The bed bugs have no class in this joint

[bigPONDsmallfish]

Is my life in danger flying with this turkey???


Pilot to pay Air NZ for first class hotel dispute - National - NZ Herald News (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10772123)

[Andu]

It would be interesting to know the route that particular pilot took to get himself into a window seat in an Air new Zealand 747. People familiar with ANZ's more or less recent past will know there are (to use the most polite term) "ALPA" and "non ALPA" ANZ pilots. Perhaps someone could tell us which camp this one came from?

[waren9]

Saw that too. What a goose.

[ejectx3]

I thought us qantas guys were supposed to be sky gods?

[haughtney1]

I thought us qantas guys were supposed to be sky gods?


No, that would be unfair :E they exist everywhere....

Tool would be a good way to describe this guys persona from what I've read, but thats doing a diservice to tools in general....given that they tend to be useful

[the_company_spy]

******,all there is to it. Whine fu(&!#& whine.

[Plazbot]

Plenty of pilots at the Rattlesnake but......

[Bigboeingboy]

Who cares he is a Kiwi.

[Yousef Breckenheimer]

ALPA.
Should have read the rant in the statement to voters in last general elections from this guy.

[Red Jet]

Hmmm, Manhattan Beach Marriott is the LA hotel we want to move TO!! Wonder what this guy would make of the Hilton in Long Beach?

[framer]

Can you imagine if every pilot in a company whinged as much as him?
The place would go broke in a couple of years. There has to be a balance. Air NZ is losing how much a week? I read it a while back and it was quite a bit of cash they're bleeding this year and then they have to spend time in court with this guy. Terrorists in London........imagine if he was scheduled in and out of Kabul, he'd be a wreck lol

[bankrunner]

What a whiny little b*tch!

I slept in a station wagon more than once in my GA days :E

[gobbledock]

His membership to 'Club Cloud Cuckoo Land' has been officially validated. Congratulations and enjoy your stay!

[slackie]

Yousef ... did he get elected??? NO!!

[ramble on]

You people all sound like management.

Good on this guy for demanding suitable accommodation.

At the end of a trans pacific flight and having the expectation of doing it again after minimum rest, the rooms should be first class, and yes, you should be able to get a meal from 24 hour room service instead of wandering the streets of LA at 2am or eating pot noodles.

I have had bed lice and bugs in three US hotels and it doesnt make for a peaceful night.

The lives of hundreds and an airlines reputation can be relying on your good rest.

You fxcking people dont have the fortitude to stand up to the degradation of the job conditions. He did.

I know who the spineless whiners are!

Dont bring your f@@$ing GA mentality to world wide airline ops unless you you want us all to be sleeping in the the back of wagons.

i dont know the guy or the airline but i have more respect for him than you lot! Spades.

[bankrunner]

Manhattan Beach Mariott is a nice hotel by any standards, I can say this having stayed there myself. It's not like they put him up in some manky roach-ridden fleapit motor inn.

What should the company do, put him up in a $7500 per night penthouse suite every time he overnights?

And this prima donna's argument about the terrorist risk of staying near the US Embassy is complete and utter rubbish unless there was a travel advisory in force with anything other than the usual general threat warning (ie, the sort of advisory that says "don't travel to the UK")

[1a sound asleep]

Ramble on maybe we should all read these reviews


Manhattan Beach Marriott - Reviews - Manhattan Beach Hotels - TripAdvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g32678-d78136-Reviews-Manhattan_Beach_Marriott-Manhattan_Beach_California.html#REVIEWS)

"The room was dirty - no, it had been cleaned, just not very well;
The doors in the room were damaged. Not just scratched - large chunks of wood were missing;The drapes had holes in them;
I asked for a higher floor room - even though the hotel wasn't fully booked, I was put on a lower floor looking over the hotel rooftop which had trash on it;
The room was dirty - did I mention that?;The fan in the bathroom was so loud I thought I was staying at an airport hotel;Room service trays filled with food were left in the hallway all night long."

"The service is terrible. Room service menu is a joke (1 page laminated card) and they are not open at lunch.
The rooms are typical marriott (dated with antique TVs)
Don't let their adds fool you the golf course is a joke.
When you read the boxes that describe the property realize they don't have the descriptor "dump with poor service"

"Ah, when I say sleeping, I don't mean it. This is a 'party venue' so I was kept awake much of the night by the loud, drunken conversations of fellow guests as they headed back to their rooms. 'Breakfast the next morning a shambles - buffet laid out but only half of the items described on the menu available and the restaurant was staffed by the surliest, most unhelpful staff I've met in the US. Usually no matter how cheap or pricey the location, staff are lovely and we feel so welcomed."

"Oh my gosh! My husband stays at this property, (business related) SEVERAL times a year. Last month I joined him for a weekend ... only to find tiny black creppy bugs on the sheets and bedspread. The next morning I had several BUG bites on my ankles and legs!!! My doctor told me that it was probably 'bed bugs'. I've done a little reseach on the subject ... and it's becoming a wide spread problem. Anway, it's a lovely property, if you don't mind traveling with your own sheets and towels.

[rodney rude]

Agree with Ramble on 100%.

There is a saying - "if you don't like it do something about it." Seems to me the guy is not whingeing - he is actually doing something about it.

I know what he means about the walls too thin there - when lying in bed trying to get an afternoon kip, you may as well go and set up a bed in the lobby.

Nope - the guy thinks it's not suitable and he's doing something about it.

What would the rest of you d!cks do??? Yep thought so ... Whinge.

[haughtney1]

Rodney, 1a, Ramble....

By all means make your displeasure known..i.e. Thin walls, noisey A/C etc etc, in point of fact, contact the duty manager and get it sorted (everywhere Ive worked there has been a station manager as well a a hotel rep with whom you can remonstrate).
Im afraid however moaning about paper cups, proximity to an embassy thats about as secure as it gets (any of you EVER been to the US embassy in London?) On the basis of your OWN personal preference/predjudice...is just outrageous...as was correctly ruled.
Id be plain old embarressed to complain about a chip on the door...or some thread-bare carpet (where I work there is a formal reporting procedure for this kind of stuff)
You guys need to wake up and smell the instant coffee, and not endorse wasteful pointless chest-thumping for the sake of some long lost panacea in aviation folklore.
Hotels will often try it on with aircrew as they can sometimes them as money for Jam....so by all means grizzle via the appropriate means for REAL issues....but for paper cups and a percieved terrorism risk? GIVE ME A BREAK. :ugh:

[1a sound asleep]

Dont disagree there's a right way to go about these issues. The Bonaventure Hotel in LA was another problematic hotel. Crews need a decent quiet, comfortable, safe hotel with some basic facilities to get rest on a layover. There really should not be any compromises made.

[qf 1]

geee a Kiwi thinking he is entitled to more than he deserves,what next?

[framer]

An Ausi who is not a loud mouth?

[Cactusjack]

Although I think this pilot is a bit of a tosser, not wanting to be accommodated near an Embassey is not as silly as it sounds. Although they are fairly secure they do remain high on the target list of 'bad guys'. And don't forget, the Pentagon is as secure as it gets and the 911 fruitloops managed to attack it, not to mention the other hijacked aircraft that almost made it to Capitol Hill or the Whitehouse.

[Soab]

I dont know the guy or what hes like, but maybe just maybe there is some truth to what hes complaining about.

To those who say, I used to sleep in a wagon in GA, are you still in GA, do you still do that on overnights, is it acceptable for your airline to provide you with that.
If the hotel standard is set in the agreement, and maybe was agreed in lieu of a payrise or extending duty hours, it should be honored.

I worked for an airline where every year we changed hotels at our many destinations and every change was a drop in standard.
Every hotel in the middle east was the cheap rate hotel (then serviced apartment, with little facilities) next to the noisy construction site. The rooms on the bottom (noisy) levels, next to the lift, with noisy undisipline arab kids running up and down the hallway screaming (the foreign staff wouldnt dare ask them to be quiet for fear of losing their job). Paper thin internal walls, noisy aircons, whose controllers were only there for display, freezing rooms, etc etc.

As I say he may be wrong in this case, but it is pilots like him that have the b@11s to stand up to management reducing conditions of employment that ensure the gutless whingers get reasonable (and restfull) accommodation on the standard airline minimum turnarounds schedules of today.

I dont know the hotels in question though.

[Yousef Breckenheimer]

Very good Slackie. What else you got?

[slackie]

Sorry, mate... I'm done!:}

[nzavi8or]

Guys like MT got us the conditions we have today so those who whinge and moan about him should be mighty thankful instead. The culture of the wingers and moaners is more of a "I'll look after myself mate" which is indicative of today's younger members of society. At least with MT keeping them honest you won't be sleeping in a caravan park at the end of the runway which is what most HR departments would like!!
Good on ya Mike :D

[astroboy55]

agreed, you have to stick up for what you are entitled to!!!

"I'll look after myself mate" which is indicative of today's younger members of society

and the older members of society who continue to fly after 65 by bidding back to short haul or FO. :ugh:

[bustard]

What's wrong with bidding back to short haul or FO after 65?

[Offcut]

There is some pretty interesting opinions on here. Everyone moans about the race to the bottom in airline conditions but when someone takes a real step to improve them he gets shot down. I don't agree with a lot that MT does, but I think he's pushing in the right direction.

The Manhattan Beach Marriott is ok, but not first class. And I'm not saying we need to be in the Burj, just a hotel with aircon that doesn't keep me awake, 24 hour roomservice, considering the times we come and go, clean and comfortable rooms, in a safe part of town.

As for the Millennium Mayfair move, I was happy to stay there but he wasn't far off the mark terrorist-wise. It was where that russian was poisoned with polonium, which contaminated the whole hotel. In fact, many crew had to be tested for radiation poisoning. It was considered in the press that the reason they attackers chose the Millennium was its proximity to many embassies and the message this sent.