Club 328

[Tequilaboy]

Change

I genuinely hope things will change. I knew a lot of the guys that used to work there when it Was Bookajet and then 328. It was a family there, an envied family unit at that but management change brought the downfall from what i could see looking in and most of the good guys that laid down all hours of their lives have moved on now and good on them.

Whether Plane Chartering is the new owner to turn it round I dont know, only time will tell.....

[TurboJ]

It was a family there, an envied family unit at that but management change brought the downfall from what i could see looking in and most of the good guys that laid down all hours of their lives have moved on now and good on them.

Sorry, but that is an absolute load of bravo sierra. They had a blatant disregard for CAP371, couldn't give a *&%$£ about not flying their pilots, had pilots flying 10hrs a year, pilots emptying the bins, running the photocopier, to the terminal for sticky buns etc......

.........and their downfall was the result of management incompetence.........

[Tequilaboy]

Would depend...

...on which of the many management eras you are talking about. Are we speaking from experience here? Surely CAP 371 and pilots flying 10 hours a year is a contradiction mind?

[FlyingGasMain]

Sorry, had to bite here. Which one of TurboJ and Tequilaboy have worked at 328 ? Tequilaboy seems to be saying he hasn't. And what's this thing about 10 hours ? I assume you're trying to say that they didn't give the pilots enough hours ? If so, that's true for one aircraft type perhaps, but not the others.

I can only speak from the viewpoint of having worked for them for the last year. As far as I'm aware 328 have been fairly on the ball with CAP 371 rules in that time - we had a good rostering officer well aware of the rules. She has not moved to Biggin Hill, but we have a new rostering officer and from what I've seen, he is pretty clued up too. We probably could have done with more crews and a more stable roster, but that's a different issue.

Also, it aint bust yet as far as I know. Things are far from ideal, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will stabilise. Time will tell....

[LGW Vulture]

What's happened to 328 Support Services and their liabilities / responsibilities over in OBPF?

[Tequilaboy]

Something to do with Robin Southwell and his Quest Aviation group. Euromanx and JETS were the only things retained from the group Corporate Jet Services.

[Tequilaboy]

Any comments....

... Outcome from a meeting in Cannes this morning with Plane Chartering:

Elain Young - Gone
Premier 1's - Gone
Dornier 328 - Gone

Any ideas?

[Monkey Boy]

Just received this:

"Further to our acquisition of Club 328 in October of 2007, we would like to update you on the developments within our company.
It has been a busy period of fleet consolidation and company reorganisation from which we have emerged primed for new business in 2008.

Our move is now complete to the new Planechartering UK headquarters in London Biggin Hill. Please note the new address below for your files.
We have a new Operations Team in place to manage all aspects of your flight bookings as well as new sales, accounting and legal functions in place to facilitate the growth of the company moving forward.

The Planechartering Fleet will now focus exclusively on the Citation II and Hawker 800 models. We have removed the Premier One aircraft from the permanent fleet owing to consistent technical issues. The Dornier 328 has also been removed due to the lack of range for such a large size cabin.
We are pleased to announce the arrival today of an additional Hawker 800 registration G-WYNN available for charter. This beautifully finished model complements the existing Hawker 800 which has proved to be very popular with our long range clients. In the next 4 months we expect to take delivery of a Falcon 50 in time for the summer season. Please don’t hesitate to call our sales team for more information and pricing on these models.

We pride ourselves on providing efficient and competitive sub-charter services to the wholesale market."

[robash]

mmmmmm, interesting, anyone know where the P1/328 have gone to?

[Tequilaboy]

Just got the same,

Smoke and Mirrors to me to be honest. The Premier 1's i can agree as they were 1's with retrofitted 1A mods but the Dornier is a good, well placed machine. Ok the cabin required a spruce up but as far as economy I could not argue with it.

[Monkey Boy]

"mmmmmm, interesting, anyone know where the P1/328 have gone to?"

Don't know about the Premiers (have to agree about the reliablility) but the Dornier I believe is heading to Eastern Europe.

[TP102]

The Dornier was currently broken (FADEC) so that prob had something to do with it if they were in the process of reorganising.
I view the email above to be a positive thing. We can only hope that it goes according to plan and the remaining employees might be able to relax slightly.
If things have gone badly then really the only option is to cut out whatever isn't working in the business, even if its a harsh call, and try to move forward with a positive attitude with the new plan. Its either that or give up and that doesn't help anyone!
I only hope those guys and girls who have lost their jobs find new employment soon as they are the real fallout from bad business.
TP.

[421]

Shame the reg they state for the Hawker 800 is for a Rand KR-2 that was cancelled by the CAA nearly 4 years ago.....

[TurboJ]

Surely CAP 371 and pilots flying 10 hours a year is a contradiction mind?

I guess its all history now, but we are talking different scenarios. Pilots were flown 10hrs a year, days off were retrospective, standby days were turned into days off if not required, days off were only days off if you weren't required to fly......etc etc

If so, that's true for one aircraft type perhaps, but not the others.

Yes, the Dornier crews flew all of 200hrs a year !!

From my experience, the company was a complete joke and although some people have lost their jobs, in months to come they may see it as a very positive move.........

[long final]

The new Hawker 800 is G-WYNE.

[Monkey Boy]

And that's the sort of attention to detail we've come to expect.........

[TP102]

Monkey Boy,
Might I ask what relationship you have had with company in the past?

It does seem to me some people almost want this new setup to fail.
Whenever there is rumour on here, if its negative its sure does get talked about a lot more than if its positive.

I'm sure its because my future is currently tied up in this venture but I certainly hope this can be turned around and a well run, successful business formed out of an awful mess.

Wouldn't it be nice to just wish us all some success for once even if that's less dramatic news than saying we're all going down?!

Just a thought,

TP.

[Monkey Boy]

My relationship with the company? Simple, I've paid lots of money to Club 328 in the past for them to perform flights for my clients. Every flight (and I mean EVERY flight) has had a problem - be it the brakes failing on the Premier 1 on landing closing an airport with a full emergency to having a flight delayed for three hours with a puncture on the Dornier, through to being told at the last minute that the aircraft I've had booked for weeks is no longer available a day before the flight, or that the aircraft can't use the airport we've requested it to fly into DESPITE insisting that this is double, nay triple checked with Club 328 ops prior to confirmation.

I don't want any venture to fail, all I want is for operators to provide the service for which I am paying them for. If Plane Chartering can do this, then they have my full support! Club 328 couldn't, so they didn't!

[TP102]

Well said. I agree with you entirely.
Its a shame that Club328 couldn't perform. Lets indeed hope and encourage Planechartering to do so.
The question is will you be giving them a chance and booking any clients with them or is the link with 328 too much.
I guess reputation carries a lot in this business and must be built up slowly through trust.
I sincerely hope Planechartering's reputation isn't too tarnished to make it through.
TP.

[Steak&Kidney_Pie]

Anyone who is hopeful that Club328 will improve under PlaneChartering is exactly that.

TP102, PC's reputation is already out there! I do wish you the very best if you are tied into the venture, just becareful, note the PlaneChartering's Initial....PC.....need anyone say more?