Gulf Air Developments

[Botata]

Gulf air.... Shrinking is the answer to everything however management and corruption never shrink. Acting CEO speech was very weak during the meeting. His got military experience - shooting people down and that's exactly what he is doing with gulf air. He has been doing this for the rest of his life so don't blame him.
What was interesting was the answer our COO was stating regards "pilots" when asked how many expat pilots are going to be made redundant... His answer was he did not know - local pilots will be made redundant As well with regards to performance! What about the accident that occurred a few months ago... These local pilots still have a job... It would have been different story if they were expats.

The problem is that we trusted gulf air cause of it's history and reputation - now we have to take it on the chin.

[Calmcavok]

23 expat pilots have just been terminated effective 23rd Jan.

[repapips]

Calmcavok said:
23 expat pilots have just been terminated effective 23rd Jan.


Are these the Embraer pilots?

[BLSA]

Calmcavok, pls be more specific. 20 emb pilots + 3 airbus?

[BLSA]

EMB fleet is gounded, last flew on 20th.

[Calmcavok]

Correct, last flew on 20th. 23 pilots from Emb fleet redundant eff 23 Jan. 3 pilots with good seniority that previously flew Airbus types for GF, and therefore can do a short course, are transferring back to A320.

[Mephistopheles]

So now staff tickets for extrended family have been withdrawn & ammendments(read-reductions) made to former/retired employees travel benefits all "to maximise revenue from commercial passengers."????????
Wake up call! We don't have any passengers to maximize the revenue from since we are closing stations all over our "family & business" friendly network.
How about getting rid of 25% of the more than 50 Senior Managers/Directors? I'm sure that would go some way to help "securing the airline's future".

[40&80]

As a former retired Gulf Air pilot for 26 years....Could someone post what further changes have been made to retirement travel?

[thegypsy]

Only flights available for ex GF staff are for sector Bahrain to Dhahran and return. Enjoy:ok:

[Flyer1015]

With all these talks about fleet cuts and reductions, why is Gulf Air Careers still advertising both A320 CA and FO vacancies? Are they really in need of Airbus pilots, despite the reduction in size?

[BLSA]

More expat pilots to join massalama list today:uhoh::rolleyes:

[Captain Sensitive]

Cool, I can forsee the summer madness...

[BLSA]

They will be cancelling leaves in couple of months:ugh::mad:

[Gordomac]

BLSA, remember the words of Dick Hughes in 1993 ; " This is NOT a proper airline, it is a Flying Club". FLYER, of course not, the previous applies to you too. They just forgot to withdraw the advert. It is a Flying Club damn it ! 40&80, I just wrote to the Staff Travel Office but doubt a reply as they never even respond to phone call attempts. (to me anyway, only did 17 years !). Wrote also to UK Office, the address you gave me, & I am thinking of writing to the Dep PM again, too. I will PM replies or post here if it is of general interest. Anyone got an email address for Staff Travel? Is Abdullah still there ?

Went to the GF Office in Nicosia but it is now a vehicle accessory shop.

Went to the airport at LCA & fabbo staff told me that the Airport Manager was on a Day Off ( I could see him hiding behind a pillar) but very pretty Rhula (no not Ruler) told me everything had to be done on line ( well, been trying to access for two years now !).

Gees, just after "thinking" of a GF flight to BAH in order to see old mates. Looks like I will have to trump up full fare but as a little old penshi, that means a serious savings plan. Checked the internet............boooo hooo, Easyjet do not go there.......yet .

Quick edit, I note that at first attempt, instead of "17 years" I hit "17 tears". Very apt. Answers why I always let the A340 go past the descent point & re-acted by knocking everything off & flying the rest of the trip in manual.................happy days, best thoughts going Eastward right now.

[thegypsy]

Retard Retard Retard Don't think it was personal Gordo? On second thoughts maybe it was in your case:D

[Gordomac]

nice.Gyps, it was a joke. Ask them in the Sergeants mess to remind you of humour.

[40&80]

A Bahrain to Dahran return ticket!......Wow that is fantastic... never expected a return ticket would be given away...are you sure this is not just another Gulf Air mistake?
I smell another big fat rat amendment on the way. :ok:

[ironbutt57]

The ticket is on SABTO...(bus):p

[thegypsy]

Gordomac Mine was a joke too hence the big grin at the end of the comment! Please do try and keep up:rolleyes:

PS You do seem to have an obsession with the Sergeants mess. Please explain as I do not believe you were ever in the Military?

[LNAV VNAV -]

Back to more serious matters..., anyone knows how many more are to go after yesterday's massalama to 15 pilots?

[BLSA]

Heard 20 more to go soon:rolleyes:

[superbeaver]

Government "help" to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.
Ayn Rand (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/ayn_rand.html)

[fly66]

I've heard the next ones are only the over-60..and for time being that's It...Inshallah

[T O G A Boy]

Heard that a few pilots of various nationalities were shown the door yesterday ( as put bluntly ). :ugh:
Is there at any stage during this crisis that neighbouring airlines decide holding a roadshow across the road to the Pink palace.

[BLSA]

Roadshows?:rolleyes: There was a EY roadshow last year:) how many pilots that went there and applied got hired??? i think none, even those who applied earlier and interviewed has not been called to join yet;)

[ironbutt57]

Drilling holes in the bottom of the ship to let the water out....:ugh:

[BLSA]

Indemnity in case of restructuring:

"Officially, 6 months’ salary is the maximum pay for open-ended contracts in case of restructuring. As per Bahraini labor law, employees with open-ended contracts are entitled to one day salary for each month of service with a minimum of half month salary and a maximum of six months’ salary." GF portal

[Landflap]

So, 14 years Service to get the full 6 months payout. I might be getting this wrong & it used to be phrased a little bit differently in the 'Labour Laws' handout I was given. GF has never been in perfect respect of the Labour Laws & never included "all alowances" in the calculation. That was always a direct breach of contract but they got away with it for donks. Good luck to all facing very unsettling times. You WILL recover but the sad taste in the mouth will take a very long time to go away. Wish that the company would make the leaving process as much fun as the joining process.

[Che Guevara]

I suspect that the expats on 'open ended contracts' will no doubt discover that this only applies to Bahrainis....:rolleyes:

[Botata]

..... The end!

[T O G A Boy]

And the Fairy Tale of The Golden Falcon is reaching its final chapter.:{

[BLSA]

Che, i think this is instead of normal indemnity in case of restructuring, so if you were here 15-20 years you are basically screwed.:rolleyes:

[AeroForce]

Che, i think this is instead of normal indemnity in case of restructuring, so if you were here 15-20 years you are basically screwed.


Indemnity is separate from the redundancy pay.

Indemnity is an integral part of the remuneration package in accordance with the labour law, as expats don't receive a pension. Indemnity would not be paid IF the company would be dissolved or goes bankrupt

Redundancy is paid as compensation for the breach of contract. Therefore an expat can expect to be paid both in case of being made redundant. Except if the redundancy was because of going into administration.

Therefore if an expat wanted to leave anyway it would be better to be made redundant!

However I'm sure GF HR are looking for ways to pay the least amount of money possible.

[Landflap]

Again, it might have changed in the time that I was there but for expats, redundancy was never in the formula because indemnity applied. Short term notice (like a day !) was often given & then because of the breach (no notice period), full pay in lieu of notice was to be paid. Redundancy was only paid to locals because they received no indemnity. I never heard of anyone getting both redundancy plus indemnity. To be fair, mate & colleague of mine was stitched up but after a right royal battle, he did win three months pay in lieu of three months notice plus indemnity. Of course it was reduced (quite a lot) with all sorts of fiddles but, as you intimate Aeroforce, HR & the Fleet Offices are past masters at minimising the payout.Apologies if the labour laws changed.

[Soft Altitude]

Interesting that no one on this thread mentioned what kind of "redundancy" and "indemnity" package the "massalama guys" who were made redundant few days ago, got !

First hand information I've got is : 3 moths basic salary "in-lieu" of a notice period plus half the salary for the remaining months till end of contract !
Meaning that if someone had 8 months left to the end of contract he would get 7 basic salaries ! Approximately 75%, if not more, of the leaving indemnity of someone who is 8 years in GF !

Not bad for someone who spent slightly more than a year in the company !!!

On top of that, they also got an outstanding, highly commendable and altruistic gesture from the management who contacted the relevant managers in one of the neighboring airline and also in one major in the mediterranean, for them to take over the redundant pilots !!!

Amazing golden hand shake these guys got !!!

While I do not wish to anyone to lose his or her job, and especially because a pilot has to fly, hats down to GF on that one, they really went out of their way to compensate these guys in the best possible way and maybe a bit too far out of their way...
Just wishing GF will remember to give a same or similar treatment as this, when and if, the other expats will have to leave, and/or, stop reducing or cancelling benefits for those who stay !

[Landflap]

Soft Altitude; my take would be this; 8 months left. Three months in lieu of notice = 3 X monthly pay. That leaves 5 months. 5 X monthly pay & then halve it. So, this 8 months to go guy gets 5.5 X monthly pay. Hey, but my maths reasoning often got me into the poooh. It is still better than nothing and I fear that any monies due would be attacked by the whizzes in HR.Golden handshakes was never the order of the day. Geees, my mate was given a "Ten year Service Certificate" after he had clocked up 15. This was placed in his pigeon hole because he didn't attend the ceremony lunch at the GF club. (They told him about it, ten days after it happened).
Because , like me,he was miserable at 'Doing the math' , he came out of it better off than his own calculation. So, he shot off to the Seef Mall & bought himself his own retirement Breitling. He still wears it, with pride today!

[BLSA]

I know there are more serious things:rolleyes: but where the hell are the rosters???:ugh::ugh::ugh:

[Mephistopheles]

Yeah exactly! Where are the rosters? Not even the customary excuse!
On another note heard that Bahrain Air will announce their long awaited closure on Thursday. Just wondering how much of their debt & management GF will be forced to take onboard, if any.

[avi1962]

Really?! :uhoh:

[ironbutt57]

According to this, not the case...

DailyTribune - Local News (http://www.dt.bh/newsdetails.php?key=301110213450&newsid=280113224827)

[BLSA]

DailyTribune - Local News (http://www.dt.bh/newsdetails.php?key=301110213450&newsid=290113224453)
Gulf Air (GF) is flying on the wrong path by deserting staff at lower ranks, while top-level managers with fat salaries continue to enjoy easy life, despite mounting losses, accused MPs, yesterday. :D:D:ok:

[Mephistopheles]

ironbutt, is it Thursday already? Must get a new calender!

[AeroForce]

Gulf Air (GF) is flying on the wrong path by deserting staff at lower ranks, while top-level managers with fat salaries continue to enjoy easy life, despite mounting losses, accused MPs, yesterday. :D:Dhttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif

Yup. And again the people with Chief, Director or Senior Manager in their job titel, remain untouched. When are they going to hold the accountable managers ACCOUNTABLE. :ugh:

[T O G A Boy]

That will be THE DAY when managers are held accountable.:ok: About high time they start getting rid of the useless unqualified managers with deep fat pockets and leave the humble hardworking crew alone. They are the bread and butter earners of this company.

[DesertHawk]

i think it is pretty clear that this ship is sinking! they have fired 70 or so cabin crew as of 28th and held the rosters so the employees would not know until their final day of work. IMO it is obvious that the powers that be have decided it is better to not tell the employees there real plan and more surprises will come. Those who think they are safe might find that the real plan is far different then what we all think. Anyways good luck to all as we all need it!:ok:

[brassplate]

i bet n.alsalmi and the rest of the management pilots are all eating their words of reassurances of past meetings.
they are now only worried about kissing @ss a little while longer to keep their fat pay packets until the titanic finally sinks.
lying bastards. never has management pilots been ever this self preserving in any company. shame on them.

[Albergineman]

Gulf Air 3-Star Airline Ranking | SKYTRAX (http://www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/GF.htm)

:{

[brassplate]

this is what happens when locals are head of departments.

local heads = local standards.

unavoidable.

[brassplate]

SMALL PLANES
SMALL AIRLINE
SMALL MENTALITY
SMALL IMAGINATION
SMALL REWARDS
SMALL BUDGET
SMALL DREAMS
SMALL COURAGE
SMALL MINDS


can never survive with the kind of neighbours you have...big neighbours
can never compete with the kind of neighbours you have...with big pockets
can never be better with the kind of neighbours you have...who think quality
can never be open minded as the neihbours...who think world airline conquest

because you think small.
no more excuses. your strategy means slow and painful death to gf.

i love going over stuff i've written over 2 years ago and seeing how right i was. i hope all who ridiculed me back then can taste their own bull$hit in their mouths.
if you have any sense at all, leave this corrupt, bigoted, lying, dishonourable, and most importantly, dying company before you find yourselves in no-man's land getting molotov cocktails and tear gas thrown at you for your hard work and loyalty.

[flame_bringer]

This has gone too far with people like brassplate bagging others by name here then bashing the company on and on again.
Brassplate if you're not happy about gulf air leave this topic and stay away from it in whatever employer you're with at the moment, stop bashing the company in forums and consistently telling others to leave and other crap in this hard time, Then you start bashing locals as though you'd do any better if you were a head of department I'm a local and I take this one as an insult.
Careful with your words, If you're not happy leave.

[Botata]

This is not about locals or expat - the truth is that everybody should leave gulf air. The award for 2013 - joke of an airline...

[brassplate]

flame_bringer....what an apt name. your name says it all. you are happy to have everyone stick their heads in the sand and pretend all is well.

let me just warn them about people like you. you are taking them to hell and hardship with false hopes and optimism based on lies. shame on you.

LEAVE WHILE YOU CAN EVERYONE AT GF!!!!

[brassplate]

flame_bringer, i have nothing against locals but come on. how can you be so blind. you nationals can not even look after your own back yard. how can you expect expats to trust you when you crap on each other?
i will be as bold as to suggest that ALL management positions be given to western expats. you have had long enough to experiment with bahrainization. that crap just won't work, ESPECIALLY in your country. the longer you persevere with it, the quicker your demise, the demise of your airline, and all the families that rely on it. hand over the reigns now, not just to the ceo, but ALL the top positions and keep locals as far away as possible from management because the only thing they will do is (if not nothing), rob, corrupt, and abuse.
i am warning to my fellow pilots, expats and locals, from afar because i was there. best thing ever was leaving. so should every pilot.

[flame_bringer]

You are such a professional at biting the hand that has once fed you, If you can't have respect to your former employer and fully dedicate your time at bashing it then I'm warning others of you, you are a menace to the industry.
I bet you would do it to your current employer too, while I have no intention of harming you but I reckon that people like you should have thier identity revealed and given to all of the airlines and be blacklisted from employment.
If you cant be polite when talking about someone that once upon a time fed you then you cant be entrusted to transporting passengers.

[MetoPower]

You are such a professional at biting the hand that has once fed you, If you can't have respect to your former employer and fully dedicate your time at bashing it then I'm warning others of you, you are a menace to the industry.
I bet you would do it to your current employer too, while I have no intention of harming you but I reckon that people like you should have thier identity revealed and given to all of the airlines and be blacklisted from employment.
If you cant be polite when talking about someone that once upon a time fed you then you cant be entrusted to transporting passengers.


I very rarely post.
I left GF over 15 years ago (never looked back), and I might have used different words, but Brassplate is right.
One of us posted a short while ago that GF was one of the very few airline everybody wanted to be part of. Things have changed!

You seem to ignore (or forget... sorry I just realised you're only 24) that a few (not many, I admit) disappointed"locals" (as you call them) have left the ship over the years, aswell for the very same reasons.

Ops. dept. started falling apart (very fast) when M. Douglas. & J. Brown. left for retirement. Later on the two M. D.

On his last day, I met M. Douglas in the old barracks and wished him farewell. He shook my hand and said “good luck”. I today still remember the look on his face; he meant it and he knew what he was talking about.

I didn’t ... yet!

MP

[brassplate]

I bet you would do it to your current employer too, while I have no intention of harming you but I reckon that people like you should have thier identity revealed and given to all of the airlines and be blacklisted from employment.

i am glad that you reveal yourself by your comment, you pratt. that is the very mentality why pilots should flee from your once mighty airline. who wants to work under that kind of tyranny, constantly looking over their shoulder for persecution??
and wrong again, i have made no bad comments about my previous employers and my current employer, just gf.
i left gf because of the likes of you. and guess what, even your own people are leaving because you can't even look after yourselves, let alone expats.
Metopower and i'm sure, many many more, are in agreement. my bluntness may be the only difference but in essence, the stories are true about gf. nowadays, gf stands for get f##d. be warned, stay well clear.

[flame_bringer]

:DApplause for you scum for the most informative comment ever posted NOT, No one needs the likes of you who are nothing but snakes that are draining the industry resources and not producing yet griping and backstabbing thier employers, I'm glad gulf air got rid of you and I hope your current employer get rid of you aswell, You're not needed in the industry so go find a psychiastrist and continue your unrelenting whining around him about airlines, I'm ashamed that someone like you was once my co worker.
Gulf air will recover and be in a good shape once again and be the employer of choise whether you like it or not, your presence in this topic is nothing but trouble making.

[Sandy Swan]

What an unedifying spectacle! The airline is on a stretcher in the ICU, crew and staff are applying artificial respiration for all their worth, management is hacking off the odd limb and the usual suspects are rifling through the diminishing pockets. And then there are the hysterical observers...

[jackx123]

Gulf air will recover and be in a good shape once again and be the employer of choise whether you like it or not

Forgot to put "inshallah" :}

[buba]

Wahahahahaha... This is absolutely hilarious. life through the imperial prism must be fascinating indeed.
Ps..anger management folks. I surely don't wanna fall under the yolk with some of the punters here at the helm. Phew. Better the devil you know, eh.
But I guess it's always the locals to blame..init, when thousands of AA staff where laid off.. It was a local management. An I doubt the department heads in Iberia were Malian.. So forth and so forth..yep it's always the locals. GF just scraped by the 3 star and so did a plethora of airlines across the globe.. SAS and KLM wer somewhere there too. Lo and behold BA a 4 star airline, how can that be Nigel sahib...tsk tsk tsk.. How rude of skytrax indeedy.

[DesertHawk]

Flame: u were probably never his coworker because when he was here u were still in high school!!! I love your enthusiasm and frankly think brass is a bit over the top but are u serious about GF being an employer of choice? it has not been for over 10 year for sure! I don't think GF is horrible as they have always paid my salary on time and so on. On the other hand what is going on here is just insane! if u don't see the corruption and horrible decisions ur blind. PS if u r looking for people to blame have a look at the hierarchy.....90 percent local just saying:ok:

PPS....most national carriers management and boards are locals so it would be a similar cars anywhere....but this is extreme:)

[ironbutt57]

Well....


Gulf Daily News » Local News » Racing against time... (http://gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=346727)

[Sal-e]

Our neighbours seem to be doing something right.

Etihad Airways trebles profit last year - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-04/etihad-trebles-profit-last-year/4499934)

[Mephistopheles]

So who are our fellow 3 star bedmates...
Air Asia-Low cost
Bahrain Air-Low cost
Cebu Pacific-Low cost
East Jet-Low cost
Monarch-Low cost
West Jet-Low cost...
...to name a few. Someone should let Mussalam & the board in on the terrible truth that we are nothing but a 2 bit airline trying to masuerade as a reputable international flag carrier.
Even Oman Air got 4 stars!

[Mephistopheles]

The unavoidable truth is that Bahrain & Bahrainis are responsible for the dire situation that Gulf Air finds itself in today. For an airline that is 63 years old there is no excuse for not having a program that trained young promising Bahrainis for senior management positions. Instead we have the worst possible caliber of Bahrainis in positions whose talents consist solely of brown nosing, misappropriation & flesh peddling.
Sadly, it apprears that there is no move or even the will to correct this. In fact,apart from 2 Chief positions, not one Director/Senior manager has lost his/her job only the average employee is facing the axe.
Some Directors will have their titles changes but still receive the same benefits & salaries-so where's the saving there?
It seems the writing is finally on the wall for civil aviation in Bahrain, the only question is who will outlast the other Bahrain Air or Gulf Air?
Good luck all.

[brassplate]

Instead we have the worst possible caliber of Bahrainis in positions whose talents consist solely of brown nosing, misappropriation & flesh peddling.

are you still there flame_bringer? Mephistopheles is one of the respected guys in this thread and his quotes are never far from the truth. go on, continue burying your head in the sand. your kind will never pull gf out of the poop at this rate.

[buba]

Meph.. We are not alone.. We gatz mo brethren in the 3 star shack..besides the run of the mill low cost carriers... US airways, united,klm,sas, jet airways..yada yada yada. Looks like we all in the ****z

[flame_bringer]

Brassplate
Everyone is entitled to his opinion I respect everyones standpoint, But when it gets to the point of bashing the company and retaliating from it in foums rather than providing some constructive opinions, Then only it gets unacceptable, I owe gulfair a lot of favours for providing me the opportunity to get a foot in the door and taking care of me to the point of turning me from a worthless jobless person to a licensed certifying engineer, And any insult directed at gf is directed at me aswell, I get disgusted when I read insulting comments like yours about the company, All you ever post are offenses to the company and its local staff, you never provide any informative discussions, Atleast have some respect to the company employees if its not for the company.

[repapips]

I owe gulfair a lot of favours for providing me the opportunity to get a foot in the door and taking care of me to the point of turning me from a worthless jobless person to a licensed certifying engineer


So after all these posts, this guy is not even a pilot???

[Atebis]

Flamer ,

The only people you owe lots of favors to is your mommy and daddy. They are the ones that provided opportunities for you for all those years you were worthless and jobless. GF can easily put you back to that worthlessness without a second thought. Open your eyes. They are also sacking Bahrainis.

[DesertHawk]

flame: many have tried constructive thoughts and nothing ever changes at GF. Even as we complain the same old same happening everyday at GF. I get GF gave us all jobs but what u are saying is so wrong. If someone criticized Gf they are NOT insulting u. I just don't get how everything is so personal. to me it kinda straight forward.

GF hired us all
GF pays up
GF screws our rosters with no hope of improvement due to lack of professionalism at all levels
GF hopes to improve
Gf fails miserably
Gf makes excuses and fires someone ie CEO
GF makes new plan
GF still messed up and blames some more people not involved
GF repeats all and still hires EXPATS 60 years later:):ok:

Enjoy the chaos guys or just have a beer it is way easier to accept reality!

[dacorana]

Gulf Daily News » News Details » Letters (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=346761)

[brassplate]

Swalha Al Abeid is the writer of that article.
remember that name, everyone.
now...that's a local i would be honoured to work with. gf needs many more like him, not that imbecile ranting raving lunatic that flame_bringer is who is the very reason i left fantasy island in the first place.

[flame_bringer]

I'm glad that you left the fantasy island and hope that you won't come back to it anymore and hope that you leave this topic aswell.
Thank you

[brassplate]

....worthless jobless person to a licensed certifying engineer...

i suggest YOU pi$$ off. why?
1. you're not even a pilot. i am here because i AM a pilot.
2. you must be one of those useless engineers gf has, judging by the state of their airplanes, and therefore definitely contributing to the downward spiral of gfs reputation.

[ironbutt57]

hey guys, take it down a notch huh?? back to the GF topic, they were good to me and vice-versa, it's sad to see it being systematically dismantled, maybe there is some rebuild plan, but they fail to realize a company is successful or not by it's employees, and it appears nationality, not productivity or competence is the deciding factor on who stays or goes.

[flame_bringer]

Fartplate I usually piss on the likes of you before pissing off.
You're not gf staff therefore this place is not yours.
Go preach somewhere else no one needs your advice or suggestions

[MetoPower]

Fartplate I usually piss on the likes of you before pissing off.
You're not gf staff therefor this place is not yours.
Go preach somewhere else no one needs your advice or suggestions

I think it's time for the Mod's to step in, this kind of language is not necessary.
This is a free forum where we all have the opportunity to express or thaughts, ideas, for some their emotions.
It is a shame to see what is happening, but let's be honest GF is not the only one worldwide (while it is probably the only one in the Gulf region) to be in this situation
To both BP (you have some valid points as it seems you where part of GF in it's best years) and FB (you have yours but if you are really 24 they might be biased, and you might need to review some of GF past history), chill out. Keep going on with such language will not help.

MP

[Sal-e]

Would anyone care to coin any solutions?

[Apache702]

Shut down GulfAIr, start all over with smart people at the top, (a mix of the best Locals and expats )
Also, The succes of a company is directly proportional to the level of happiness, integrity, honesty and skills of its employees. Thats the golden rule of any business on this planet.

outside the subject...
I was laughing and thinking that flame must be a girl, why? he or she 's always gotta have the last words ....:}

[Sal-e]

Well said, Apache.
Apart from closing shop, I agree with everything else.

[slowjet]

These pages are FULL of solutions. The most identified problem is corruption from the top down. I am afraid that there will never be a solution to that and it has absolutely nothing to do with 'locals V expats' !

Apache is correct. Shut it down & restart with the best & punish any hint of corruption with serious jail terms. Also, practice what has preached;CRM. Resource the best ideas but, again, very hard to get Management to listen to pilots.

[T O G A Boy]

Just a question folks. Is it true that Qatar Airways are in Bahrain doing walk in interviews.

[BLSA]

Yeap true, but i do not think it is actually a walk in interviews, most probably for the guys which have been sacked recently.

[ironbutt57]

interviews by invite only

[ironbutt57]

Gulf Daily News » Local News » Top airline denies poaching claims (http://gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=347018)


"poaching"?? People who are losing their jobs? :ugh::ugh::ugh:

[T O G A Boy]

Wow, What a joke.:rolleyes: Are they serious????:ugh:
How can they even consider that term " Poaching"
People need to live and cant hang around till you give them the boot. This just proves how disgustingly low GF has become and the worst is yet to come.
I salute people who made the initiative in moving as loyalty plays no game anymore in this disgruntled company:D. Its where the bread is, its the motto now.
What truly gets to me is that the management still have the guts and courage to blame others for their own shortfall and lack of future vision. :yuk::yuk:
Wake up folks. The days of Gf has gone and soon you'll follow.

[ironbutt57]

Actually its the trade union complaining, they should be happy...

[Left Coaster]

"No loyalty in Aviation shall go unpunished..." GF...you still owe me my EOS! :}

[Landflap]

Toga, there should be no loyalty in commercial aviation at all. I know that we all pretend to be loyal and at interview pretend to have wanted to join ABC airlines since we were at school, because, that is what the daft management twerps want to hear. The clown of a CP in a crap cowboy charter outfit in the UK, when interviewing casualties of the demise of a top competitor, actually asked candidates " Just how long do you intend staying with us ?". As if one would reply;"Well, for as long as it takes for me to get another job with a classy outfit !". Yeah, right !

I think EK, EY & QR should set up in the Gulf Hotel & initially, interview everyone who is unemployed as a result of the GF cutbacks. Then, interview everyone who wants to escape the same, potential fate.

I am sad to say, again, that GF appears, to me, to be doing the right thing. What many have, regrettably, advocated for a long time. Reduce costs, reduce fleet size, chop unprofitable & risky routes. They appear to be doing all of that. The inevitable fall out is job loss. Great HR care should be taken in setting up another dept charged with the task of securing jobs or opportunities for those displaced by the new strategy.

Give me a bit of funding, an office, a pretty secretary (preferably female) with full communication facility & I will come out & do it for you. And no, I won't shave off 20% of the funding for my back-pocket, clock in & then clock out after dates & coffee with my Sec,claim wild expenses as I trip around the Gulf, First Class, top hotels, meeting for dates & coffee with heads of EK, EY & QR, spinning out the meetings looking like we are all doing some work ! ................Promise.............!

Good luck to all. You WILL succeed in re-establishing yourselves as professional COMMERCIAL pilots as opportnuties seem to abound, right on your doorstep.

Oh, sorry, last poster, what is EOS ? Thanks.

[Apache702]

end of service $ i guess hope u get it all

[T O G A Boy]

Great post Landflap. Agree 100%.

[TAF Oscar]

Not his Canon SLR then? Thought I saw Corporate Comms using one to take pics of the strategic removal of chairs from the Sales & Marketing Social Club (canteen patio) :E

[brassplate]

Fartplate I usually piss on the likes of you before pissing off.
You're not gf staff therefore this place is not yours.
Go preach somewhere else no one needs your advice or suggestions

flame_bringer, it seems your beloved gf really reflects idiots like you. its all about you, you, you and you. never about your fellow pilots. you would never understand this because you're an engineer. i may not be with gf any more but i will always support pilots, even if it means bagging the airlines they fly for. because at the end of the day, all airlines look at pilots as an inconvenient but necessary cost to the operation, even when every loss is ALWAYS from bad management.

[T O G A Boy]

A little birdie just told me that GF is starting to load it's machine guns for some more "firing" :ugh:. Well I wont say " more " but rather lots. and it is going to be at the start of March. Thought it was all done and dusted but obviously not. Yeah go on folks, sack the crew and keep hold of the excessive managers. They will lead to the demise of the airline much quicker than you'd think.

[brassplate]

this is where flame_givers friends at management start kissing @ss to justify keeping their jobs....of course at the expense of hard working pilots.

[TAF Oscar]

Goodbye Bahrain Air... leaves the field clear for GF :rolleyes:

[ironbutt57]

Best wishes to friends and former colleagues:sad:

[gcc_]

Definitely best wishes to all our colleagues.
I seriously hope GF get their :mad: together and take opportunity of this, and get back on track.
Take the jobs of the lunatics that dont deserve their positions, the incompetent heads that do f*** all but listen to orders given to them.
Keep the pilots, keep the aircrafts, get rid of the manager's manager's managers, and just be smart for once.

As a former GF employee, and as an GCC citizen, I agree 100% that the positions at the top should ONLY be given to whites. Atleast they do thier work without stealing anything.

[MikeAlpha7]

BD 600 million !!

That is how much GF has to pay its creditors. Of course , that does not include the operating expenses and the daily losses. That is really astonishing for a country as small as Bahrain.

Who in his right mind will dare to buy this airline and restructure it into profitability?
Just how many people they can sack and how many station they can close? and what about the orders with both Airbus and Boeing ???

One famous Aussie CEO said once about the airline strategy " You downsize GF and close stations , you say goodbye to this airline."

This is all mind boggling.

[brassplate]

BD 600 million !!

That is how much GF has to pay its creditors. Of course , that does not include the operating expenses and the daily losses. That is really astonishing for a country as small as Bahrain.


you can blame all that on ali baba and the 40 thieves at the pink palace.

As a former GF employee, and as an GCC citizen, I agree 100% that the positions at the top should ONLY be given to whites. Atleast they do thier work without stealing anything.

finally, another local with some sense. if there were more like gcc_ and the author of that gdn piece, the island will really be a prosperous little gem in the gulf.

you listening, flame_thrower???

[Landflap]

What a shambles civil aviation in Bahrain has become . Total ineptitude across the board from the top down. The Bahrain Air demise another classic example but leading to the painful fallout of job loss. A Minister of Transport, we are told, on the Board of Commercial Airline. Good grief. Just where was that ever going to lead ? And the State Carrier owing BD600m ! Across the board, Heads, stand up & hang your heads in shame.

[T O G A Boy]

Gcc your post deserves a big of :D.
Get the unqualified "lunies" OUT:yuk: and see the difference. Absolutely no justification in chopping the juniors' jobs yet keeping excess baggage in the managing department.
GCC, running the company is not neccessarily run better by "whites" or "non whites". It merely should be run by a qualified personnel with an excellent proven track record and full authority handed over to him/her.
I, personally feel so bitter about all the corruption that exists in GF in broad daylight and people, responsible in stopping these, are giving a blind eye".:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:
Bahrain Air has lost it's battle and it seems GF will follow suit if they're not so careful.
Feel sorrow for the friends and colleagues of Bahrain air and I wish them all the best in the near future:ok:

[LNAV VNAV -]

So, 'space' has to be made now to accomodate in Gulf Air the Bahrain Air local pilots?? :{

[T O G A Boy]

Actually if GF is wise enough, they should consider the gap left by Bahrain Air in seat occupancy to KTM, CMB and Dhaka. This is the time when they should really embrace the opportunity and try maintaining those routes to meet passenger demands. Come on marketing Dept and higher managerial position guys, this is the time to show that you do care about your airline and not your over inflated pay cheques.

[notrocketscience]

Errrmm, probably not: the 'Re-Aligned Network' will serve 'destinations in the Middle East, Europe, Far East and India', 'moving away from low-yield transit traffic and concentrating on high-demand and high-yield point-to-point routes to connect Bahraini businesses with regional markets'. KTM? CMB? DAC? Not India and of little interest to "Bahraini businesses" I would have thought. And the citizens of those countries working in Bahrain? Let them clutter-up their national carrier or head down the Gulf to ride on QR, EY or EK. :p

[Che Guevara]

'moving away from low-yield transit traffic and concentrating on high-demand and high-yield point-to-point routes to connect Bahraini businesses with regional markets

You're right, it hasn't worked well for EK etc has it?

Do you really think that Bahraini businesses can support an airline of any size, that is big enough to be profitable? With competition from 'the big three, and the successful lo-co operators, and a plan like that, well, good luck to you.

We shall all be watching from foreign shores with quiet bemusement, no doubt.

[DesertHawk]

bahrain is the centre of the business world, did u not know? just ask all the locals who believe this! GF new fleet to consist of ..

4 PA 350(not a 310 a 350 for high yield pax from riffa)
2 Dash 8 100 and our aircraft for heavy loads.......a YAK 140.


All joking aside the whole idea of servicing Bahrain business is a joke. M ight as well downsize now to 10 aircraft.. or wait a sec thats their plan anyways they just have not told us yet!

[T O G A Boy]

Any tom, Dick and Harry knows that if your route is low yield, then you have to have more seating capacity to cover that cost. Instead of dispatching 320s to KTM and Dac etc, you could simply send a wide body capable of carrying more passengers and not forgetting tons more of cargo. If the "Big 3 " , as Che correctly put it, can make profits out of those routes , why cant GF ?. :ugh::ugh:So there surely must be a big flaw in the system.:mad:
And while closing these " feeder" destinations, I dread to see how many full flights we'll have to RUH, Doh, Dmm,etc.
Who in their right frame of mind would even consider slashing those sub continent routes. Oooppppss, slipped my mind. The genuises in the Pink Palace...:D

[notrocketscience]

Yup! Bring back the Embraers (cos that's all you will need soon)

[T O G A Boy]

By the way things are developing, I think an Embraer would be a ' Wide Body ' equivalent

[notrocketscience]

Hmm, OK - let's get back to basics, then: what would Freddie Bosworth have done? Avro Ansons and De Havilland DH86: perfect! Wiki lists the "technical deficiencies" of the DH86 as "seriously lacking in directional stability". Wow! Ideal aircraft for GF :ok:

[ironbutt57]

One might discover that some of these destinations are full, but the bums in the seats are code-share, and result in low yield for GF, combined with high overhead costs, it's unsustainable....retrench, regroup, severely reduce overhead, re-negotiate code share contracts, or eliminate them entirely, and start again....most airlines here can afford the low yield routes, as they are buoyed by those which have high yield, this is not the case with GF at the present unfortunately, but drastic times require drastic measures, unfortunately the front line employees bear the brunt of management missteps over decades...as is the case with airlines world wide....

[AeroForce]

Spot on IB57!

However seeing how the pink palace dinosaurs are responding, makes you want to :{ sorry of course I mean :ugh:

The motto seems to be, hang on to your job and fill your pockets for as long as you possibly can.

True leaders show their abilities in times of need, cowards tend to hide and hang on to what they've got for as long as possible!

Take an example:
AqFxK3GMEkA

[Sal-e]

I'm all for a temporary pay cut until the grass gets greener.
Along with that, restructuring/reduction of management to a quarter of it's current size, increase in frequency and additions to subcontinent destinations, reopening and addition of Iran routes and connections to previously closed plus new far-east/asia destinations i.e. Jakarta, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangdong, elimination of travel-agencies and a completely net-based booking system.

[behramjee]

The issue with Iran for all airlines now lies in their massive currency depreciation and the inability to remit foreign exchange. This is why all the EU airlines have now announced suspending their IKA bound flights with only LH left.

Notice how in 2012, no Arab airline (FZ/EK/QR/EY/SV) have announced expansion plans for Iran with the exception of WY who launched IKA in Sep 2012. EY too only operates to Iran's IKA airport 3 times per week for a few years now and FZ is offline.

As far as the SE Asian destinations of SIN/HKG/PVG etc go, GF now cannot survive in either one of them considering the level of frequencies offered by the direct competition and the reduced European network.

GF's A321s are brilliant aircraft offering an excellent on board product and superb economics on high density Indian Subcontinent, JED and CAI bound routes. It's unfortunate that out of the original order for 6, only 4 have been taken delivery of due to the on going cost cutting initiatives.

Gulf Air puts latest two A321-200s into storage - ch-aviation.ch (http://www.ch-aviation.ch/portal/news/16719-gulf-air-puts-latest-two-a321-200s-into-storage)

[ItchyFeet2]

Gulf Daily News » Local News » Credit cards of staff at two airlines frozen (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=347716)

"Credit cards of staff at two airlines frozen
By Ahmed Al Omari , Posted on » Tuesday, February 19, 2013

CREDIT cards of Gulf Air and Bahrain Air employees have been frozen by Credimax following announcements that the country's two airlines were laying off staff.

Credimax confirmed it had taken the controversial decision to suspend accounts of expatriate Gulf Air staff and all Bahrain Air employees as a precaution.

However, the move has sparked anger and some of those affected said they only found out when their Credimax cards were declined as they tried to purchase goods.

A Credimax representative defended the move and said it was done to ensure people who lost their jobs did not run up massive bills and then leave the country - or clock up debts they could not pay back.

He added staff who could prove they were still in their jobs would have cards issued by Credimax reactivated immediately.

"It would be a credit risk for us not to, but we are not cancelling the cards - we are just asking for a salary certificate so that we can know they are still employed," he told the GDN.

"If a certificate is supplied then we will reactivate their account immediately."

He explained that expat staff were those most affected by the Gulf Air downsizing, which is why only credit cards of its foreign employees had been frozen.

"The decision was made because Gulf Air laid off expatriates and there are plans to lay off more," added the Credimax spokesman.

"It is a decision that would be made by any financial institution and it was made as a precaution to protect us, as we don't have indemnity on credit card debt.

"The Bahraini staff members (at Gulf Air) have not been flagged, but the problem with expatriates is if they are fired they can run up a huge bill and leave the country.

"Then how will we cover those losses?"

He said the decision had been taken at management level to ensure the financial security of Credimax, which was the first credit card issuer in Bahrain.

The representative also claimed efforts had been made to contact those affected, but those who could not be reached had their services suspended pending confirmation of employment.

He added the decision had been taken to freeze all Credimax cards held by Bahrain Air staff because all of its employees were being laid off in the wake of the decision to liquidate the carrier earlier this month.

"Following the announcement that Bahrain Air was liquidating, the accounts of those members were also suspended until they provide proof of new employment," he said.

The representative added that if Gulf Air informed Credimax of any staff being laid off, there would be no need for such measures.

Gulf Air employees said they were shocked when their Credimax cards were frozen without explanation.

"My card was suspended without getting anything official in writing and I don't understand how they are allowed to do that," one of them told the GDN.

"I didn't think anything of it because a week before there was issues with my ATM card and I found out that everyone had the same issue so I thought it was a repeat of that.

"By Saturday I called the Credimax call centre to find out why my card was still not working and I was told that it was cancelled because I worked at Gulf Air and that I need to find another job to get it again.

"I was furious and didn't know what to do, but on Sunday I received a call from Credimax saying that they were updating their information and that I needed to give them a salary statement for their record.

"I asked to speak to a superior who told me that Gulf Air staff will be required to provide statements of salary as proof of employment."

Meanwhile, another of those affected said that she had actually left Gulf Air four years ago and was currently working with another firm that had nothing to do with either airline.

"I tried to use my card at the supermarket when it was embarrassingly declined, so I called the customer care line," said the former Gulf Air employee.

"They told me that they have suspended my card because I worked for Gulf Air, but I haven't worked for Gulf Air for four years.

"I did receive a call before from them saying that they were updating their information and asked me to send my salary certificate to an e-mail that ended with invita.com, so I was suspicious.

"I asked them to write me an official request because I don't trust giving any information on the phone these days with all the warnings and fraud out there, but I didn't get a response and later I found my card service was suspended.

"All I wanted was written confirmation because when they first called they said they just wanted to update their information - there was no warning of suspensions or anything.

"What is even more puzzling is that they have the information from my current employer and the mailing address is to my office.

"Couldn't they have seen that as a sign that I am employed elsewhere?"

Both people who spoke to the GDN later confirmed that their credit cards had been reactivated by last night after supplying the necessary information to Credimax. [email protected]"

[mickeydazzler]

It is with great pride I hear the news that even though things are very bad in my
Old fantasy island company, some managers and examiners are trying their best to get sacked people into the sim and current before they go on the market again.

Is it also true that there is an active hot line between GF and QR to get our friends jobs ?

If this is true it gives my old bones faith in our Aviation industry. It's not all about competition. Who remembers Airmanship ? We are all in this for the love of flying.

[gcc_]

Last I was told by my Bahraini first officer a few weeks ago was that hiring Bahrainis into QR was not an option currently.
Surely they will get all the expats they can.
Not sure if any of the conflict with QR and these Bahrainis is true.
Go figure.

[ironbutt57]

Is it also true that there is an active hot line between GF and QR to get our friends jobs ?

Some of the expats released by GF have gone to QR, others to Fly Dubai, efforts by the COO were instrumental in this....

[DesertHawk]

they are all making it very clear we have options. not sure if anyone noticed but there has been no effort to keep guys form leaving. In fact the opposite. Many have heard top managers tell them they understand if they want to leave and as an expat want them to be secure! Interesting! This differs greatly form the last exodus where efforts were made and salary was increased to keep experience.

[777boyo]

At risk of posting a rambling, sleep deprived posting from an Antipodean layover ....but, am I alone in thinking,as a former GF person from The Good Old Days (81-89), that its incredibly sad to read these postings?

There are many of us out here who had probably the most fun times of our lives and careers in what was probably the best expat flying job of the period over those years, in what was certainly the most hospitable place in the Gulf, with the friendliest, most hospitable nationals around. I have really fond memories of 737 training with excellent guys like Jameel al Matrook, Abdul Wahid Khooheji, Hassan Falamarzi, Sattar al Alawi....as well as expat characters such as the Thompson Twins,Norman Gould,Paul Reid,Novsa Mehta, Lakshman Reddy..the list is endless. Gentlemen all. Flights on the 767 with characters such as Tony Coyle, Richard Gardner, Eric Molberg, Dicky Dale Green, Nigel Jones...........and the inimitable Humberstone and his jokes:D A toast to you all. What I wouldn't give to be 30 again on a layover in 1990 at the Gulf Hotel in AUH...:ok:

Unfortunately, it seems to have finally become apparent that money can't be made only from excellent people and hosts - it clearly takes Management skills and talent. And there I nostalgically rest my case, with very fond memories, and best wishes to all at the remnants of a once great airline.

77B

[ironbutt57]

Lots of iconic names in the above post...days and people like those all gone....except for Jameel, he's still alive and well....

[SCATANA]

Indeed those names bring back fond memories. hope they're all well and healthy.

[EK2EYengineer]

Contract staff 'offered deals'

Posted on » Friday, February 22, 2013
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/images/pixel.jpg EXPATS and other Gulf Air staff working on a renewable contract basis have been offered severance packages of three months' salary, plus half of their remaining contracts, sources told the GDN.
They said those who qualified include pilots, senior management and foreign staff whose contracts were for a specific period.
Gulf Air has yet to make public details of redundancy packages put on the table as it looks to slash its workforce.
"Those on a contract have been offered three months' basic salary, plus half of the remaining time left on your contract," said sources.
"So the amount you get will really depend on when you signed your contract.
"Those people who signed fresh contracts recently will be getting more than those who only have a month left on their contract."
They claimed this was unfair to employees nearing the end of their contracts, adding that Gulf Air was no longer renewing contracts - instead extending them for three months at a time. "Even if a contract was ending and that employee has not been sacked, they will only have their contract extended by three months - not renewed," said the sources.
"The company is only renewing contracts, so the maximum they will have to pay (to staff who are let go on three-month extended contracts) is the three month salary, and the one and a half month."
The Gulf Air Trade Union earlier said most staff were switched to open-ended contracts years ago. Gulf Air has not yet responded to GDN questions about redundancy packages, despite repeated requests.

[Calmcavok]

That's not an offer from the goodness of their hearts! They're obliged to pay that under Bahraini Labor laws, plus indemnity and outstanding leave.

[Landflap]

What they are obliged to pay, under Bahrain Labour Law and what they will pay is about to become a painful discovery for many. Add to that the abject misery of running around the pink palace with a pink piece of paper requiring signatures from any of the few who happen to be at their desks will make leaving Gulfair a sour experience. " Leave owing" ? Don't make me laugh. Wait till you see that you have taken "unpaid Leave", never collected a pair of socks that you had laundered in the GF Laundry etc etc ! And you MUST sign a binding agreement that you accept the full & final payment and will not pursue, at a later date, recompense. Most will just want to get the hell outa there & GF rub their hands with glee ! Awful. Thoughts with the good guys. Take whatever is on the table & target that new & profitable job elsewhere.

[behramjee]

an update on the VRS packages offered to the locals

Gulf Air union said to reject redundancy offers - Transport - ArabianBusiness.com (http://www.arabianbusiness.com/gulf-air-union-said-reject-redundancy-offers-490515.html)

Union leaders have reportedly rejected improved redundancy packages offered by Bahrain's Gulf Air. According to the Gulf Daily News, the Gulf Air Trade Union said it had turned down an offer that would see staff laid off receive 30 days' salary for every year they had worked, in addition to a bonus payout and another three months' salary.


Spokesman Mohammad Mahdi told the paper that the new deal, brokered by Labour Ministry Under-Secretary Sabah Al Dossery, fell short of the two months' pay for each year's service and BD5,000 bonus that the union was looking for.


Mahdi was quoted as saying: "We didn't only refuse that deal, but the whole restructuring process - and for good reason.

"A lot has changed since the restructuring plan was formed. For instance, the closure of Bahrain Air - our only competitor - and the recent reports that the Bahrain economy is stabilising.

"We have called for a major update of the plan bearing in mind all the new variables."


The loss-making Bahraini flag-carrier has suffered due to strong competition from nearby Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways, and cut eight non-performing routes last year


Gulf Air is now focusing on Middle East and North African routes, as well as providing a limited number of routes to selected European and Asian markets.


Last month, it was reported that more than 1,200 staff could lose their jobs as part of a major restructuring process at Bahrain's Gulf Air. Union leaders claimed that 1,266 staff from Gulf Air will be made redundant as part of the plan.

[Calmcavok]

I take your point Landflap, and I know they have form when it comes to this. However, my experience is from last week, and that was how my payout was calculated, including outstanding leave. Also, there was no running about with the pink slip, HR took care of it at one desk and I didn't notice any gleeful hand rubbing. It was a fairly smooth process all in all. Not a nice process mind :(

[Landflap]

Thanks. Glad your experience was less stressful than mine and others. Maybe HR have found a heart in dealing with the current situation. Are you sure you got every cent that you were legally entitled to ? Either way, agreed, an unpleasant process mainly because most of us were really happy there during employment. Every good wish for your future.

[nicab]

Bahrain News Agency | Gulf Air Board of Directors Approve Re-opening of Voluntary Retirement Scheme (http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/547864)

[IFE]

Where is February's pay slip?

[Packs off]

What happened to this?

New airline operating licences in Saudi may take 3-6 months - Yahoo! News Maktoob (http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/airline-operating-licences-saudi-may-3-6-months-173608836--finance.html)

[Apache702]

Gulf Daily News » Local News » Airline staff's bank accounts 'frozen' (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=348247)

:ooh: :uhoh:

[EK2EYengineer]

Why this thread is so quiet, 4 A330 & 2 A319 are flying out tonight

[behramjee]

where are the 4 A330s going? back to ILFC or to another airline?

[DesertHawk]

Just got the phone call from credit card company. a nervous women asking me if i still have a JOB! then ok thanks. so i asked why you call me for this. answer well GF is laying off and we need to know. ok so whats the impact on me? nothing just will freeze your credit limit. so i ask i thought if i made full payments on your international cards my credit limit would go up? yes but not in this case please understand. GF is not stable have a nice day! LOL what a joke, makes me smile and want to get a bottle of JD!

[Packs off]

With all the cutbacks to save money and a massive reduction in staff (?) do Gulf Air still need the whole of the (refurbished) Pink Palace? Perhaps the consultants and the board think that the space is needed to accomodate the most important department- HR.

[samjetblaster]

Any update on MASALLAMA LIST? How Capt's and F/O's leaving?????

[Landflap]

Very quiet from the usual contributors. Hope there is no mugging order in exchange for leaving benefits. I don't put anything past them ! Banks squeezing credit facility would be understandable albeit very frustrating. The institutions got badly hit by expats, in other areas, just maxed out credit cards & left cars with keys in the ignition at the airport and then fled for home. Stories like that would make Banks nervous although I never heard of this happening in Bahrain.

[ironbutt57]

The banks are insured in any event,not saying it's ok to stiff them, but taking measures against the law is not right and I hope people sue the crap out of them...

[Che Guevara]

Never met a banker who wasn't a scum bag....goes with the territory I guess.
However, when they get away with openly breaking the 'law', that's just unacceptable anywhere, indeed that goes both ways as Landflap alluded to when the 'bubble' burst in the land of, Knoteatingham.

Some amazing stories running around about the publication of someone's Indemnity check going viral on the 'social media' networks, and interestingly who did it and why....should be a nice settlement due in the Crown Court I would think. Breach of trust, breach of confidentiality and many more breaches of the law there, for sure...can't sweep that one under the table.:=

Good thing they have insurance IB, they might need it!

[mickeydazzler]

Everybody has given up over there

[notrocketscience]

There is no quicker way of generating demoralisation in an organisation than saying "we need to get rid of 20% of our staff, and have just sold 20% of our assets in a bid to stay alive". At that stage, the brightest and the best head for the door, just hoping that the firm stays solvent for long enough for them to collect (some or all of) what they are owed.

The big silence on this thread comes from the brightest and the best deserting the forum and concentrating on polishing up their cv's and writing to (or visiting) prospective employers.

It is sad to see this happening to what was once one of the best airline companies in the Middle East. It is a truism in business that a company either rises or falls: you cannot just just remain in the same place commercially (staying in the same spot is in fact the start of a fall).

[ironbutt57]

Gulf Daily News » Local News » Lifeline for pilots (http://gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=349023)

[Albergineman]

Now we can, at least, double the number of foreign pilots to be made redundant in GF...

[Captain Sensitive]

That's true, GF is offering positions for rated DEC and DEFO for nationals only at the Gulf Air Careers website to make it official.

[Landflap]

I did make the comment that, in my opinion, GF were doing the right thing, albeit with casualties. Downsizing, chopping unprofitable routes etc, with the inevitable job losses. By topping up staff numbers again with the Bahrain Air pilots, GF are showing compassion but the ineptitude that led them into disastrous straits in the past ! As an expat GF pilot myself, I feel total compassion for the expats still there. You will now feel unwanted, unprotected and unappreciated for the excellent work you have contributed in the past. As IB in typical, eloquent fashion, once said "Time for another farm". Noteworthy is that this forum, still mighty in views and replies has been overtaken in the same field by the Qatar Airways jobs thread. Sign of the times. Terribly sad though.

[EK2EYengineer]

You heard it little late they are history and the remaining two are leaving tonight ( Early Morning)

[Fangio]

I agree with 777BOYO, it is such a shame to see that such a previously well respected airline Gulf Air has become what it is today. I spent 10 happy years with Gulf Air in the days of the 5 Star TriStar/B737s joining them in 1975 as the 1011s were replacing the VC10s . I left the company as the Arabisation began and joined a UK airline only to be made redundant when the UK company collapsed not too long afterwards.
I still have fond memories of GF.
Fangio

[Che Guevara]

If anyone is interested, they are already calling people off leave to crew flights because now, believe it or or not, they don't have enough crew...what a surprise...:ugh:

[samjetblaster]

This SOP for Gulf Air ,nothing new.Same s..t .

[Panama Jack]

The following video seemingly documents the phenonemon of why Gulf Air has had a string of CEO's.

Wildebeest from Bird Box Studio - YouTube (http://youtu.be/JMJXvsCLu6s)

[Che Guevara]

PJ
Says you are not authorized to see it...?

[ironbutt57]

Gulf Daily News » Local News » Aviation skills setback fears (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=349568)

feel bad for these kids...

[flame_bringer]

These guys plus 1000 students from BAS who have undergone a similar training worth 20k bd plus 300 (number keeps increasing) pilot training graduates under the sponsorship of GAA who have an outstanding 50k bd debt yet lining up or awaiting to line up in the unemployment que, plus unemployed bahrain air staff.
Aviation industry keeps going down the pan in bahrain.
It's really depressing.

[ironbutt57]

Wonder where all that bank loan money goes once these "training" facilities grab it...

[flame_bringer]

IB
The whole of GAA idea was a huge scam from the outset, It used to generate and save lots of money to GF when it used to be GF property, Then some scammer managed to convince gulf air shareholder to seperate the training school from the company and turn it into GAA, who happens to be the same guy that inaugurated the BAS training facility (which has proven to be a failure given the amount of unemployed graduates back then, who got got sacked from BAS eventually due to his ineptitude) comes up with a pilot training program and aircraft technicians program brainwave that was severely disorganized to get 300 guys into the scam that was adorned by the 5 years contract in a fictitious and pointless company named gulf technics that did not need to exist to begin with, given that gulf air already has its own maintenance team yet it says in thier website gulf air will be their primary client like why would gulf air need to outsource its maintenance to a company full of unexperienced trainees when they already got thier own qualified and experienced people, He was pretty smart actually at snatching the tamkeen funding and ruining these guys future and inflicting further cost on gulf air.
I really feel sorry for these guys and hope they manage to land on thier feet.

[recceguy]

That's not an offer from the goodness of their hearts! They're obliged to pay that under Bahraini Labor laws, plus indemnity and outstanding leave. Of that you can dream about in the silence of your company apartment. I for myself have done all the preparations, even if I don't seem to be the first one
The institutions got badly hit by expats, in other areas, just maxed out credit cards & left cars with keys in the ignition at the airport and then fled for home In other words, the boat is ready in the marina. Still a couple of pleasant layovers to perform, and...

[The Undertaker]

Flame_bringer ... you are right on the money

The unnamed "guy" happens to also co-own (through his sister) alocal aviation training school that captured a good chunk of the Tamkeen money.The school's name reminds me of one of the main US wireless service providers,except the latter is a legit business. Something to keep in the horizon.

The BD4.8m is a total waste, more to be wasted trying to shush thesetrainees to accept a post with GF as apprentices making BD200 / month. Then theperpetrators can run free with no worries.

Gulf Technics had one purpose, to justify the training program and insurethe funding requirements were there on paper. Their plan were obviously silly,if not abysmal, 3 hangars, in BAHRAIN?? and training 500 LAE/Techs? Where wouldthey work?

[C2E2driver]

This is off topic from Gulf Air developments, but I need to renew my FAA First Class medical as soon as possible, and the only place I can do it in near term is Bahrain. There are two FAA certified Docs in BAH (both in Manama), and I'm trying to gather some info about them, recommendations, or if there is anything to watch out for. I would greatly appreciate any info from anyone that has interacted with either of these gents. Feel free to PM me in order to avoid cluttering the thread. Have a good weekend and best of luck with Gulf Air.

[flame_bringer]

The undertaker, Even gulfair has no capability to hire this many of apprentices, they're already sacking thier engineers and shrinking down on manpower, we're talking about 500 trainees here( excluding the ones that are not part of the tamkeen program who are pretty much 1000...), There is no where on earth that can accomodate all these guys even as unpaid trainees.
The whole thing was a dog's dinner to be frank.
Its so lame that curroption got this bad with people stealing millions of the public money and are getting away with it that easily.

[The Undertaker]

Flame_bringer ... they are forcing GF to take these guys to cover up the mess, the money will also be coughed up by GF as Tamkeen needs to show something for the BD4.8. Do the math: 200 trainees x BD200/mnth = 40,000 BD/mnth = BD480,000 / annum for min 2 years to cover up the mess ... money that GF desperately needs ...
Now what they will do with them is disperse them over the engineering departments, not just maintenance .... and in 2 years they can trim the group under another restructuring plan!
They get away with it by involving so many entities: GF, GT, GAA, Mumtalakat, Tamkeen .. all are involved, knowingly or unknowingly, so if you rat them out you rat out the entire conglomerate, and who wants that! So they end up covering the mess and sometimes bad guys are asked to resign with a good package to take home too ... the thing to watch is if GAA is asked to provide the training to these apprentices while in GF, that will be the cherry on top of the cake :D

[flame_bringer]

no one can force gulf air to do anything otherwise the MPs could of forced them to cieze the redundancies plan on locals and the trade union would of stopped the restructuring plan, tamkeen has yet to get jobs to 50 guys that have undergone a similar training of 4 years 2 years of which were practical and were done unpaid in gulf air and have achieved thier licenses already, yet they were unable to get them jobs in gulfair even after negotiotions and offers that half of thier salary will be paid by tamkeen, And as soon as thier unpaid contact ended they were sent home as jobless.

[The Undertaker]

They can and they have in the past. They separated training with GF's teeth attached, they forced GF to sign the rotables contract with GT, who had only 6 staff members at the time and not a single spare part or even an IT system, the examples are plenty ... The key is in the "They", you have to see who controls GF, Tamkeen, Mumtalakat, and you will see what "They" can do.
GF was under a different management at the time you describe and the mess involved this time can only be covered this way. At any rate, time will tell!

[BLSA]

Anyone heard rumors about the new CEO coming soon? Heard from couple of chaps the guy is from states, any more details?

[tmax]

Omani??? Maybe???

[Che Guevara]

Now can we get the chairs back at Costa Coffee?

[ironbutt57]

An airline is like a bicycle wheel....remove too many spokes, and the hub collapses...

[Sal-e]

Awfully quiet in here. Had someone put out the lights yet? You gotta wonder.

[rumrunner69]

How do you find the light switch in the dark... I will use my cell phone light .. S*&% the batteries are dead
:}

[40&80]

Maybe the electricity supply has been cut off?....they say it can happen if you do not pay your bill.

[SCATANA]

RIP Captain V. Kapoor, may god bless your soul.

[330airbus]

Oh no :(
Wasn't he in Air Arabia recently?
How did he pass?
God rest his soul in peace. Amazing friend and colleague. Will keep him in my prayers. Sad news indeed.

[LOC STAR]

Condolences to his family & loved ones.. He was a Gentleman, did lot's of my S/O training .. Sad to hear that.....

[steeve]

Job published date : 05 April 2013

GULF1766 - Direct Entry Rated First Officers for Airbus A320 - Bahraini Nationals - Gulf Air (http://jobs.gulfair.com/Gulfairframe/VacancyDetail.aspx?VacancyID=49773)

[Packs off]

That's a bit of a kick in the teeth for all the poor pilots who were made redundant because of downsizing. Why does the advert describe Bahrain, I would have thought Bahraini nationals would know what it was like there?

[AeroForce]

From the following article:
Gulf Daily News » Local News » Union seeking Gulf Air talks (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=350779)


Gulf Air announced the restructuring strategy, which aims to reduce losses of BD95 million a year, in December after parliament and the Shura Council vetoed a request for a BD664.3m government bailout.

However, Mr Mahdi complained that Gulf Air was hiring former Bahrain Air pilots - even as it sought to shed its own workforce.

The carrier previously said it would not sack Bahraini pilots.


Incredible the stupidity and ignorance of these people.
Let's look at the facts:
1) Big number of expat pilots sacked, even those who held seniority over Bahraini's. No Bahraini pilots sacked.
2) Sacked expats are now being replaced by Bahraini Bahrain Air pilots and Bahraini pensioners that got offered their over 60 contracts again.
3) Bahraini GAA cadets starting training monthly, possibly to replace the remaining expat workforce.

I think the proces is called Bahrainisation. It's been on the books for a long time, but this time it is actually being executed.

A. FORCE

[ironbutt57]

The union has no idea wtf they are talking about! completely out of touch!

another comment by the same bunch..."for every expat sacked thats jobs for 3 Bahrainis" pretty much says it all....while the GATU courted expats for membership, they quickly throw them under the bus when times change...just goes to show

[flame_bringer]

Aeroforce
Where in the world did you come up with the '' bahraini GAA cadets starting training monthly to replace expats'' fabulation.
I suggest you get your facts straight before posting, As far as everyone knows, None of those poor chaps was promised anything or offered anything they even requested unpaid training and got turned down for it...
Ironbutt I totally agree with you, It's quite a pity for GATU to make such a statement '' each expat is equivalent to 3 locals in terms of cost or whatever'' and must look after the interest of employees as a whole, We all work for the same company and will all suffer the same consequences should an unprecedented event takes place regardless of whether we're local or not.
Im just disgusted of people that are blindly overzealous about bahrainization, Its loyalty that should matter and not nationality, Locals that talk crap about the company in the local media to incite MPs and others to object to aid packages to the company are definately of no use.
Having worked with many admirable expats that are cery hard working and loyal to the company I strongly object to such unfair and absurd terminations.
And thats just my personal standpoint.

[40&80]

Good to read that the A320 fleet is expanding....and also that there is now a Company funded income protection insurance in place for all pilots.
Anyone know the insurance company involved.... and the terms and conditions listed on the policy document...should anyone ever attempt to claim this income protection?

[Packs off]

If anyone needs a copy of the new Labor Law this link should take them to it. For the guys who lost their jobs, article 110 might be of interest. I wonder if Gulf Air complied. Can an airline downsize and expand at the same time?

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/MONOGRAPH/91026/105342/F265276925/BHR91026%20Eng.pdf

[Albergineman]

That's interesting link, but it's for private sector... not valid for GF.

[IFE]

Hi guys, anyone knows the reason why we changed the hotel in Paris?

[BLSA]

IFE, not sure if it is true:D But heard rumours that one of the flight deck was caught there in the crew lounge smoking and sha:mad:ing cc of other airline:rolleyes: Do not know which part of it is true though:}

[slowjet]

So there are still some real pilots still out there ! Shame to change the Hotel. Let's all go there !

[Bike]

Multi-tasker. Was he eating too? :confused:

[ironbutt57]

Rather sure somebody would have been sacked over that.....

[BLSA]

Heard he got away with a warning letter:mad::rolleyes: He is one of those who they can not sack:E

[Landflap]

This mighty thread was started in October 2008 with thoughts of dreamliners soon to come. Nearly five years later, we are discussing smoking & fornicating in the Paris Crew Room ! Love it ! Oh, and a warning letter ? Guy should be given a commendation for enjoying life to the full as all around him gathers dust.

[ironbutt57]

Amazing huh??

[Albergineman]

Typical...

:D

[brassplate]

oh how the mighty has fallen. you can only blame the bahrainis for this. so incapable of keeping it together.

[Mephistopheles]

....and who says Gulf Air & the board don't promote Bahrainis on merit!!!

The Board of Directors would like to announce the appointment of Mr. A**** J****i to the position of Acting Chief Commercial Officer

Nice to see that GF are forging ahead with placing inept, brown nosing losers in top positions.

Another kick in the teeth for the revival chances of Gulf Air.

Get ready for further reductions in staff travel benefits since A.J. was the brains behind the previous cuts.

[LNAV VNAV -]

Gulf Air, Qatar Airways to launch domestic flights in Saudi Arabia

(MENAFN) Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced that by the end of 2013, both Bahrain's Gulf Air and Qatar Airways will launch domestic flights in the Kingdom, reported Arabian Business.

The commencement of operations will help meet growing demand for domestic air travel in the biggest Arab economy.

At the current time, national carrier Saudi Airlines and budget carrier National Air Services (NAS) are the only airlines that provide domestic flights in Saudi Arabia.

It is worth noting that the number of passengers passing though the country's 27 airports exceeded 54 million in 2012, according to GACA

http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093628617/Gulf-Air-Qatar-Airways-to-launch-domestic-flights-Saudi-Arabia?src=RSS

[mauro delpiero]

speaking of things that are to happen by the end of the year. heard that the sky cf program will definitely be axed.

[LNAV VNAV -]

I heard that 20 pilots have been already told that their contracts which expire in a month or so will not be renewed. :(

[Panama Jack]

Gulf Air, Qatar Airways to launch domestic flights in Saudi Arabia

(MENAFN) Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced that by the end of 2013, both Bahrain's Gulf Air and Qatar Airways will launch domestic flights in the Kingdom, reported Arabian Business.

The commencement of operations will help meet growing demand for domestic air travel in the biggest Arab economy.

At the current time, national carrier Saudi Airlines and budget carrier National Air Services (NAS) are the only airlines that provide domestic flights in Saudi Arabia.

It is worth noting that the number of passengers passing though the country's 27 airports exceeded 54 million in 2012, according to GACA



This is one bit of business logic I don't quite understand.

In this example, two airlines are excited to enter an unprofitable, money-losing market. The thinking seems to be that if this is a loss-making market for local airlines, somehow the entry of two money-losing foreign airlines will make things better, an unfortunate use of economies of scale.

[mutt]

This is one bit of business logic I don't quite understand. Some of the local routes are profitable, most are not, they need to pick the correct routes to keep them afloat until they get permission to fly internationally.

But unfortunately, I believe that its "Gulf Air and ASSOCIATES", so probably no benefit to the recently laid off GF employees.

mutt

[Mephistopheles]

I believe Gulf Air will have no part in the venture now that Samir Majali & his pal Karim Makhlouf have taken over. After all GF were just the vehicle for these 2 to get their fingers in the Saudi pie! Whether they make $ or not is of no importance to these 2, they will still be lining their pockets.

[T O G A Boy]

Sadly that's how things work in this region :ugh::ugh:

[BLSA]

LNAV, if it is true then most of those guys are exEMB, what a waste:bored: Company wasted so much money and time training them, and now they will tell them masalamah:rolleyes: Typical GF:ok:
I will not be surprised if they will start hiring in 2-3 months:}

[sondbird101]

Mephistopheles - Majali working in Saudi?

[LNAV VNAV -]

News Details » LOCAL Airline retirement plan 'suspended'* BAHRAIN'S national carrier has agreed to suspend its compulsory retirement scheme due to the success of a major restructuring programme. The decision was taken following a meeting between Gulf Air, the Transportation and Labour Ministries and Mumtalakat. Gulf Air Trade Union (Gatu) officials were yesterday informed of the news after being invited to the Labour Ministry. "We're told that agreements have been made in the meeting by Labour Ministry assistant under-secretary for labour affairs Dr Mohammed Al Ansari," said Gatu spokesman Mohammad Mahdi. "The following points have been agreed upon - suspension of the compulsory retirement offer, re-opening of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and the cases of the 33 fired staff will be reviewed. "It was explained to the union that the decision came about because the company is moving towards profitability and that there is far less urgency to remove these staff members." The GDN reported last Thursday that a report by independent aviation sector analysts, the CAPA Centre for Aviation, indicated the airline will emerge as a much leaner and more commercially viable carrier, although losses are expected to continue until the end of the year. Strategy Gulf Air launched its three-year strategy to cut jobs, simplify its fleet and change its destination network in January. It hopes to achieve cost savings of 24 per cent by the end of the year and reduce the airline's losses from BD95 million to BD58m by 2017. Around 3,800 people were employed by Gulf Air, which is reportedly seeking to shed up to 1,066 jobs - as part of the massive downsizing operation - of which 565 are based abroad. The airline earlier said 15pc of its workforce had been reduced at the end of February as a result of its voluntary retirement scheme. "Gulf Air representatives were not present at yesterday's meeting and therefore were not able to comment on what was discussed," said Gulf Air in a statement to the GDN. "The airline remains committed to implementing the restructuring strategy which will strengthen its core services through optimising its network, re-engineering its internal processes and aligning its workforce to meet its revised network and fleet requirement. "Gulf Air will continue to implement this process in a fair and transparent manner and in accordance with its legal obligation. "Gulf Air will continue to be a key employer committed to developing a national workforce of aviation professionals," it said. [email protected]

[40&80]

Hopefully now the recovery is going so well.... Gulf Air can further improve profitability by reinstating the stolen...Retirement Travel...which was written into the contracts of former long serving now retired staff?

[Gordomac]

40 & 80, "re-instatement" requires a reversal and therefore, a loss of face for AJ. Likely ? Discuss ! To see that Staff Travel does indeed improve profits requires economic understanding and vision. To see that it provides a vast Human Factors resource requires specific training and very clear understanding of it's value. Mmmmmmm, not likely then, eh ? But reports of recent events are showing moves in the right direction & I wish nothing but nice things for people I care about who might have their jobs saved.

Oh and yes ! Geees us back our Staff Travel like all the major carriers . It does the airline terriffic advertising & Human Resource value. If it is escaping anyone, it provides revenue where such revenue would otherwise not exist. An empty seat produces no revenue. Empty cargo & baggage space produces no revenue.Ask any major player, Staff Travel generates a lot of revenue.

I am unable to access the website (it denies me access) and am not a facebook signatoree. I wrote , recently, on this subject, to GF Staff Travel Bahrain. Yes, you guessed; no reply. I wrote to the London Office. Yes, again, no reply. Larnaca Airport Staff held hands in the air & stated that everything has to be done on Line. Wrote to the Victoria Line but.....yes, you are right, .....no reply.

For the time being, going East with Emirates (Full fare) and West with Virgin (Full Fare). They regularly ask me ; "Don't you get anything with Gulfair?". We all fall about laughing, for a bit.

Damn, may have to write to the Deputy PM again (Bahrain, not Clegg !). Er, actually, Clegg may get more done ! Cyprus Politicians are still working on giving me a haircut & won't even give me back my Jeep ! No point there !

Good to see GF Developments back in the Premier League on page one !

[Landflap]

Where's the libel (?) & it would have to be proved in Court anyway. Careful Gonabesick, you might be well intentioned & some contributors might well be held in check as a result of your exhortation but you might also succeed in frightening people off from any comment whatsoever. Lets not bully our way around like that other major Mid east Operator. AJ, in Bahrain is far to busy to read this stuff anyway. Ooooooh, is that Libelous ?

[Albergineman]

Useful analysis to help expats make their short-medium career plan...

Gulf Air turn around plan offers a glimmer of hope for the beleaguered flag carrier | CAPA - Centre for Aviation (http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/gulf-air-turn-around-plan-offers-a-glimmer-of-hope-for-the-beleaguered-flag-carrier-107434)

[mohd_a319]

Heard that some A330 flights to BKK will transit in KUL. Is it true ?

[LNAV VNAV -]

I heard that Frankfurt is history :(

[Che Guevara]

Hardly surprising, is it?

[ironbutt57]

"GF used to go" there is becoming the new catch-phrase:sad:

[millerscourt]

Cannot think why 40 & 80 and Gordomac are getting so excited about staff travel for retirees as GF route structure is getting less by the day:ooh:

[ironbutt57]

No point to kick her when she's down, sure with time, she will be back...too bad so many good people paid the price in the meantime...airline industry standard

[slowjet]

Millers, These guys don't get excited. They do care about lost concessions as more than themselves are affected. I dare say that the interline agreements are of more value than the routes operated by GF alone. I recall in a previous airline that Gordo put others ahead of himself & 40&80 is of the same oak. These guys care about others too. It is the loss of an entire package and one that was given in "recognition of long service" that probably disappoints.

[Panama Jack]

Agreed; Gordomac is a class act and true gentleman. They are right to be disappointed about how things have gone for their benefits after so many years working for GF, and they are also right to hope that things will be remedied.

[Mephistopheles]

I like the they way that people assume that only expats have served GF for years & locals have not served at all in this airline! Not 1 mention of a local that has served GF on this thread! Pretty sad!

[parabellum]

Well Mephistopheles, could that be because the Ts & Cs of the local pilots have only got better and better whilst the Ts & Cs of expats have gone from bad to worse?

[Mephistopheles]

Parabellum, what do T & C have to do with the lack of mention of the local guys that have served for decades?
Also, are you suggesting that the T & C are better for locals than expats?

[Che Guevara]

Rumoured that Costa Coffee has resigned and is leaving next month....

[tmax]

Costa left already!!! With the coffee !!!:ok::ok::)

[mamamia]

Etihad is seeking pilot about 10 pilots resigned 20 will follow and more on

[South Prince]

Those leaving are F/O's?

[BLSA]

Heard that EY increased min hours for DECs:mad: So some guys may have to stick around for a bit longer:E:(

[BLSA]

Overtime soon will be after 85 hrs:}:hmm::mad:

[mamamia]

that's all what we need

[Capt Jack Rosen]

Aerospace > Media Centre > Press Releases (http://www.bombardier.com/en/aerospace/media-centre/press-releases/details?docID=0901260d802c3b07)

Where is the plan for this place??????:ugh::ugh::ugh:

Bombardier Discloses Gulf Air as Airline Customer for 10 CSeries Aircraft and Options for Another Six

June 4, 2013 — Toronto
Aerospace

Bombardier Aerospace and Gulf Air disclosed today that a previous firm order for 10 CS100 aircraft, with options for an additional six aircraft, was placed by Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The firm order was announced by Bombardier on June 20, 2011. The CSeries aircraft was selected following a detailed and thorough evaluation, including other competing aircraft, conducted by Gulf Air in accordance with the Bahrain Tender Board rules.

Bombardier Aerospace and Gulf Air confirmed they were working together to ensure that the CSeries aircraft meets the goals of the airline’s ongoing restructuring, in line with its mandate to achieve long-term sustainability.

“Over the past four years, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has tripled its aircraft representation in the Middle East and Africa, and altogether, more than 200 Q-Series turboprops, CRJ Series regional jets and CSeries aircraft are in service with, or have been ordered by, operators in the Middle East and Africa,” said Mike Arcamone, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “More than 2,600 Q-Series and CRJ Series commercial aircraft have been delivered to operators around the world, covering all continents and operating in diverse and often challenging terrains.”

[Yo767]

--Gulf Air revealed as CS100 buyer

--Bahrain airline won't be taking first delivery

--Ilyushin Finance firms up CSeries purchase order

(Adds Bombardier's comments in fourth-sixth paragraphs.)


By Caroline Van Hasselt

TORONTO--Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.T) said Tuesday that the unidentified buyer for 10 of the smaller of its all-new CSeries jetliners is Middle East carrier Gulf Air.

Montreal-based Bombardier announced the firm order almost two years ago, but didn't name the buyer, describing it at the time as a major network carrier that would be taking first delivery of CS100.

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, also has options for another six aircraft. But, the money-losing airline has whittled down its fleet to just 26 from 38 in the past year as it restructures its business amid fierce competition from other regional airlines. The airline has renegotiated its aircraft-order book, cut staff and routes.

As a result, Gulf Air will no longer be taking first delivery of the CSeries, a Bombardier spokeswoman said.

Bombardier has lined up another launch customer, but the spokeswoman said that airline has chosen to remain anonymous for strategic reasons.

When the order was announced in June 2011, it was valued at $1.1 billion if all options were converted. Bombardier didn't say Tuesday if any price concessions had been made.

The first flight of the 110-seat CS100 is expected later this month. The company in November delayed first flight and first delivery by six months. It unveiled the aircraft in March at its Mirabel facility, north of Montreal.

Bombardier and Gulf Air weren't immediately available to comment.

Separately, Bombardier said the purchase agreement with Moscow-based Ilyushin Finance Co. has been approved by the leasing company's shareholders and is now firm. The agreement is for 32 CS300 aircraft with options for 10 more, for a total value of about $3.42 billion.

As of March 31, Bombardier had 388 orders and commitments for the CSeries aircraft, which includes 145 firm orders.

Write to Caroline Van Hasselt at [email protected]

[John21UK]

I've been saying from day one that that order had Gulf Air written all over. If only I'd stuck with those lottery numbers...:ugh:

Good looking aircraft I must say!

[Calmcavok]

And here she is in all her glory!

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a506/Calmcavok/image_zps79cb4b8a.jpg (http://s1281.photobucket.com/user/Calmcavok/media/image_zps79cb4b8a.jpg.html)

[John21UK]

I got the same pic! And it was at the finance guys desk since day one when I joined...

That's part, if not the real reason, the E190 got ditched. Why renew the leases for another 3 years till SEP 2016 when you know you've got the CS100 coming 2 years earlier to replace the lot.

My present company has 787 models all over. I wonder if I should read anything into that? :ok:

[ironbutt57]

I wonder if I should read anything into that?

Hey Johnny...wasssup...yup Boeing is handing out free models to everyone except pilots..:}:}

[Landflap]

John, good to see you posting again & glad you touched down safely . IB, thought you had moved on too ? Anyway, don't be misled by the promotional give-aways. My old company ordered Md-11. Biggest model I ever saw was happily displayed at Company HQ. Fully illuminated with flashing strobes.....the lot. I talked MD to sending me a small desk-top version & lied when I told them I was in marketing (just a Boeing driver). They sent me a sooooper model. The company went bust six months later & I was on welfare. Had a great BBQ though as we set fire to my MD-11 model. The big model at HQ went missing. Oh, and 787 ? You guys are too young to remember Perry Como who sang a number one hit "Dream Along With Me (I'm on the way to the stars )", but it rings in my ears whenever I see or hear anything about the Dreamliner !

Boy, that Bomba looks cool. Good for GF. Hope you get them. Ideal for the new network. Finally, since GF has adopted all my rescue advice (see previous posts), anyone know who I contact for Consultation fees ? Thanks.

[AeroForce]

"In recognition of this remarkable effort, we have been pleased to increase salaries, invest in training and introduce a range of policies and procedures that will support employees in their careers and ensure that Oman Air continues to have one of the best staff teams in the industry," he said.

Gulf Daily News » Business News » New strategies are paying off for Oman Air (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=355996)

[Albergineman]

Only for omanees...

[BLSA]

Anybody is going to the pilot meeting tomorrow?:):hmm:

[brassplate]

heard from a little bird that less than 20 turned up for the coo's meeting.

[BLSA]

Heard even less than 15:rolleyes:

[sondbird101]

Majali walking the corridors of Oman Air as consultant to the board. CEO WP of Oman Air rumoured to be short listed at GF due to -If signed Unions at GF will have him out in 90 days. Good luck and hold on tight!

[Che Guevara]

Trying to understand your post....am I correct in reading that the Union(s) will not accept the appointment of WP or anyone else?

[Johnster]

Sadly whoever takes on the role will be out in due course. It's the ultimate poisoned chalice. It's such a shame, GF could be so much more funcitonal.

[Landflap]

Quite right Johnster. One CEO after another has been driven out by the interference of others. How MP's can have a say in the running of a commercial enterprise is one bit of the madness. All potential CEO's will just see this as a chance to take up a meaningles post, make a buck or three and then exit into oblivion. Until a new CEO is given full authority to run the company as he/she sees fit, and, to stand proud or fall on the sword, the rudderless ship wil continue to flounder.

[BLSA]

Every single expat chap i saw recently is ether resigned or about to in a nearest future:D Even locals are attending interviews here and there:ok: Will get direct entries soon most probably DECs, as they have SOs coming and payed by finance company.
Just curious who is going to come here after they recently sack people who joined and worked less than a year:rolleyes:
Any other rumours???:E

[EK2EYengineer]

why this place is so quiet/abandoned

[J77]

It tells the sad story...........no one left. A great company brought to its knees by the arrogance of a few.

[EK2EYengineer]

very sad indeed, what you have said is 100% correct I personally experienced the arrogance while I was there.

[boiler]

Sad to say that after 14+ years with GF, I was asked to leave. No place for expats anymore in my department. It is sad to see the company I have worked so hard for over the past few years lose it's direction in such a way. What hurts even more are some of the upper management I have worked for become so arrogant and insensitive that they would not even look or talk to me in the days before my departure (not even a 'good luck' or 'sad to see you go', etc...).

[rbm737]

Hi boiler,yep its sad to hear of your eviction from the pink palace, not sure of your dept ,but I remember my last day , Bah-Cai -Bah , and after 36 years service ,unlike other world fav airlines, walk across the carpark,sign off ,and that was that , not even a thank you ,only thanks was from my cabin crew (that says something) ! Twas not only me , a dozen of us had the same treatment ! Good luck !!


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[ironbutt57]

heck even the chap on the "My country my airline" posters left few years back for another carrier..

[rbm737]

Greetings I B ,Remember how the gang of 12 were treated as being too old , most of us had over 30 years service ...! Seems like nothing changes !!


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