View Full Version : Flying in Cyprus
tcas1
21st Jan 2008, 11:09
Hi all
I heard a rumour the other day that some of us will be flying out of Cyprus this summer. Any news on the agreement? Is this only for a certain company?
kotakota
21st Jan 2008, 15:23
what do you fly , who do you fly for, why is your address UK -thought it was Canadian Forum ? It IS relevant.
tcas1
21st Jan 2008, 18:09
I fly for a UK 737 operator and was wondering if they need contract pilots for the summer as the idea of spending some time under the sun sounds quite appealing. Why is it relevant. I just heard a rumour from a canadian captain who has some friends going over there.
kotakota
21st Jan 2008, 19:23
Yes , your Canadian friends are coming over to Cyprus , and us contractors are losing our jobs because of it , and the Cypriot Pilots union are in an uproar over it . I have been here for nearly 2 years , contracted until Oct 08 , now terminated , leaving on Thursday. Please pass on my profound thanks to your friends. Not their fault of course , all cooked up at management level , but does not make it any better.
Safe flying
KK
tcas1
22nd Jan 2008, 05:33
I am sorry to hear that perhaps my canadian friends could throw some light on the matter.
Wheezy Child
24th Jan 2008, 06:26
Are we talking about 'Jazz' here? If so, whens the contract start?
I heard that it was Sunwing pilots that will be based in Cyprus this summer.
tcas1
25th Jan 2008, 07:06
Yes thats what i heard also.Sunwing.
Do you know iif the base will be cyprus or crete?What sort of contract is it?
levantes
27th Jan 2008, 07:18
Cypriot Pilots are not taking the issue lightly!
Already the company involved, has problems with a certain stance the union is having and now they are on negotiating table.'
So nothing solid yet!
Ps Rgds to Kotakota, it was a pleasure flying with you sir ;)
Circe2
28th Jan 2008, 03:51
Levantes, what would the ECA pilots rather have - Canadians or EU contractors flying your EU a/c?
levantes
28th Jan 2008, 11:54
Niether actually! The a/c should be manned by permanent ECA crew.
But as an interim solution contractors could be considered for a specific time period.
Circe2
29th Jan 2008, 09:07
Given that ECA is predominately a charter airline whose work is highly seasonal, it would not make good economic sense for the airline to have a full complement of permanent crew year round. No charter airline could contemplate or afford this.
Perhaps it is time ECA pilots accepted reality and the inevitable. Better to safeguard the future of the airline by negotiating how many summer only contract pilots can be employed.
levantes
29th Jan 2008, 15:11
Circe2, I see that you have a very good knowledge on how charter bussiness is working right now!
Perhaps you could enlighten us more with your views!
I agree with Circe2. Given the seasonality of the business, keeping a full time compliment of pilots for a half-time operation is a tough pill for the company to swallow. It would be different if every competitor had to follow the same rule, but at present they don't. If you were smart, you would be looking to negotiate reciprocal crew sharing agreements with the foreign operator(s) who will supply the temporary summer pilots to your operation. Two UK companies have done so with my Canadian company, and it's worked relatively well for several years.
levantes
30th Jan 2008, 04:14
I guess we are not that smart then!
Happy flying all over the world:rolleyes:
Well, judging by the accents, these European registered a/c are being flown by Canadian pilots - Sunwings' perhaps?
levantes
3rd Oct 2008, 20:00
Actually canadian registered aircraft!
The dispute is still on going and escalating!
Are pilots from Cyprus coming to Canada to fly for Sunwing this winter?
levantes
4th Oct 2008, 05:06
No!
Already most of us close to 700 hrs with a demanding winter schedule!
One aircraft in SSH, one maybe two in WAW and all the recurrent training still to be done!
Mind you, summer season in Cyprus starts in late March early April depending when Easter comes!
Sounds like you need some contract pilots:) (only joking!)
Levantes,
Actually, Sunwing had Cypriot pilots fly for us first, last winter, and were welcomed, as that's the way we are in Canada. The Sunwing pilots were not deployed to Crete, first season, until this past summer.
Also, if you're so against pilots operating on your behalf, why complain about too many hours and a heavy winter schedule?
That kind of bitching is counter productive, it makes it sound like you need people to help you out.
It is not the pilots that make these decisions to fly in each of our countries but we do understand it keeps us employed and each others companies operating.
Consider what it takes for a company to operate yearly, there are peaks and valleys, they have to deal with it, why don't you.
levantes
6th Oct 2008, 05:40
The Cypriot pilots you are refering to were XL pilots and not ECA!
My answer to a previous question about Cypriots coming to Sunwing was negative because I can't see any way of them coming to work for now that XL is gone!
I did'nt complain about flying! Being on 700 hours now, a possible deployment of ECA pilots in Canada would create problems for ECA in the summer with pilots reaching 900 hours.
Furthermore the crew utilization in Crete this year was zero. Last year 2 a/c, 12 crews, 55 layovers per pilot. This year, 1 a/c, 8 crews, 46 layovers per pilot. I assume your company used approximately the same figures.
I also assume that the number of crews needed was added on the leasing fee.
I'm just wondering how much profit does ECA make having you guys.
As for the rest of your comments I can only refer you to my postings on the other Sunwing thread!
kotakota
10th Oct 2008, 06:00
I think you might find that Sunwing played hardball at the last lease signing with ECA and insisted that ECA utilise some of the SW crew in the summer.
European contract crew are absorbed into the ECA numbers and can operate with any of the Cypriot crew , surely a better and more flexible bet if hands are not tied by lease agreements ?
I was one of the ECA contract crew unceremoniously dumped with 30 days notice ( as per our contract I hasten to add ) when the Canadian deal was kicking in . Peeved at the time , but very glad that it happened as I am now working for a much more enjoyable operator.
Shaman
8th Jan 2010, 22:29
Well, are Canadian Sunwings pilots coming to Europe this summer to fly EU registered a/c whilst so many EU pilots (including me) are still unemployed?
FWIW, there are over 100 European pilots flying in Canada this winter, and yes we have unemployed pilots in Canada too.
Shaman
9th Jan 2010, 08:04
The issue I have with the Sunwings operation is that it appears that Sunwings operates the ECA aircraft in Canada in the winter with Canadian pilots and then operates ECA aircraft in Europe in the summer, again with Canadian pilots.
If an equal number of ECA pilots went to Canada in the winter as there were Canadian pilots in Europe in the summer then that would balance things out.
NB. This is not an attack on Canadian pilots - I do not believe that Canadian pilots have any say on whether they are given EU work permits or not.