Loco Good News [Archive]

Norman Stanley Fletcher

27th Jun 2006, 23:46

You are seeing here the hard edge of Andy Harrison, the new CEO at easyJet. He inherited a complete shambles from his dismal predecessor and could have faced an almost immediate strike involving both pilots and cabin crew. He set about building relationships with all staff and invited any criticism from the staff they thought was justified. In stark contrast to RW, who seemed to lack any people skills of any kind, AH visitied base after base and could be found anywhere and everywhere at 6.00 in the morning. He was there pressing the flesh, listening to every bleat and whine - he even dressed in easyJet cabin crew uniform around easyLand to show solidarity with the crew. He has largely won the confidence of the pilots and I personally think he has been great news for the company.

AH is, however, a hard guy and it has become increasingly apparent that some of the disastrous decisions made by his Flt Ops managers have cost the company a fortune. They failed to realise the strength of pilot feeling and created an atmoshere of suspicion and anatgonism. They orchestrated the plan to reduce our crewing levels to save money and we now cannot run the summer program. We are subbing in charters everywhere and are cancelling flights all over the place - someone had to pay for the shambles. They are the ones who, depsite countless warning to the contrary, said that there was no retention crisis and failed to recruit enough pilots in time. They thought all the pilots would roll over and take an effective pay cut while the directors awarded themselves obscene bonuses. Instead they all joined BALPA and stood up en-masse to the greatest threat to their liveliehoods since easyJet began. Rightly or wrongly, someone had to pay for the perceived failings of Flt Ops management. MS made the hard calls and got them wrong - he is now history. I personally wish him well as I think he was actually a nice guy. Nonetheless, in the final analysis, he was at the helm of the ship that ran aground in bad weather and the buck stops there.

It is to AH's great credit that despite having no previous airline experience, he has rapidly picked up the fundamentals and is now sorting the carnage created by the head-in-the-clouds 'leadership' of his predecessor and plain incompetence by his Flt Ops management. I personally do not think that anyone else will go but I may be proven wrong. Hopefully there are a few frightened people at easyLand who know that AH means business. The next problem looming is rostering and if that is not sorted then there will be some serious trouble. Common sense says that if you can reduce the number of people leaving by introducing the best roster pattern in the business (4-4), then you can still get 900 hours a year from everyone and save a fortune on the constant retraining of new pilots. Happy staff are good business - we can only hope that the new boy, Ken Smith, knows that. He had better do a lot of listening when he arrives, because if he misjudges the situation as badly as his predecessor did he will be on his bike very quickly indeed.

orangetree

28th Jun 2006, 01:52

Well I hope that this is the first casualty and not the last. There are more incompetents in the hut than just MS. Clearly somebody had to go amidst what is the most chaotic and costly summer Easyjet has ever encountered....and its only just started! Full marks to Harrison for acting sooner rather than later :D Still it could be a double bluff! maybe MS has bought a stake in Futura or Titan!

springbok449

28th Jun 2006, 08:21

Lets hope he stays well clear of VS, I always thought that he was over rated. A few more people need to leave for EZY to recover though.

international hog driver

28th Jun 2006, 08:46

After several treads all dealing with poor quality management and practices, all dealing with crew numbers, scheduling and remuneration have run their course it appears that there is light at the end of the tunnel.:ok:

In the lo-co world here in Europe it appears that some in Management are starting to see that they reap what they sow and the market for “experienced” crews has now dictated.

1) Easyjet. Seems the axe has fallen on one person (hopefully more to come) that may have been instrumental in leading easy to the crewing point they find themselves now in. Putting Boeing rated new hires on Bus courses and Bus rated guys on Boeing course is one example, Severe crew shortages leading to crosshires (expensive) and cancellations (bad PR). Finally if they say that there are no quality pilots out there they truly proving their anal cranial interface. There are plenty of experienced and rated guys out there but for some reason they fall out of the boundaries of the current hiring regiment. (Maybe too old for TRSS…. But you cant discriminate on age can you!).:=

2) HLF??HLX?? eerrrr…. lets just say TUI! These guys are not the most expensive, blue planes are turning yellow, new blue ones are coming and the front end boys drew a line in the sand… Hopefully they did not grab there ankles but it appears that there has been some resolution in the impending threat of industrial action.:hmm:

3) AB. It seems that finally ran out of corks in Saatwinkler Damm from plugging too many gaps and after the VC letter went out a couple weeks back they have increased the basic and sector pay goes up as well! Seems that every one including the stock market saw this except those in Berlin.:D

4) FR…. Not commenting on the current contract crap they are pushing. :yuk:

So are we now starting to see that those who are responsible to “Shareholders” (but believe nobody else) have woken up to the fact that its become a sellers market?:ouch: :uhoh:

Have we started to see the reduced investment in long term training and planning starting to bit people in the ass!:confused:

But hang on we have not had the annual “BA summer meltdown” yet!:}

Have the days of continual crisis management and on the fly decisions come to an end and some form of long term stability and forward thinking becoming more evident.:ok:

Happy staff are productive staff and your worst enemy is someone who has nothing to lose.:E :E

Mercenary Pilot

28th Jun 2006, 08:53

1) Easyjet. Seems the axe has fallen on one person (hopefully more to come) that may have been instrumental in leading easy to the crewing point they find themselves now in. Putting Boeing rated new hires on Bus courses and Bus rated guys on Boeing course is one example, Severe crew shortages leading to crosshires (expensive) and cancellations (bad PR). Finally if they say that there are no quality pilots out there they truly proving their anal cranial interface. There are plenty of experienced and rated guys out there but for some reason they fall out of the boundaries of the current hiring regiment. (Maybe too old for TRSS…. But you cant discriminate on age can you!).

As one of those Type rated guys (current and ready to go) , Im at a loss why easyJet wont interview me...got a PFO e-mail only yesterday :confused:

SHIMMY

28th Jun 2006, 10:25

My ambition for EZY this year was to force them to reap the harvest they sow - maybe they finally are. By actually listening to people rather than dimissing them as whinging spoilt primadonnas they have finally realised that most people are totally realistic - we have to deliver productivity but this can still be done competitively with a good lifestyle and minimal disruption. Both pay and rostering negotiations have been conducted in a totally respectful and professional way and I truly believe that it is time for EZY to become a mature airline now and adopt mature policies and practices. However the new management now need to instil this into the people in rostering/crewing and this will require a major change of attitude for some people - the old orange culture might be too ingrained for some so I guess there might be more dead wood that needs removing. Keep the axe sharpened!:=

Colonel Klink

28th Jun 2006, 10:53

Well, perhaps the axe has not fallen for the last time at easyJet!! Is it true two other high-level managers have been spotted in the desert recently both applying (and apparently not succeeding) in finding new jobs? Maybe they consider easyJet like a sinking ship and are leaving ahead of the next culling!!

easyprison

28th Jun 2006, 11:58

Great news. As people say there's still more to be thrown out of the door!!

What AH has done is only the start- hopefully in the next few months we will have a whole new set of pilot management to lead us on after this shambolic summer.

Morale........it's on the way up!

mikesmithflying

28th Jun 2006, 14:18

what are the pax being told of the reason for cancellation of these flights and is the passenger charter forcing compensation

Exeasy

28th Jun 2006, 17:29

CK
As to your question about certain people visiting out here, a friend of mine saw a certain couple (the cp and cp says!) out here recently although they claimed only to be on holiday. Obviously didnt go well then!
Glad to hear that something is finally starting to change at my old hunting grounds, maybe you all will start to get a quality of life again. Good luck to all.
Ps Ck the family says hi!

dontdoit

28th Jun 2006, 18:31

Where's he off to then (after the leaving do in the phone box outside Luton Airport) ?

Pornking

28th Jun 2006, 19:41

so when is the Axe gonna hit PT in his neck?

springbok449

29th Jun 2006, 05:51

You are right Pornking the next fellow that NEEDS to go is PT.

CaptainProp

29th Jun 2006, 09:38

I hope Im wrong here but I think JP is holding PT behind his back and he is unlikely to go in the near future....Comments?

Wee Weasley Welshman

29th Jun 2006, 10:20

Gentlemen please. Lets keep it general and stop personalizing with the use of peoples initials.

Thank you,

WWW

springbok449

29th Jun 2006, 14:48

WWW, sorry but I have to disagree with you, the guilty need to be named, those people are responsible for a mass exodus of pilots making a reasonable airline to work for a well and truely bad one.

MonkeyAlan

29th Jun 2006, 15:35

I seem to remember a similar thread when V H-P left...... and a wave of relief when Mike was announced as Ops Director....

Intead of celebrating Mike's departure, think about why it happened, the constraints he had and what the future holds....

If you think Andy Harrison asked him to reconsider his position because he wasn't popular out on the line, then you are very mistaken....

Mike had his targets to hit, mistakes were made and when anyone on this forum can say they haven;t ever made a mistake (yeah, lets have a look at FDM and see how perfect you are) then they can criticise him. He's gone...thats it, start talking about how tomorrow can be better than yesterday.

The point to all this is that there will always be a conflict between line pilots and pilot management in LoCos because everything is an asset and is made to work as hard as possible. There's a balance somewhere between pay and working hours and roster patterns and so far, that balance has not been achieved. Once you find it, recruitment and turnover stops being a problem. The new Ops Man needs to find that balance..if he can't then we'll see another thread like this in 2 years time.

Maybe PG will be looking at how Ken does....

mikesmithflying

29th Jun 2006, 17:07

what have the pax been told for cancellation reasons

autobrake3

29th Jun 2006, 18:07

I would say that a collection of tired, stressed and angry pilots is a liability rather than an asset.

monkey lover

29th Jun 2006, 21:35

KS only has a contract for 6 months.....

CaptainProp

29th Jun 2006, 23:05

Really? I thought the memo from AH said he was on for a full contract....?

Norman Stanley Fletcher

29th Jun 2006, 23:09

At the risk of being too controversial, I am one of those who think that others should not go at the moment. One of the other managers named here has had an almost impossible situation to deal with and is frankly only a worker bee. The guy who has carried the can should have done but we need to see what happens next. There is actually very little to be gained by mass sackings - you just end up with a whole new team on a huge learning curve and all the mess that brings.

The real deal here is rostering. I am not being flippant in saying this - the guy we need is the one who changes the current deal and I do not care what his name is. Out there somewhere is someone who will take the bull by the horns and get rid of 5-2-5-4. Whoever you are, we want to meet you. Come on down!

Porky Speedpig

30th Jun 2006, 08:04

NSF,
Intrigued by your comments - the Flight International article 6th June was waxing lyrical about this and stated that a survey of EZY pilots said 93% felt less fatigued by this pattern.

5150

30th Jun 2006, 08:06

Less fatigued...yes, so why not change it to something less than 'less fatigued'.

FlapsOne

30th Jun 2006, 08:18

Porky
The 'survey' quoted in the article was over 18 months old and was taken in the midst of a fully crewed rostering trial prioir to the full network wide implementation of the pattern. In short, it was out of date and wholly innaccurate........................another stunning piece of jounalism!

Monkey
I too remember VH-P leaving but I certainlydon't quite remember the 'wave of relief' you refer to. Indeed the reputation came before the man.......and proved to be correct within a matter of months. There wasn't one mistake made, there were numerous unprofessional and embarassing errors throughout his tenure, and the time had well and truly come to part company.

I have heard nothing but good stuff about his successor in the last few days and that has got to be welcome news. If he can organise, plan and manage, he will have 3 qualities the outgoing gentleman lacked!

mikesmithflying

30th Jun 2006, 09:24

Flaps One

be careful, if you seek to lower the esteem of the person concerned you could be liable for slander. It is quite known who various posters are on these fora. Just some friendly advice.

The issue here is not the ops director moving on but what impact the decisions that have been made in the past have had on easyjets earnings. With so much chartering and cancellation ( compensation? ) going on ,could easyJet make a loss this summer?

autobrake3

30th Jun 2006, 15:51

In the current edition of Flight International there is a letter from Mervyn Granshaw expressing concern over some of the short comings of the articles with regard to fatigue. Unfortunately as is usual, unlike the large euphemistic full page spreads containing questionable material, the letter is consigned quietly to the back pages. Wouldn't want to upset the apple cart with the truth would we........

Norman Stanley Fletcher

1st Jul 2006, 00:24

Just to concur with my colleagues here - 5254 is almost universally despised. The article in Flight International was frankly a Pravda-esque embarassment to easyJet. It was simply the unquestioned view of the easyJet PR department saying that the sun never sets on the empire and all will be well in the morning etc. As I have stated in other threads, the rostering situation will change, but I think only incrementally over the next year or so. It is not realistic to expect any changes at all until after the summer. We are in all honesty facing a manpower crisis on a scale unseen previously at easyJet. As has been highlighted elsewhere, our Chief Operating Officer has just 'resigned' in the wake of some major embarrasment to the company in terms of planning and recruitment. We are cancelling some flights altogether, subbing out certain flights to other airlines and flying Line Captains about 5 days a month in the right hand seat due to a critical shortage of First Officers. Our training department is stretched to the absolute limit and we are having to send newly recruited pilots into ground jobs for several months as we have insufficient training resources to train them. All these problems were totally predictable, but no one did anything to stop the rot until it was all too late. Hardly surprisingly heads have rolled and I daresay others may follow!

By September it will all no doubt look better but in the meantime it is crisis management. I have considerable sympathy with our long suffering rostering, crewing and ops departments who are trying to maintain a credible level of service with insufficient resources to make it happen.

Despite it all, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I personally am not concerned about the immediate problems - my concern is for the futue. There is still a battle to be won but I do believe it will happen.

woodpecker

1st Jul 2006, 11:42

Is this the same Mike Sucks who worked for BA?

girtbar

4th Jul 2006, 17:56

Has anyone heard the little piece of "Galley FM" thats been floating about this week that finally the crewing dept are reaching the end of their teather and are planning a strike????

I have to take my hats off to the poor guys down there, cant say i would like to be in their shoes with crew screaming at them left right and centre, if i get taxied to another base to sit on ASBY i think i might blow a fuse!!

Sadly Cynical

4th Jul 2006, 20:14

Despite it all, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I personally am not concerned about the immediate problems - my concern is for the futue.
From what I understand the 5254 roster pattern is fatigueing. I can only presume that the lack of crews results in further pressure on these rosters. I suspect that all this has a negative effect on morale and therefore on performance. This in turn tends to lead to an increase in crew sickness which only adds to the workload of the remaining pilots. It would be stating the obvious to suggest these problems can only have a negative impact on Flight Safety. Bearing in mind we are in the first half of the summer season I would suggest that easyJet's problems have yet to really get started.
NSF - can you tell me under what circumstances you would get concerned?

FlapsOne

4th Jul 2006, 20:34

SadlyCynical
Interestingly crew sickness (FD and CC) is at it's lowest level for 3 years.
FDM compound events are also well below industry norm (based on CAA data).
Those facts (not rumour I'm afraid) are a credit to the crews working their butts off.
The big question is how long it can go on for!!!:ugh: :ugh: :ugh:

cartmanfly

4th Jul 2006, 22:03

Very true those facts are a credit to us working our butts off and also proves that measuring fatigue using OFD events is fundamentally flawed. Plenty of mistakes can be made without triggering an event. You can take it from me and my 900hr accumulator that 5254 is s**t, fatiguing and completely unsustainable in the long term.

Sadly Cynical

4th Jul 2006, 22:12

Given all the negative information I have heard about 5254 I am indeed surprised to hear that sickness is down, and more importantly, FDM events are lower than industry standard.

There are two conclusions to be drawn; either there are no problems and things can continue as they are, or the monitoring has yet to catch up with reality (for whatever reason).

All I can say with certainty is that the rostering guru I have spoken to tells me that whilst the 5254 trials came back with encouraging results, the long term reality is that it doesn't work.

The summer has only just begun, lets see what the statistics say at the end.

Hackhackwhosthere?

5th Jul 2006, 09:18

Rumor has it that the original 5254 trial was rigged.

Ask any of the line pilots in the 2 bases involved (EDI and LTN) how many hours they were doing per month when the trial was supposed to be in full swing and compare that to what they get now. Pilots from other bases were shipped in quietly to do the work of the EDI and LTN pilots while they all sat at home on their SBY duties... Doh!

still, the pilots have voted with their feet in the last year with over 160 having left for pastures new, so the Co. did 'emselves no favours in the end.

The company line this week is, "its okay we've got enough pilots, they just don't have any hours left!" :)

Meanwhile the poor old cutomers are having to be flown around by the likes of Futura and Titan - its only a matter or time guys............ :suspect:

BTSM

5th Jul 2006, 14:13

I'm pleased for you Easy guys.

I have had first hand experience of Mike Sucks and his MO.

There was much hilarity on the BA BALPA forum at the news, until it was pointed out he could potentially be on his way back!

Pray no.

Prince Of Darkness and Sucks re-united.........:eek:

easy

5th Jul 2006, 17:38

:uhoh: Our present misery is the direct result of decisions made by Mike and his erstwhile boss, Ed W aka Thick Ed..... both ex-BA! If Mike goes back to BA then I think we should do a Virgin and sue them for conspiring to f..... us up ;) (shades of dirty tricks methinks).

Colonel Klink

5th Jul 2006, 19:54

Bearing in mind the astonishingly bad effect he has had at easyJet, it may not be unreasonalble to suggest he has been working for BA all along.
Consider:
Despite being warned by the CC on many occasions, he has undercrewed so badly the number of pilots that we have cancelled HUNDREDS of flights in the last month or two and this will continue through to the end of summer. This is going to cost upward of £10 million, at least!!
Over 350 pilots have left in the last 4 years; cadets leaving in droves and many for BA where they get a well trained pilot at no cost,
Rostering, being so poor that it contributed to the pilot situation above, could have been fixed ( as promised by MS) but has been made considerably worse because there are no pilots to man the roster;
leave was reduced for a while, minimum days off to patch up the crewing situation, a pay deal so dismal that BALPA membership ramped up to unbelievable levels and a near-strike resulted;
and so out of touch with the pilot market that TRSS schemes still remain!
Finally, fatigue so rampant as a result of above.
His performance has been so dismal it is impossible to believe this was not by design.

speedrestriction

5th Jul 2006, 21:23

;
and so out of touch with the pilot market that TRSS schemes still remain!

Don't worry, there are still plenty of wannabes who are ready and willing to go down that route albeit probably not enough to allow the locos have any sort of a hold pool.

sr

CamelhAir

5th Jul 2006, 23:18

Don't worry, there are still plenty of wannabes who are ready and willing to go down that route albeit probably not enough to allow the locos have any sort of a hold pool.

Wannabes perhaps, but the locos need a far greater mix of experience levels to maintain current expansion rates. No point in having dozens of low time FO's, none upgradable.

speedrestriction

6th Jul 2006, 15:24

CamelhAIR:

Yes, they need a mix, but I was under the impression that the TRSS is primarily aimed at potential FOs rather than potential captains. If that is the case then surely there is nothing "so out of touch" about keeping the scheme in place to minimise the company's training bill.

Believe me I'd love easy or FR to foot the cost of a TR but it hasn't happened yet and I'm not holding my breath:ooh:

sr

mikesmithflying

6th Jul 2006, 16:51

what makes you think the piots at easy are fatigued?

silverhawk

7th Jul 2006, 06:50

If sufficient numbers refused to self-sponser,the airlines would very quickly pay for the training.Won't happen though.
Wannabees have no real inkling of how they are being shafted and the training providers are so enboiled with the airlines that they dare not upset the status quo.
I believe it all started with a greedy bunch of individuals who set up CTC as a sideline.

autobrake3

8th Jul 2006, 09:13

Despite the current fiasco within, the ezy share price went up over 30 points (8%) yesterday on release of latest stats. So it seems that the top bods will still be showering themselves down with money on the back of everyone elses misery.

walla

10th Jul 2006, 09:17

Girtbar,

Not heard anything about crewing going on strike, yes the guy's and girls do a great job with limited resources and get no thanks for doing it.( except from the ops managers)
Great idea about the strike though, then maybe people will stand up and listen for a change.
I work in crewing and have done for a fair few years, i still do not think this is the worst the company has seen.(thats still to come)
In crewing we know we are not liked but its our job and we have to do it to the best of our ability..

Walla

Norman Stanley Fletcher

10th Jul 2006, 11:57

walla - I for one really appreciate the work you guys do in very difficult circumstances. You cannot put a quart into a pint pot and that is what we are trying to do with the limited resources we have available at the moment. There is a huge flying program to fill and only a limited number of crew to do it - you have my great sympathy in trying to make it all work. Well done mate.

walla

10th Jul 2006, 12:49

I will pass on the thanks and comments to the team in crewing.
Walla

FlapsOne

10th Jul 2006, 14:36

walla

I certainly echo NSF's comments.

Siverhawk
I think you'll find that CTC was/is not a 'sideline' for the guys who set it up.
It's their only job.

10th Jul 2006, 15:00

I echo NSF's comments. I've done crewing in a previous life (on a somewhat smaller scale... ) but I fully appreciate the problems of trying to solve the impossible.
We can only do so many hours, and when you've used them up.... well that's it! It does appear the message is finally getting throught to those that need to hear it.
Once again thanks for your efforts.... enjoy the summer :\
A4.:ok:

Max Autobrake

10th Jul 2006, 16:23

... i still do not think this is the worst the company has seen.(thats still to come)..
Walla
I don't see how things could possibly get worse, could they walla?
Since AH's appointment I'm optimistic for the future; the CC are about to announce good news regarding the rostering/scheduling agreement, but it remains to be seen whether the Company will be successful in recruiting the required number of pilots for next year.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed (but not holding my breath!).
MA

Mr Angry from Purley

10th Jul 2006, 18:36

Max Auto
Walla probably means worse to come = not hit peak season yet, school holidays, maybe an extra night flight or two to keep commercial happy, and with subcharter aircraft being few and far between :\

springbok449

10th Jul 2006, 18:53

You guys are all hanging onto a fixed pattern rostering system as it allows you to plan your days off in advance but lets face it thats the only thing its ever brought to us, its a barbaric system especially with 5 earlies in a row, it offers zero flexibility for request days off outside your group pattern which in turn increases sickness as people call sick rather than request days off and not get them.
How can anyone say that after 5 early 4 sector day you are not too tired to carry out a professional job not to mention trying not to kill yourself or someone else on the way home.

There is nothing wrong with working hard but it needs to be implemented correctly and 5 earlies in a row aint it.
People will carry on leaving if its not sorted because the money paid is not enough to jeopordize lifestyle, health, etc even for captains.

Good luck fellow colleagues.

FlapsOne

11th Jul 2006, 06:44

As there are nowhere near enough crews to support 5/2/5/4 it is definitely on the way out - fact!

There is a temporary fix inbound very soon with a more permanent fix being worked on, but all of this is largely dependent on recruiting. In order to recruit effectively we need to be able to offer something that people cannot refuse.

Lets hope AH and co are serious in making that offer because I've seen too many false promises.

walla

11th Jul 2006, 06:49

Max autobrake,

Mr Angry from Purley hit the nail on the head, its not even peak season and we are struggling, i agree with you since AH has taking over alot has changed and things seem to be looking up.
However (And please don't take this the wrong way) Easyjet is not only about F/D and C/C there are alot of different departments who suffer just as much.
We as a company need to look at the bigger picture and start looking outside of the box.

Walla

fred peck

11th Jul 2006, 11:01

Flaps;
There's no problem with recruitment per se; in fact we are well over initial target this year already.
The problem is retention (partly) and the total number we are allowed to recruit, ie crew ratio.

international hog driver

11th Jul 2006, 16:54

Does that not serve as a shining example?

It does not matter one iota if recruitment is above target if the “retention rate” and “ratio numbers” are wrong. The ship is crook no amount of money will replace life style, I know as I left a job a few years back and was offered exactly double to go back, thankfully sanity prevailed and my original decision to stick the job were the sun did not shine remained solid.

There are plenty of guys out there that Easy Recruitment in their infinite wisdom exclude for one reason or another, like….

Guys that after no contact in months suddenly get a PFO and a week later it becomes knowledge that there is an age limit for TRSS.

Guys that have plenty of total time (3000+) turbine time, command time and are even rated but don’t have much jet experience don’t even get a look in?

So when this summer cost easy big $$$$ in over time, cancelled flights and cross hires (if they can get them) don’t whine that you cant find crew. All because of some recruitment policy designed with heads in the sand.

Finally if anyone in the Easyland orange palace actually reads this and wants to get in contact with rated and available pilots then PM me