Bangladesh Biman pilot strike!

[ba038]

Grapevine tells me that it commences on sunday.Dispute over their new aircraft.Anyone got any more info on this?

[kwateow]

"All flights of the Biman Bangladesh Airline have either been cancelled or delayed due to the strike, staged to protest the government's suspension of four leaders of the pilot's union who had opposed the terms under which the airline leased aircraft".

They objected to Biman leasing planes + crews.

[Ragazzo]

Well nothing new down here... "objected to Biman leasing planes + crews"...
Been there a couple of Moons ago, thanks everybody, been a great experience :)
All very sympathetic crews, all the best to you guys!!!

With fond memories of the A310 ops... to Cox Bazar and so on....

[411A]

Biman has a terrible safety record....no wonder foreign leased crew/aircraft are desired.:rolleyes:

As for the pilot 'strike', I'm quite sure Biman management can find replacemet aircraft/crew, if need be.

In fact...preferred.:ok:

[subsonicsubic]

Terrible...

Don't think so. Your average large American carrier will have had as many if not more incidents.

Don't be too hasty to judge a 3rd world carrier, if you don't understand their operation fully.

[Fiero88]

Absolutely agree with subsonic.
Worked a couple of years with them and indeed don't compare the operation with first world countries.
There is a irritant habit to condemm everything in the third world because we think we are superiour.
Am sure that if the "better" nations had to operate under the same circumstances, safety records with be shattered.:E

[411A]

Don't be too hasty to judge a 3rd world carrier, if you don't understand their operation fully.

I personally watched their 'operation fully' some years ago in Singapore...where one of their aircraft crashed just after takeoff...fuel tank outlet unporting, because....not enough fuel was uplifted.
Three engines flamed out just after rotation.
Biman purchased four DC-10's from SQ...and crashed at least one of them, possibly two....not to mention some of their regional aircraft have met an untimely fate.
And, as I recall, they were on the EU blacklist.

[Fiero88]

411A

Can you be more specific.
They were not on the blacklist and I do not recall DC10 crashing.
Am aware of the Singapore accident, a couple of accidents involving Fokker aircraft and an incident with a A310 in Dubai. ( happened to be in Dubai Airport when it occured.

[jackx123]

411 is not far from the truth, they've had a few incidents

Biman Bangladesh Airlines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biman_Bangladesh_Airlines)

[Fiero88]

I absolutely do not deny that but just look at the circumstances that they have to operate in.
Again, I stand by my word by saying that if similar circumstances would excist in our world, incident/accident figures would drastically change.
Its a matter of comparing apples and apples.
I think that we are too full of ourselves in the developed world and too quick in judging.We regard ourselves as supperiour. We have seen very silly accidents under far less constraint circumstances but still claim that we are the best.
Have to admit that a DC10 crashed in Chittagong in 2005. A place very well known to me. Weather was a main contributer there and it requires to see what kind of weather it is to form a opinion.

Flying skills in the far east, in general, are better than the always guided, flights in our region.
Just to mention the poor flying conditions in In donesia with its 1000 islands and unpredictable weather. Similar circumstances prevail in parts of India and Bangladesh.

[Green Guard]

411 is not far from truth
But is not even near it.....miles and miles off

According that Vickipedia in about 38 years of flying,
around the world,
Biman lost about 60 souls from the country of over 80 mil people,
and produced few wrecks...

And was never blacklisted....Thank you very much....

Biman.....Jindabar !!!

:D

[Dengue_Dude]

I flew on the DC10 with them back in 2004 and frankly, they were dangerous.

The levels of complacency and non-adherence to SOP and other safety procedures was unreal.

Two go arounds with full flap and gear down and comments 'it won't accelerate'. Mmmmmm . . .

Rate of descent of over 2000 fpm at 200 ft with GPWS screaming 'PULL UP etc' - the copilot (PF and trainee) shouts 'disregard'. All this despite at least 3 calls of 'Go Around' from me. The training captain, never said a word, from start to finish. Next day, he told me I was right to call 'Go Around' - fortunately were on centre runway (34C?) at JED.

Flying under the anvil of textbook CB etc etc.

Need I go on?

I wrote a report for the UK CAA and it is my understanding, they WERE blacklisted (if only for a while).

[Fiero88]

With all respects,
Heard this many times before. Flying for MESA Airlines, this happened as well to me and not two or three times but a lot more as well as with US Airwaist.
This issue does not reflect an overall operational behaviour. Since I was with Biman at the time you were there I like to know a bit more about your expierences. Some names for example??

[411A]

...and it is my understanding, they WERE blacklisted (if only for a while).

Yup, sure were, for about two years, as I recall....:ugh:

Biman...third world in every sense of the word.
You can put lipstick on the pig, but...it is still a pig.:eek:

NB.
Having said this, AirFrance had more accidents.
Perhaps we should call AF the 'Biman' of Euroland.:}

[boeingbus2002]

411A, when exactly was this blacklist? I know they have operated into LHR for a long time with no blacklist.
They have suspended operations into some European stations over recent years but this is due to lack of aircraft etc. FRA/CDG/BRU/MAN/FCO are some.

Regarding safety aspects, several factors need consideration.
Firstly what is their average fleet age? Biman have an ageing fleet and aircraft are utilised to the max. That will cause reliability issues.

As Dengue Dude has flown with them, he has several examples of incidents where safety has been compromised. That is accepted. Crew need to change the way they work. Perhaps in some cases it is luck which has prevented anything more serious from happening.
However this mentality is also evident in other carriers where airlines do actually have a poor safety record.
Perhaps the having been privatised, the potential for new investment will improve things dramatically. Lack of investment by the government and wastage of resources has been rife and prevented money going to where it is needed.

[Q-RTF-X]

I am not a pilot but have spent over 50 years in aviation in a number of different capacities and have a pretty good general understanding of the business; additionally, the nature of my work has required me to travel extensively. I did travel once with Bangladesh Biman; there is something about climbing aboard a rather tired looking (and not over clean) aircraft that immediately sets a few bells ringing and the entire experience pointed to a generally rather shoddy set-up, I could not put my finger on a single overly alarming incident but the sum of impressions cautioned me against a repeat experience. On future visits to Bangladesh, I ensured I was ticketed on other carriers. I feel sure there have been many others like me. Generally speaking, this is a carrier that needs a good shake-up to bring it into line with present day expectations. A Bangladeshi friend (and former air force pilot) had mentioned that many positions in the airline were frequently filled on the old boy network with little or no regard for capabilities.