British Airways in South AFrica

[Fratedog]

Hi all,
I was curious as to what company the B737-200 with the British Airways colors belong to....I know that they are not British Airways'. Also, I was wondering what kind of flight time they are looking for....I am no where near it, Im sure ,but I was just curious to know. Thanks

[Antman]

The airline you are asking about is called Comair. They are a British Airways franchise operator in which BA have a stake. They are also the operator of the low cost carrier Kalula.Com. Currently there are 3 B727-200's(Phased out by Dec '02), 2 B737-400's(3 more to come), 11 B737-200's (2 to go & 6 to more to come to standardize fleet). Comair is a listed company on the JSE and are the second oldest operator in SA behind SAA and one of the oldest in the world haveing been around since 1947 and are also one of the few airline that has always made a profit, a small one this year but a profit none the less!

Not quite sure on current requirements, but will be recruiting next year.

[flyboy6876]

Good heavens, you mean that "if you never want to get there, fly Comair " is still going, and its now owned by BA??

I thought they would have been long gone. Many memories of flying out of Phalaborwa, via Skukuza on their DC3.

[Yossarian]

Saw a 737-200 in BA colour scheme, not ZS registered, using "Sunbird" callsign at FAJS. Can't remember the foreign reg. Who are they?

[Gunship]

Should be kulula.com see : Online Tickets (www.kulula.com)

When I (sounds whenwe .... ) used to fly in SA, all Comair and BA flight used to be Sunbird or am I off the old rocket ?

Cheers,

[Avi8tor]

Hi There

The BA tail that you saw at FAJS was a registered Kenyan registered B737-200. It belongs to a Regional Air. As far as I know they are based up there and have 3 B737's and a few Dash-7's.

Also a BA franchised operation.

[togabutton]

Hey Antman, think I know you. I would echo your comments and furthermore reinforce what a great company Comair is by attributing their success to the calibre of people who work there. I speak of the pilot body AND cabin crew of course who deserve lots of credit. The training received there is second to none and this includes 6 monthly recurrency checks in the sim for all cockpit crew not only captains. Interesting to see whether I will be flamed by the masses or not, but considering their size, COMAIR sets a high industry standard in all depts, skill of pilots, in flight hospitality, on time performance... Need I say more? Not to say that the other carriers are sloppy, but I believe Comair is number one.A SUPER COMPANY TO WORK FOR! Hope things go from strength to strength there. Keep up the hard work guys and gals!

[Antman]

Flyboy, yes it's one and the same ,BA have about an 18% stake and it's still run by the same management.
Sorry Gunship you're quite right (dislexia found for cure)!!!
Nice comments TOGA(who U), I'm leaving after nearly 7 years with Comair for greener pastures in the Gulf & the people I've flown with, cabin & cocpit are second to none. Great job if you can get it.

[PAXboy]

I should like to ask a Comair question but not worth starting a new thread (I think!).

I grew up in Pretoria and am visiting again shortly. A school chum of mine used to fly with Comair and was on one of his flights, DUR/RCB in 1984. Without naming him here, how could I find out if he is still with Comair, or indeed flying in South Africa?

Cheers

[Gunship]

Lo Paxboy,

I have e-mail contact with three guys that flies for them - so mail me and I will forward the question to them.

Brgds,

[A.FLOOR]

I recently heard that 2 senior training captains on the B737 were fired from Comair.

Can anyone post some more information on this or is it a rumor?

By the way, I also spent 2 years flying at Comair on the 737 and I would agree with all the above. A great airline with lots of good guys and gals and lotsa fun on nightstops.

The B737 operation and SOP's were also extremely tight and professional.

Good luck at Emirates Antman

[Gunship]

All true unfortunately. A bit of fraud crept in. Both was re-instated but the one resigned. The other one was demoted to line pilot with instruction rating taken away.

Great to hear that some companies still have the guts to do this !

[A.FLOOR]

Who resigned and who stayed on?

[Gunship]

Sorry m8,

Rather not in the open ... sorry ...

[Whitebug-speed]

Does anyone know how many pomair pilots are going to the gulf ?

[BMM389EC]

Two so far.

[virgile]

anybody can give me some contact address, telephone or email to apply with that so good sounding company ?

thanks guys

:cool: ;)

[Skaz]

Friend t old me those guys that left got busted for taking bribes......how true is this.

Did somebody buy their way into Comair ? If so, whats the going rate.....................joke.

Seriously: Now that these individuals are gone, is there any change in recruiting?

[Antman]

Skaz, seems you have the wrong end of the stick,4 Capts have resigned, 2 off to EK so far,I'm one of them, the other 2 to various other operators. How much did I get for the bribe your friend told you about by the way??
The other internal thing had nothing to do with bribe's trust me and has been resolved.

Did my last flight on the B737-200 on Monday evening. I'm going to miss the fluffy, it's a great pilot's machine. Got the best inbound clearance ever. On first contact with JNB inbound from PLZ got " Comair*** cleared inboud the NASHUA 1 A arrival landing 03L", friends in high places, pity the WX wasn't up to scratch.

There's a party a HIGHFLYERZ Friday evening the 1st, going to be big me thinks. Be there if you can. I've booked a room at the hotel because I don't think it will be wise to operate the car home afterwards.

I was chatting to the recruitment guys Monday, they where sorting out CV's to call people for interview's, it seem's Comair have a lot of fairly experienced pilot's on there books to call.

Here's an address

Chief Pilot
Flight Operations
Comair Limited
P.O.Box 7015
Bonaero Park
1622
South Africa

[Skaz]

Antman,
hi there, I didnt really take the bribe thing seriously, with the calibre of people in Comair the rumour didnt gel for me.

I know some folks are moving on, my old instructor is there now, but moving on to CX as well, great for him, and everybody else who going to CX & EK, go for it , good luck...........can I have your seat;)

Thank you for the address, much appreciated, enjoy EK, watch out for sand in the vaseline !:eek: