Travel Air scam

[swedenpilot1319]

Warning to all pilots that Travel Air of PNG are not paying salaries, tickets and other bills to their pilots and oother employes. All pilots have lost month or two in salary and this very dishonest people are now trying to hire pilots through manpower company in UK. I my self just lost 20.000 $ down there with Travel Air. That is to much to keep silent.

[canaryislander]

Thanks for the information. I just applied for a job with them and will cross it off my list.

[1975]

I saw an ad from Morson International Ltd, is that the agency you are referring to?

[canaryislander]

Yes that was the one, I think I also applied directly.

[captplaystation]

Where is PNG ? and Travel Air, out of curiosity I checked, but couldn't find PNG


We are not talking Travelservice in Prague ? I guess , as always heard + things about them.

[toolboxstickers]

PNG is Papua New Guinea.
www.travelairpng.com

[captplaystation]

Cheers :ok:

[Ronand]

how did you lose 20k? Paid for a rating?

[swedenpilot1319]

No ,I had my fokker 50 rating before and valid, but they started paying late and then it came later and later until they where two months behind and owed also for travel tickets from europe to Papua new guinea and back, hotel nights, and other cost that I had payed for them while staying there. I just hope that no-one falls in their trap again.
Also all foreign pilots worked and stayed there illegal due to entering the country on business visa , but it is highly illegal to work on business visa in PNG and up to one year prison if cought. No insurance where ever paid for any of the pilots or workers in general, safety of people not up to any standars in this part of the world.

[pngFolk]

well my friend from sweden, I heard different story " a newly born airlines was raped by couple greedy pilots"........They signed the contract with rotation of 3 months on and 1 month off and going in and out of the country with the bless of their boss credit card. they were coming in and out with tourist visa and one of them informed immigration before joining with other company(heavilift).They refused to give papers for work permit & visa and continued asking more salary and reimbursement for food & hotel bill...final all got screwed and blaming the airlines..:ugh:

I heard also they brought couple pilots with proper visa and bringing more aircraft F50 cargo & Q400.

[cockney steve]

Easy Solution.
Take one of their aircraft (scheduled/otherwise, does not matter ) fly to destination within EC land, claim lien on aircraft against unpaid dues.

Would probably work in certain loosely-regulated areas of the world as well. :}

[pngFolk]

Travel Air has set up of 4 aircraft but utilised 1 or some time 2. The excuse was pilot shortage. But shortage was because bad restoring and administration in flight ops.So the revenue was lower than operating expense.

Easy solution to fly maximum aircraft to maximize revenue.

Nearly 20 pilot is going to fly early next month.:D

[swedenpilot1319]

That means 20 new pilots to steal from. I feel sorry for them but it seems always to be easy to find new victims of scams, and to blame the bad Travel Air business on ops. sounds exactly like the snake from Bangledesh that has bee organizing the scam from start until now. out of 15 expad pilots, how many are still there? Only two. That says all.

[pngFolk]

Bangladesh man was the first who appointed all staffs and organised all works for Travel air.

If you have objection against someone skin or nationality then you are not professional man.:=:=

You signed 3 months on and 1 month off contract. But you forced travel air for 1 month on and 1 month off and pay all of your bill..otherwise strike:D

Now you are trying to defend your selves. What a joke!!:ok:

[abrar.ahmad]

Hi, may I ask who is Bangladesh Man and what Bangladesh inparticular has got to do with all of this?

Thanks

[swedone]

I haven’t got my salary from Travel Air PNG for several months now and still miss a lot of costs which they owe me.
I wonder where my salary has gone. For sure on my account it's not.
We are working very hard for them and in return for that they treat us as criminal.
It is very difficult to live with, and now I've had enough.
Nothing will hold me back, and with the first chance I'm out of Travel Air PNG http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/icons/icon8.gif

[SOPS]

Can I suggest if you have not beep paid for several months, that you leave now. Like, right now!

[nowind]

Swedone,

you're doing the right thing by advising others of this potential pitfall. Hopefully some of those ex Skyways F50s will end up at more serious operators, and they'll need drivers.

[Globalstream]

Dear Swedepilot and the many other pilots who seem to be unable to help themselves. As a on/off professional contractor and businessman, with the best will in the world:

30 days late, shame on them
31 days late, shame on you

Anyone who remains in a job beyond 30 days after the last paycheck was due is an "enabler". They are facilitating an operation that is at best poor and at worst dangerous. :ugh:

1. Plan your departure and plan B and consult with a lawyer if your location or circumstances require it.
2. Write a polite resignation letter that states CONCISELY your reasons for leaving and the next steps for recovering the debt. This might include liens, credit reporting and informing the authorities in their areas of operation (AOC holders require minimum financial reserves). This will help you clarify the issues and process you will follow.
3. Attempt a "last amicable collection". A short, but reasonable deadline may be used.
4. If this doesn't work, send in resignation. Do this after leaving if your location or circumstances require it.
5. Initiate the process described in your letter and plan B.:

Ask yourself this- if you are not living off your own savings and investments, why on earth should your family (I can't think of any other source of income) be subsidizing a terrible company or your folly?

The point here is you have to conduct yourself as a business and no solvent business can or should carry bad debt. If you do otherwise, it shows poor business skills and besides anything, a low level of self respect and possibly selfishness.

I know it is tough and you may be inexperienced, but you have to be professional.
Good luck.

[BayBong]

Those companies know when and if the pilot respects himself or herself, according to how much the pilot claims for what he deserves.

If he does not claim anything, he may be displaying that he does not feel he worth much, that he is terrified to loose a non-paying job, or that he hangs on at even negative salary.

This interactive style and its consequences applies to all negociation levels.

However, those companies also know how to keep all employees working for them free with false promises and by giving false hope of financial recovery, from the parking clerk, the little cleaning ladies, the executives of the telephone provider, via the pilots.

When the deterioration of the company's economy has been gradual and kept secret, the question is " when will the employees wake up ? "

I have followed survivers of an airline bankrupcy. The employees discovered that the owner was in jail when the electrical company came to remove the watt-counter.

[Mach E Avelli]

I absolutely concur with Globalstream's post #19, EXCEPT for some of what he advises at point 2. Because it is PNG, you could be placing yourself at risk by making any threats or delivering ultimatums. Also, although the law may require a company to remain financially solvent to hold an AOC, much of what passes for law in PNG is never enforced.

Better to send a polite email to the CEO asking for a specific date when he will pay you any arrears. If it is ignored (quite probable) or if any promise he makes proves to be false, step on an aeroplane and leave the country. Preferably when you are due out on leave and with a ticket that they paid for, but not if that means staying beyond the 30 days (or more?) that you have already worked for free. If that means parking their aircraft in POM on a layover stop, so be it. You would not be the first and you won't be the last.

In the case of such a clear breach of employment contract by the employer no resignation notice period applies. In a 'safe' country, having given the ultimatum of requiring salary in arrears to be paid, you could give a day's notice in writing and despite this, would have a fair chance of legal action to recover monies owing. In the case of PNG - and only when safely out of the country - you could send a follow-up resignation letter stating the reasons why you are not returning. Not that it will do any good other than give you some small satisfaction.

These guys are not going to give you a job reference anyway, so don't worry about upsetting them.

You are unlikely to be successful with legal action. Save the lawyers' fees and spend the money on a nice holiday instead.

[BayBong]

After you are free outside of the country, I would suggest writting up a resignation letter with detailed explanations of the reasons why.

Write it as if you are explaining to your future employer why they cannot expect good references from this PNG airline, nor could your log book be validated with flown hours, that in reality you have flown more hours than your log book says, etc.

If you send the letter by registered mail, you will have a proof of it. Then file it all. Use this proof as a defense against eventual retaliations from PNG. Yes, if they can be that bad, they can be nasty and may harrass you till the next job. We have seen it before.

Good luck to all.

[Mach E Avelli]

Bong your idea of writing the resignation in a way that explains the circumstances to any potential employer is indeed excellent advice.

It would also be advisable to show any potential employer a copy of the initial contact where the CEO was approached in a polite manner and given an opportunity to pay arrears. That way the employer can see that the candidate was not being militant, simply requiring payment for services. Any employer who has a problem with that attitude would be no good to work for anyway.