Gulf Air plans to "necessarise" fleet requirements.

[borabora]

With 2 A330's gone off to Brazil on lease,there remains 4 only.
2 A340's are up for grabs by the year end so that'll leave 3 of those behind.
No clue on the 9 B767's!!!!
A320's too are undecided on.
The future plan is to get a few dozens of Lear Jets and keep the frequency in the gulf but reduce capacity I guess.
Thses types are used by SIA to train their second officers.
Logics?????????
All your's for reasoning,old chaps!!!

[Icarus]

GF needs to 'necessarise' its' Corporate Planning, Scheduling and Personnel Departments before it does anything more (or less?) with its aircraft.
There's a fair few people in these departments that should be 'leased out' or sent to the Mojave desert to retire.

[Propellor]

It's said that the 340s were making losses and that is why they are being eased out.
Well, does the airplane make a loss or is it the improper selling of its capacity that is causing a loss. And how do you expect a long hauler to make profits on a network where the longest flight is 9.5 hours ?
GF could do better if they could visualise a direction. By simply reducing the number of airplanes, they are not just cutting losses - they are also reducing the inflow of revenue.
Maybe it will recover in the future. "Inshallah"

[Icarus]

Propeller,
The phrase "You hit the nail on the head" comes to mind!
Trouble is, GF do not understand capacity in its true and fullest meaning; nor do they have any idea about scheduling; and they couldn't (corporate) plan their way to the end of the road let alone a profitable route!

Selling means 'sell as much as we can get away with and bugger the cost of not being able to deliver!'.

Running 340's on 30 minute sectors is ludricrous to say the least! Hence (maintenance) problems that no-one else will see for 10 years have already been experienced at GF.

The PCE is weakend (despite all the right ideas and lots of energy), and the newly installed management team are made impotent; by politics and the (anti-) personnel dept.

GF will survive but will not (never?) get better for a long time to come.

[CaptChaos]

With all due respect Icarus your profile says airline manager, location Bahrain. Yet you seem to take yourself out of the picture and refer to GF management as they. Do you not share equal responsibility for the sorry state of afairs at GF?

[Icarus]

Capt Chaos;
No not really! Not my department that is screwing things up so badly for the company, just the one that has to deal with all the sh!t they cause; and as an expatriate you are never listened to seriously only entertained/tolerated these days!
Additionally, they don't pay me enough not to care unlike a lot around here, so I feel really sad that things are falling apart the way they are and there is no sign whatsoever that anything will improve at all over the next few years.
There are certain people in this company that will forever stop things getting better; however, those that should be able to do something about it seem unable to bite the bullet and get on with it.
It's a damn shame to say the least, the potential is there but it will never be realised.
It would be a far better thing to close things down today, and re-open as a new airline tomorrow with the right people and little or no politics.
They could then replace the Falcon with a Pheonix and fly to the heights they were once accustomed to as THE carrier of the Middle East.

[BahrainLad]

Icarus - Watch this space.

[a4o007]

Icarus, you could not have said it better. I fully agree with you.

[BAE146]

icarus,GF have always only tolerated expats and never listen to advice.Back in 1997 they sold half the 767 fleet to raise money much to the amazement of all and against the advice of expats. two years later they bought them back again ???? day to day crisis management and nothing more. They have no idea how to manage an airline because they don't have to.just keep getting handouts from the owner States. Whose turn is it next - Qatar,doesn't matter the money will still flow in and OUT again!!!Pathetic.
I look forward to the day I return back to the UK and work for a real airline. I do love Bahrain though,wish I could take that back to.

[Joey Gray]

Well said ......Icarus.
I hear the A340's exit is just a rumor. Since you are management .....can you confirm it!!

[Icarus]

All I have heard is that 2 A340's will be 'grounded' during Winter 2001 schedule as it is cheaper (i.e. less of a loss) to do so rather than to fly them!
But I am not really the right person to ask, this decision(?)[I should co-co, it would be nice if 1. They had sufficient full/correct data to make a good one and 2. Had the balls to tell the truth and get on with it!] would probably be taken by Corporate Planning/Network Development, who are predominantly (closely followed by Scheduling) responsible for the whole mess anyway!

[This message has been edited by Icarus (edited 04 July 2001).]

[clipstone]

I agree entirely after having had the misfortune touse GF from LHR to MEL and return in mid December and Mid Jan. Over booked the flight by about 150 pax so we were told after waiting several hours @ BAH.

They was off loaded onto a new flight (some were offered dosh to move, we were told "you are on the next flight")

Following the trip it took GF over 4 months to reply to my letter of complaint, and the reply was roughly "sorry, but schedules are subject to change without notice......."

I know where I'll never be spending any more of my money.....with GF! I'd rather travel Garuda if I want a "cheap" fare to Oz.

[tulips]

Clipstone, did you not hear our new corporate slogan?

"With time to spare, fly Gulf Air!!!"

[tunturi]

I find all of this very tragic indeed. I worked for GF in the 80's (just as Emirates were at the embryo stage) and have very fond memories of an airline with very high professional standards. IMHO the one major fault was that whilst having some excellent staff, they would not do anything about those who were less so. This includes all nationalities. I wish you all well and hope the right people can be drafted in to the right slots before it really is too late.

[Propellor]

It seems odd that the airline does not make money on a full flight. The Australia runs were not undersold, but yet they made a loss. Similarly the European routes make a loss. In fact, had it not been for the Indian sub-continent, the airline would have folded up, (or almost) a long time back.

Take the morale. Each and every pilot is afraid of the Damoceles sword that hangs over his head in the form of the DLR. The efficiency of the testing is hearsay, and the airline has a flimsy policy regarding who will undergo it and who will be exempt. All this leads to low morale.

Add to it the broken promises of the increment.

And then try to get the best out of your people?

[This message has been edited by Propellor (edited 05 July 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Propellor (edited 05 July 2001).]

[Icarus]

GF's problem is that it just wants to fill its aircraft; the only means to do this is to take the people at the front of the queue for a seat, which inevitably means lowest fare. They have no system in place to truly measure the full cost(s) of operation, and hence lose money. GF should let AI/PK/EK and others take those at the front of the queue and pick kup those towards the end who are either will or are now compelled to pay higher prices. The onboard product is actually very good these days but there are always shortfalls (every airline has them) as passengers expect more and more for less and less these days; the idea is to try to meet somewhere in the middle and give good value for money. Ground services need improvement admittedly, getting the right resources in place is the answer to that one.
Morale is extremely low because people know the problems and most of the solutions, however, ego's and 'loss of face' are getting in the way of doing anything about it.
Seems there are no 'real' men left in the region!

[Mapshift]

Latest from gf is the dgac oman complaining not enough people failing base checks...so now some will have to...so anybody who has raised their head in the past, might find it chopped off soon..to fill the "need" for failures...

[Propellor]

What is more apt?
- Pot calling the kettle black.

OR

- Those living in glass houses should not throw stones.

[OmanOne]

mapshift, DGCAM,you mean !!! those guys got a crises of there own. from time to time they come to GF and stir the sh!t to only remind them that they still breathing..

[Mapshift]

Yup...things haven't changed in the 10 years since I left...too bad lots of good pilots gcc nats and expats alike suffer...keep it up things should get better...inshalla>>>>>>>>>>>>

[borabora]

MapShift,

I think its the other way around.
DGCAM Oman expeditiously got rid of the nationals who were giving the omani boys a hard time some years ago,in the simulators
and I dont think that they want that coming back in again.
They were moved off from being check and trainers to normal line flying.
The way I see it,nationals will get every opportunity to prove themselves for a command slot.
Thats how it has been for years and how it will be and should be unless proven otherwise in some cases.

[OmanOne]

WHOM DO YOU MEAN BWANA?! :rolleyes:

[Propellor]

It may not be prudent to continue with those questions, Oman One. What is at fault is the policies, and not the individuals. It is unfortunate that at times, because of defective policies, and misguided ones, the wrong people get promoted - as Training Captains, or even as Captains/First Officers. It is not that that particular person is at fault, but the policy and its implementtion (again part of the policy).
It is just the way I feel sorry for the bloke in the 320 crash. There is no point in blaming him - he was a victim of an improper assessment. And ther assessors went scot-free!
Lets not get into it.
The most glaring aspect is that the airline has second officers languishing for years for a few hours of simulator to become First Officers. Yet the airline goes and hires First Officers from the market at higher rates to fill the vacancies.

[OmanOne]

propeller, i wish there is someone out there could justify what you said!! its been more than 3 years waiting for the poor s/o's. its seems that the unti- crwe/personnel department has got its own way of saving some Dinars by direct employment and pay 900 BD/mnth to s/o's to stay @ home. that will be cutting cost by delaying training due shortage of pilots!! i guess :confused:

[Mapshift]

Heard they got their handout for the year...how many new Merc's floating around the HQ ? Should 'ave stayed with one fleet type, instead of trying to "keep up with the Joneses" so to speak....lots of nice blokes around there, hope all gets sorted out soon..