy....

Explain something to me please? If BHL is advertising for pilots in Nigeria at the rate of 69,000 USD plus an 8,000 USD location allowance (rough numbers)....why in the heck would someone from other places in the world work for 3500 USD per month and be happy with that rate of pay?

That does not compute....not even with my helicopter pilot math and alcohol ravaged brain.

Either you have your numbers wrong (which is not the case I know) or someone is being a not very bright fellow.

You South African's that are working for those wages...would you not be much happier with over 6000 USD per month as compared to 3500 USD per month? Do you look your wife in the eye at the dinner table and tell her you are throwing money away every time you go to work?

Help me out here Chuks...have I gone suddenly stupid here?

[Recuperator]

Unfortunately he is partially correct. Salaries not as low as mentioned though. Sad but true...:ugh:

US$4000 was a great deal of money in South Africa when the dollar peaked at 14.00 Rand to the US$. At 6.00 Rand they have had lately in South Africa, to due to the weak US$, they have been suffering.

But 4 South African pilot's have just resigned (yet again) from the company that used to have 7-47's in the good old days.

Reasons for leaving are apparently due to low salaries and disparity amongst drivers from different nationalities and/from previous/other helicopter companies in Nigeria. A good reason in my book for resigning.

Hopefully they will get parity with BNL falling under Airlog's banner, otherwise they stand to lose more very capable and professional pilots???:confused:

[SASless]

Has OLOG shot themselves in the foot on wages now?

They have Pan African and Bristow in Nigeria....will all the different pay rates for the different Nationalities back fire on them? Surely they can understand that the pay should be based upon the work you do....and not from whence you come to do it?

I was told by another operator recently that Spanish speakers were preferred....because they worked cheap and did not complain as much as non-Spanish speakers. But that being said....have heard from reliable sources at another operator in Africa, the Spanish speakers and other exotic language users oft times do not get the job done to the same standard. But then....one gets what you pay for I reckon. Cheap wages....less than stellar performance....sounds fair to me.

Where is all this going to leave....pilots jumping from one operator to another as wages improve in rotation as the operators cannot man the operations.:(

[chuks]

I cannot explain this, but it is so, somehow. Nigeria is a logic-free zone, perhaps?

I remember one young man who arrived as the new kid on the block from Austria, still wet behind the ears. He was on some miserly sum but more than he had been paid as an apprentice or something back home after tax, plus he was going to get every sixth month off, with pay!

His happiness dissipated like dew on the grass in summertime when the guy working next to him in the hangar locked up his tools to go home after just 28 days. Say what? He soon got an adjustment to his terms.

I guess part of it is people come to work in Nigeria making an absolute comparison of pay and conditions to what they had at home.

For instance, I had been working for 'the boss from Hell in Miami', flying Columbian drug scum (not their product, however) and brain-dead American tourists around for no money per hour in clapped-out old light twins. I did 1,200 hours in 11 months, saved up about $3,500, enough to get my ATP, and then got the hell out of Dodge. Compared to that, $2,000 per month on 2&1 based in Lagos seemed like winning the lottery. That was the absolute comparison.

After some time one makes a relative comparison to what others are being paid for the same work, plus noticing some of the risks (getting very, very sick or else being shot or kidnapped or f*cked over by that cute little computer student you met in the bush bar who told you how you were the first oyingbo she had ever truly, deeply loved) they must have forgotten to tell you about in the interview. The gloss can go off even the highest wages when the job satisfaction just isn't there or else the risks begin to seem too high. But there is always some other new guy to take the bait and try his luck.

I had one job with a German company, when I put up with the politics and the low safety standards for about 4 years before finally hitting the buffers. Afterwards they must have run through about eight guys in the next five years trying to keep my slot filled. Meanwhile, I was sat there just across the ramp flying a shiny new jet for way more money, just grinning at the lunatic who had got me run off in a fit of alcoholic pique! That was good fun.

Often, though, I have the feeling that it's raining soup and I am stood there holding a fork. But that might just be me.

[SASless]

Chuks,

Life sometimes will have you standing around watching the Silver Dollars raining down from heaven....and Fate provides you with a pitch fork to gather them up with.

The Helicopter industry seems to a place where that can happen with some frequency.

[Kapt. Ive]

QUOTE: "Has OLOG shot themselves in the foot on wages now?"

1. Have OLOG shot themselves in the feet regarding wages?

or

2. Has OLOG shot it/him/herself in the foot regarding wages?

The use of the word "on" in the above sentence must be a direct translation from a different language and serves no purpose other than to displace the correct word; "regarding". The word "now", as it is used above, makes the sentence present tense; which would change the entire sentence, as well as it's meaning, as follows:

1. Are OLOG shooting themselves in the feet regarding wages now?

or

2. Is OLOG shooting it/him/herself in the foot regarding wages now?
---
English Grammar 101 - My pleasure !!! :ok:

[ColeFace]

Hey Chucks, hows it going eh

Angola is far better than your Nigeria.

You still like the pain after 23 yrs there?

Good to see a post from you, keep stiring the pot

cheers Coleface

[chuks]

'Has OLOG shot themself in a foot regarding wages?' Umm, possibly ambiguous regarding 'foot' as either a unit of measure or else an extremity. 'Has OLOG shot themself in a pedal extremity...' Oh, forget it.

I saw something about a vehicle with 'manually operated' (i.e. non-boosted) brakes. I wondered how the visibility was with your hand down there on the brake pedal. Or is that why they invented the chin bubble?

One of the worst things about aviation, well, Nigerian expatriot aviation anyway, is these bl**dy splitters! They run away and then sit there gloating about it. May the ghost of Jonas Savimbi haunt your dreams and may your local girlfriend have triplets!

[Recuperator]

KAPT. IVE

:mad: :yuk:

You get my drift...:ok:



COLEFACE

Marburg virus, an Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever, has killed 311+ people in Angola since it broke out in October till June 2005...

Take care there, in Nigeria they might get a dose of the clap, AIDS worse case scenario...:\

In Angola they only have to sneeze on you to get you to die....:eek: