Air Excel & Coastal Pilots Adventures

[RICCARDOVOLANTE]

Well guys here there is the topic.Now we can write freely about those company.
Sincerely
Riccardo Volante

[european champion]

Why only those two?what do they have in common except the mafia attitude?why not add comments for all companies in tz?

[captain cumulonimbus]

whats Zanair like? anyone know their requirements?:ok:

And secondly,I was up there recently,and i read all the threads slagging coastal and Air exel off.not being party to local politics in the industry,what,in a simplified sense,is the basis of people saying the negative things about them? is it management? and why?

:confused:

[flyingmasai]

I flew for three years for Coastal, that was a great experience for me. They offer me a great opportunity and were very tolerant when I ****** up!

It is very difficult to operate in this part of the world, I know I run small operation my self.
They are still around and getting the job done.

[RICCARDOVOLANTE]

well where we are going to start with?

Zanair
Nice chief pilot, unfortunately they ask for Type raing on the Let 410 ,around 10.000$.How do they run the operation I do not know.

Air Excel ,
Low profile in organizations,very bad Safteyrecord(two engine failure in few months).owner of the Air Excel with poor attitude towards his workers.High turn over of pilots

Coastal
Low profile in organizations,everybody does were ever they want.Mangement with no acknolegment of aviation.Manager very histerical,and very unsecure person with a lot of conflicts and personals problems.Pilot work from 7 am to 10 pm.Very high turn over of pilots.Chief pilot not existant really.A lot politics.Not a place to be at all.Those reports are supported by first hand look and by also owner of others companies.Safety records not very high at all.

Tanzanair
Very nice enviroment,unfortunately pays goes with miges ,so chief gets all flights and pilots stay for long sit on the lounge room.
PS Some one say that if you pay the chief pilots you get to fly more ,but those are chats, I personaly can not conferm about it.
Sincerely
Riccardo Volante

If anyone want to know more on Air operators in Tanzania please refer to the URL below:

http://www.pprune.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=163834&highlight=RICCARDOVOLANTE

[european champion]

Just to add a couple of operators to the list.

Tropical Airlines
Rumours say that the company is closing soon.They had an engine failure about one year ago.
Sky Aviation
Owned by two brothers who also fly.maintainance is really poor.salaries are extremely low but u dont get cheated,u get what u agree.
Flightlink
Small company with one or two aircrafts.The owner is quite nice guy but some complaints from pilots have been made about salary.
Auric Air
Highest turnover of pilots.owner and management continuously push pilots to fly in all weather conditions.pay is ok if u get what they promise u which happens very rarely.

And just a small correction to Ricardo,the type rating for the let-410 costs slightly more,its 11000 euro.

[RICCARDOVOLANTE]

11000 Euro?>??? WOW that is crazy.How much have to pay for investing such money in type rating ?
Some one have to change the situation in Tanzania.It is a beatiful country and there is a lot of aviation business to do there .We need to take back our pride of to be a pilot and stand up and say NO at those air operator.We pilots are the source of money for them ,we do not have to risk any longer our life and reputation with low salary and unsafe airplane,we need to get back ours respect as pilots .SOON.
Sincerly
Riccardo Volante

[chopperkie]

I flew for AirExcel for a short while and they run the idea of:"The plane has got x amount of seats so we'll squash x amount of pax in that plane".And the tipical tourist don't come with small bags.They are huge and heavy and eventually increases average pax weight from 85kg to 95kg.Even more...
They never take in to account temperature,elevation and route flown(Thus req fuel).
After the 5H-EMK crash i have no sympathy with this.
Even a twin will NOT stay up there in such an event and will possibly create a more dangerous situation,:{

So what's the point of having them up there anyways?????:confused:

[flyingmasai]

This a sensitive subject: load
As a captain you are responsable af your payload and should not T/O with an overweight plane.

But we do get pressure from the client but almost never from the company. It's up to the pilot to decide, but often we take chance, I know I did... I was lucky (I will not do it now).

[Baron Von Mildred]

I was there in 97/98 looking for work. DCA seemed to want me to re-sit everything to get a Tan CPL. How's it these days?

[helldog]

Every company has its problems ricco. Even the big ones, United, Delta, Helios, Alitalia has gone broke a few times if I recall corectly. Do you not have a JAA licence ricco? Bloody hell mate if I had one I would be there in a flash mate, the requirements there are so low, and lots of companies are willing to pay for your type, in fact some are begging for your services. Anyway ricco good luck with the search for work.

[european champion]

Who is begging for our services?if u say it like a joke then its a good one!

[Soap Box Cowboy]

I swore I'd lay low for a while, but what the hell let's get into it.

As far as the slagging off goes on this site, it's less about the company and more about the managament. Plenty of our friends here have got it in for the managment for various reasons. Your best bet if you are looking to come and fly out here is to get in touch with some of the guys out here. Each company is diffrent. Depending on your experience and what you hope to get out of flying here, various companies will suit you.

Zan Air: requirements I don't know but they will be looking for a new guy or two by the end of th season, some movement there. You'll need to get in touch with them for requirements on the pistons. From what I hear the LET's still need a type rating and you would be looking in the range of 11000 Euros.

Tropical: From what I hear of what is going on in their hanger these boys are not closing down. They are overhauling the entire fleet, and will be needing pilots. Lately I hear things have been going good over there lot's of flying and two aircraft coming out of the hanger soon. A good place for low time guys to start off in and work up. As for requirments you need to get hold of them. He seems to be pulling his socks up, might be a good up and comer out here if he sticks to it.

Flightlink: They only have one plane a 182. You might be able to get some freelance work on that one. There is a leased Islander flying for them, but it has it's own pilot. Word is he is looking to expand but not sure what he is getting yet.

Sky Aviation: Several twins some fo the older boys flying for them, but I'm sure on freelance basis, they operate C402B/C an Aztec and a Cherokee 6. A relativly new company but they seem to be making their mark. Personally know nothing of their requirments or working conditions.

Auric Air: True there has been a high turn over of pilots there, but he has everything from little singles to big twins working for him. He has taken up he slack left behind with the demise of Interlink. Flying up on the lake is fun and Chalenging, but personally could only tolerate Mwanza for short periods. Haven't been hearing much about this company since I was in Dar, but there might be some positions open up there. Joined them almost myself, the only thing stopping me was the move to Mwanza.

Coastal: One of the biggest operators out here, as for the safety record. It's Very High thanks. We look after out planes ourselves. Throughout the years we have been striving to Provide the best Safari/Charter service possible. The pilots are experienced, and entry requirments are high. 400+ for a 206 and 2000+ for a van. We go to some pretty out of the way places and some very rough strips. It does take a certain character to make it in Coastal, it's not for everybody. It's hard to get onto the Van since most pilots are upgraded internally. But if you want to come and fly out in East Africa for a while with a descent Company and fly serious hours. Then I'd say look up Coastal. It is very hard for the new guys, but managment wants dedicated people who give that little extra for the job. It's not just good enough to just fly you got to help out in all factions of the company from time to time. Often your in some middle of nowhere place or in another country where you have no support staff. It's hard work, but I've had a fun doing it. You'll work hard but fly all over the country and it's neighbours.

As far as Safety goes out here, sometimes it's Maintenance, sometimes it's bad strips and sometimes it's bad luck. We all want to get there safely, we all want our pay checks and we all want our planes back in one piece. We all make the effort to get the job done as safely as possible with the highest return.

Don't believe everything you hear.

And rember this is Africa, enjoy it whilst it lasts because eventually the only guy flying will be the Autopilot after 500 feet AGL. :ok:

Good luck to all the Newbie's, and don't bugger up my 206 :*

[RICCARDOVOLANTE]

Helldog I met you in Arusha in Tanzania.
You know that what you are saying here is not right.YOU KNOW. I was there ,remember I WAS THERE.
Riccardo Volante or Dimitri as you like

[I.R.PIRATE]

" I was there, I was there"

Bet you werent working while you were there. Im so sick of your incessant whining and winging. With your attitude you can forget about being employed by anyone. You KNOW why no one wants to hire you.

I know, I know

[RICCARDOVOLANTE]

I.R.PIRATE you just stupid and racist than more anybody else can be.Go to your mama to cry because you didn't get the job at Nationwide Airline.
Just shut up little kid and put you anger in a toilette and grow up and be more professional like others in this form have been telling you several time.Do not you see that nobody care about what you say?Now I understand why you don go airline ,who want to give a job to a racist and stupid like you.

[juliettepapa]

Hello everyone.

I want to bring my little opinion too in the forum. I really now what's Airexcel is like to fly for. Because i have flown there for 2 and half years. Mike the greeck has always be good for me there. Even if he is shouting sometime because he wants things to be right and the form is not always there. But that's the way he is.He brings in his manner standard procedure to the bush world. He always keep is word with me.I saw few people coming and going. I dont understand why they bragging about. To the most of them i told them how Mike was and how to cope with him.But in the end they left because it hurt they ego. I thing when they accept the job everything was clear.So if you have been in the dark side with Mike you can only blame yourself and dont try to criticize a man who devote his live to create and work hard to build his company.The lost in the end will be his not yours.To finish i'll thanks him because he spoke in my favor when i apply to an airline and now i am enjoying the next step of my career.


406.

I saw your aircraft in Dubai. Are you nightstopping there?

[Soap Box Cowboy]

How did Racism get into this?

Riccardo, when you say "Helldog what you say is not right" what do you mean?

Remeber this is Tanzania and everywhere things are done diffrently.

Each company has it's own advantages and disatvantages. The pilots suits the work in hand. I like Coastal and am happy there, others wern't so they left. Same for other companies.

If you want to work out here, get in touch with some local guys and we will steer you in the right direction.

Hey Julliete, how is the desert treating you? You lucky dog. Might see you in March and we can share some more stories over Shisha.

[helldog]

ricco mate I am not sure how you "Know" anything about the operators here since you never worked here. As far as I can remember you had some chances but your expectations were not met. I respect you for that you didnt like it so you moved on, cool. But taking parting shots like you are will not help you where you have been or where you are going. Anyway tiger good luck with the job hunting.

[I.R.PIRATE]

Oo, Rico, now youve really done it. Your insults and mindless drivel normally fall way short of exciting me.....however...This time, youve hurt me....how dare you ever, ever ever ever ever, ever ever ever, insinuate that I have ever ever ever applied to those clowns.

Brings tears to me blue ones.....

Are you mad? What about my reputation?:sad:

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Juliette Papa!
Dude, vipi chora!
Glad to see someone else sticking up for the Greek.
I flew out that way for 9 years, most of it for or side by side with Mike the Air Excel Greek. If someone has a problem and wants to bash him, I would have to say they have a very bad work ethic, personality flaws and basically is a pussy. Mike is an awesome pilot, very fair to those that are willing to work and will watch your back better than anyone out there. As JP says, those that choose to bash him obviously had no spine, could not fly for ****e and are flipping burgers now as a result. Suck it up, stop whining and knock off the bashing of a fine individual to make yourself feel better and to justify why you are a loser.

[petesevenseven]

Well look at the bright side of things going on what alot of people are saying I think you earn more money Flipping Burgers than flying for "This Guy" Mike!!

You certainly get shouted at less!!!

And Burgers Taste Good!!!!!!

Thats what it's all about Hot Dog!!!!:E


Happy Landings!!!!!!:ok:

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Well pete, I have to agree with you there!
They did send turkey and the fixens to us at the airport last xmas I flew there! Nice perk.