In the know
 

Hailer, you appear to be in the know. Have recently arrived in HK and generally been shafted by broken promises etc etc. Whats the go with AMU and MAX, i.e. requirements, recruiting, pay and which organisation would be a better bet? I have heavy time.

Would appreciate some no bullsh1t advise for once in Hong Kong

I copy from their adv for you guys may interested...thanks!





Job Role: Flight Crew
Job Hours: Full-Time
Location: China
Job Position: Permanent
Company: Macau Asia Express
Salary: Up to USD131 thousands per annum
Posted Date: Friday, September 07, 2007 11:59:36 AM
Macau Asia Express Limited has signed the leasing agreement for the first six A320-200 aircrafts and five of them will be delivered in 2008. The arriving fleet will be utilized to develop a new, single-class, low-fare route network between Macau and a number of cities in Japan, PRC, Vietnam and other points in Asia.

We are now looking to recruit;

Direct Entry Senior Captain
Up to USD131 thousands per annum

Requirements:
§ A320 type rating not required but will be an advantage
§ Valid ICAO, JAA or FAA ATPL (A)
§ Valid class 1 medical certificate
§ Minimum 4,000 total flying hours
§ Minimum 1,000 flying hours on multi-engine jet public transport aircraft
§ Minimum 500 hours in command on multi-crew jet aircraft

v These are permanent positions and type-rated training will be given.
v Non-type-rated candidate will be considered up to aged 61 and type-rated candidates up to aged 63.
v Training positions are available for type-rated line training captains and TRE.
============================================================ =
Job Role: Flight Crew Job Hours: Full-Time
Location: China
Job Position: Permanent
Company: Macau Asia Express
Salary: Up to USD84 thousands per annum
Posted Date: Friday, September 07, 2007 11:57:34 AM
Macau Asia Express Limited has signed the leasing agreement for the first six A320-200 aircrafts and five of them will be delivered in 2008. The arriving fleet will be utilized to develop a new, single-class, low-fare route network between Macau and a number of cities in Japan, PRC, Vietnam and other points in Asia.

We are now looking to recruit;

Direct Entry Senior First Officer
Up to USD84 thousands per annum

Requirements:
§ A320 type rating not required but will be an advantage
§ Valid ICAO, JAA or FAA ATPL (A)
§ Valid class 1 medical certificate
§ Minimum 3,000 total flying hours
§ Minimum 500 flying hours on multi-engine jet public transport aircraft

v These are permanent positions and type-rated training will be given.

If you are interested in this permanent position, please forward your application including resume, present and expected salary to [email protected]

Be careful with the pay spiel lads, I have heard (but not seen) that the pay is highly geared towards hours flown. Hopefully you will have seen the exact details. Anyway, remember that new airlines have a habit of adding to the schedule only very slowly - esp in Macau. Meanwhile, remember that AMU and the regulator (AACM) are both either :confused:or :mad:which could add further delays.
Coming back to Hailer's points...
1) I know the A320s are LOI (ie semi-confirmed, ie should go through)
2) My point is that the PRC has relatively few expat pilots (eg the Brazilians in Shenzhen that havent yet gone to HK-cant figure out how they did their ground exams:D). My point about mainlanders paying for expats was that mainland *passengers* would not pay more for their tickets for a gweilo cockpit crew.
3) AMU does rule 100% (even VIVA Macau which is non-subsidiary), because it has the monopoly concession and is totally in bed with the regulator. ie if AMU does not want it, they can make your life bloody hard for a long time (just ask Cebu - whoops:eek:)
4) Air Macau said it would not compete with low-cost given its structural high cost (read low-brained:}) base. Thats why it left SIN, KUL, only does Manila 4x/wk with no service, and Bangkok at a crazy time to keep its Korean agents happy. To be fair, Air Asia and Tiger are strong competitors. So they decided to set up a loco to compete on a level playing field..... or should I say to appease the politicians to add more routes meanwhile sharing the losses with partners (Stanley wants the pax in his Casinos, and probably cares little about airline profitability). MAX can only work if it has a large and shiny new fleet bought for a big discount (oops), or it is highly integrated into the parent to share many costs. Sadly, I fear it will be a loss leader for Stanley Ho, and the cheapest way to keep the politicians quiet for AMU.
I didnt think I would ever say this, but if you are already rated I would join the parent company first - esp since the pro-Brazilian movement has probably ended and 3 Captains have left within the last month.

ps I know sensible people who were hired by the MAX Chief Pilot, even relocated their families to Macau, only to be told on arrival that they were not expected there :uhoh: (they got in, just, eventually...). He's a nice guy, but he is sly. So be careful you have it absolutely clearly in writing before you do anything. You have been warned.:=

Aha! Arrowhead back on song! That is a good thoughtful post, and certainly sound advice. However there are a couple of points worth making:

1. The aircraft according to Air Castle are a signed and delivered lease agreement -first aircraft delivered to MAX in late December.
2. I have seen the contract - it is based on 17 Duty Periods per month average over the year - i.e. work 204 duty periods and you get the loot. The guarantee is for a minimum of 10.
3. I think all concerned in the smoke filled rooms are having second thoughts about head to head competition - not something that is fashionable in Macao! If Air Macau and MAX do end up in bed together then it will be a marriage made in commercial hell, but you never know, it might be good for the pilots employed by both companies.
4. NX or MAX - don't know. You pay your money and you take your choice.
5. Not sure to whom the Chief Pilot bit relates - MAX appears to have two CP! One is VPO designate when the current Head of Operations disappears into the sunset (and is ex NX), the other is CP designate. They are as far as I know the only pilots currently there so not sure about the story of guys arriving to find no job!
6. I agree that the casinos generally, not just Stanley, could not care less how the people get to Macao, as long as they get there and lose their money. That is good news for survival if not for operational discipline.

Hailer

1) I have only seen this: http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=7&gl=uk which says LOI not full contract

2) Then expect 10 (or less) for some initial period of time (several months), do not expect 17.

5) VS (ex NX DFO) is who I was referring to

6) True. And operating performance has never really had any impact on NX bonuses.

Has anyone even been indicated a start date yet?

Clarification (maybe?)
 

Ausflyer,

Yeah - considering they are only a potential start up, they seem to have a pretty convoluted organisation!

CN IS the "CP - designate". The other fellow - VS is the current CP but is the "VPO Designate". There is at the moment another player - FH (ex KA retiree) who is there currently to act as an advisor during the start up, as Head of Operations but leaves at the end of October. Then the final organisation will be VS - VPO; CN - CP.

LCC are supposed to have flat organisations and easy access to the decision makers! Apparently they have also appointed a COO and a CCO reporting to the CEO (all ex KA). At least they will have a big legacy airline organisation if nothing else! I am sure that Kelleher, Fernandez and O'Leary must be trembling with fear to discover they were wrong all these years!

However, from the practical point of view it should still be a reasonably secure job for pilots if the shareholders sort the politics out.

Hailer

Ausflyer
Australian I believe, although been working from somewhere in Europe.
Hailer

With Chinese and Portuguese involved, there can only be too many managers doing nothing but having very long unproductive meetings...

I just hope the Aussies can make something of it...

The issue is not Colin N. The issue is VS. He is not a bad guy, he just never tells you how it really is - he is the master of spin. I have had 30 minute conversations and been left wondering what he actually said. So if it is not written down, dont believe it.

You must be prepared for the training and flying not to start until other issues get resolved. "Next week" may be repeated to you every week until they get resolved (possibly months, if at all), since this is how he has operated before.

Living in Macau is cheaper than HK since your accomodation can be done for as little as HKD7k per month, up to HK$15k for a nice 2000sq ft appartment with a view (versus over 50k in HK). Local stuff is the same price, but foreign food/dink is cheaper. Virtually no tax on booze!

A view, in China :confused::}:{

get that x-ray vision going, if you thought pollution was bad in HK..................thats where most of it comes from.

Environmental danger or human ineptitude? Be cautious!
 

Hongkongfooey,

Not sure if perfidious humans are not more of a danger to potential MAX pilots than the air quality! The pollution in Macau is certainly no worse than the majority of places in HKG (certainly the ones that pilots can afford to life in nowadays!).

There are still disturbing rumours about delays in issuing pilot contracts and of ongoing political manoeuvring (mostly involving unenlightened self interest and an unseemly scramble for power!).

At least one of the MAX board has "form" in this respect, and a pusillanimous senior management may not be entirely in control.

I would certainly want to see a contract (whether from NX or MAX makes no difference) before I resigned from my current job and told my current CP where to stick his aircraft!

Hailer

:D

You were warned. And I'll say it again. Dont believe "next week" means that until you actually see a piece of paper.

My guess for pilot start dates is still "next year, maybe Q2". Remember they still have no aircraft to base check you on, so you cannot complete your local licence. Use NX's aircraft? Mmmmm, depends on the politics, and MAX's declaration of destintations without NX approval may have screwed that.

On the routes, I still cant see how the politics are going to play out. You have
a) the Hos who want to fly anywhere asap to get pax into casinos
b) NX - the only company in Macau set to report lower revenues and higher losses this year (despite the fastest economy growing economy in the world at 40% GDP growth) - bad face, so no chance TPE, KHH, PEK, PVG, ICN, Japan
c) Beijing who is becoming anti-casino and whose recently appointed COO must be concluding these aircraft would be better placed for Air China by wet leasing all but 2 aircraft out of PEK

So for routes, my guess is still 2nd tier China (aka no profits, load factors) with LCC competitive routes (aka no profits)

:ouch:

MAX
 

What happened to MAX webpage?

http://www.macau-asia-express.com/index.html

:8

Very interesting. Anybody spot what has gone missing?

All the destinations. Rumours continue that relations with NX hit a new low. Oops.

Also March launch date. Means aircraft arrive Jan, AOC (requires aircraft) in Feb, proving flight end Feb, launch March. I reckon you'll get asked to start in mid Feb - assuming the AOC and proving flight go swimmingly and things dont slip further.

Can anyone out there please shed some light on details of T&C with that new establishment.. Is medical insurance for family provided? What about schooling allowances? Taxes? How much does one need for living say a family with two kids normal life style.
Regards,
Johny.

I know the parent company only offers medical to the employee and not the family. And even that cover is pathetically low unless you want to be treated by a local witch doctor (you go to HK or BKK if you are really ill).

Similarly no schooling allowances, and school fees can be anything from free (once you get residency) to USD8000/yr (see http://www.skhps.edu.mo and http://www.tis.edu.mo). Aussie school also coming next year.

Tax is ~5% on income, no VAT/GST, 7% on booze, 0% on savings and investments. Further cuts possible.

MOP50k/month is enough for you all to have a good lifestyle. Helper costs USD400-600/month for full time six days a week incl babysitting, and worth doing.

If you are already typed, I suggest you contact Air Macau (who is recruiting) since I am hearing that the whole project may be in jeopardy due political and managerial problems.:uhoh:

Latest on joining delay
 

Arrowhead,

Not sure if all your pessimism is entirely correct, but undoubtedly Macau Express (if that is this month's name) are doing little to refute such views. The first two aircraft are to be handed over by ANA in December and January. The crew Transition Training is due to commence in November, and I am informed the courses are booked. The first crews were due to arrive next week for indoctrination and exams. Macau Express will not make their long trumpeted start date if the crews do not join in the next two weeks (the pilots are not type rated).

However the big doubt remains resolution of what is clearly emerging as a sizeable punch up between Macau Express and Air Macau with Air China acting as the cheerleader. Clearly none of these organisations are particularly aware or caring about the effect their very public spat is having on current staff and the pilots due to join whose start date has been delayed. Macau is even more awash than usual with rumour, counter rumour and character assassinations!

I have been given a copy of a "personal" message from one of the Macau Express management to the pilots offered positions (see below) - it leaves lots of questions open. However, if the crews do end up as part of Air Macau that may not be a bad option for them and their long term security.

The message reads:

"Gentlemen,

I have met many of you during the Macau Express interview process - and for those that I have not met, I am the Head of Operations and Safety.

Undoubtedly all of you will be concerned, and particularly those due to start in the next week, that you have not had final joining instructions and a final Contract of Employment.

Unfortunately we are having some bureaucratic problems, not unusual in start up situations. I can assure you that we are working very hard to resolve the issues, and I believe we are near a solution. It may, unfortunately translate into a starting date delay for those of you due to commence on 10th October of about two weeks.

I am writing to you in a personal capacity for two reasons - firstly because I am fully aware of the anxiety created by a delay such as this for many of you, who may have given up current jobs (and I accept a degree of personal responsibility for encouraging you to join Macau Express). Secondly, until everything is resolved I am not free to express all my views in any"official" message.

For what it is worth I find the situation unacceptable, but that is little help to you. The one silver lining to the storm clouds is that I have been assured today by the COO that the company recognises that there is a commitment to employ the 18 people addressed in this letter, and I believe resolution of our problems is close.

The delay is being driven by Air China who own big chunks of both Macau Express and Air Macau either directly or indirectly, and they are anxious to see what harmonisation and co-operation they can between the operators. From your standpoint the major concern is, is this going to happen? I still strongly believe it is. Undoubtedly there is still a business case for the additional capacity; the aircraft are definitely coming (and soon); the casinos and hotels are built . In the worst case for you it probably boils down to whether your contract will be with Air Macau or Macau Express, and it probably matters little to you whether the terms are Macau Express Conditions of Service or Air Macau terms (indeed the Air Macau ones are marginally better).

There is still amongst the shareholders a strong desire to start service on 15th March and even they probably recognise they have to act quickly if we are to achieve that. Thus, I advise, whatever your first instincts are on reading this, do not abandon us yet! I am more than happy to give any of you as honest an answer as I can to personal queries - please use this email. You have my very sincere personal apologies for this uncertainty which will be hopefully resolved very quickly. Best regards,"

Only time will tell if his (subdued) optimism is justified, but what does seem to be clear is that this situation is not originating within Macau Express but being deliberately manufactured elsewhere. It beggars belief given that the two airlines have virtually the same shareholders!

Maybe they like intrigue more than money????

Maybe no one can remember what the reason was for starting a second airline in the first place????

Answers on a post card please!!

Watch this space!

Hailer

inerviews are going on ,initialy for type rated f/os on A-320.
then non will be called within next 3 months

imm rated on the AN-74 ,,could anyone refer me to a job??

No wonder people are starting to walk out. I'll say it again, they will keep telling you "next week" until it happens or it flops. So take any guidance with a very large pinch of salt. Clearly the pilots start date has already been moved a long way, and I cannot believe Air China gives a stuff about delaying you further, or the launch date.

If it does cave in, I suspect the aircraft will be offered to Air Macau, who will reject them - if only because NX has a CEO that only cares about developing cargo and maintaining the Taiwan-China route (witness how much he has done over 4 years in the world's fastest growing economy).

Which means if you are typed I would personally call or email or visit NX DFO Capt Du to get ahead of the queue. Upgrades are going on, and rumours abound that upto 20 pilots will go in the new year. If you are not rated however, this could become painful if it does indeed cave in.

Hailer - some answers. As someone who has been here some time, I can guarantee you money is of little object to Air Macau or Air China - take a close look at the operations of both. Its about not losing money, rather than making it.

And the rationale for the airline is simple - its a conflict of interests:
- Air Macau: must be seen by the local politicians to be adding more destinations and frequencies (in line with the economy), or it face losing its monopoly. But it doesnt want the losses (they dont want to hurt their own mgmt bonuses) so it has created a start up JV to fly the routes that cant make money

- Local magnate Stanley Ho: wants more destinations and frequencies to China, to bring Chinese punters in to fill his casinos and hotels

- Beijing: is worried that Stanley would be successful. Gaming advertising is already banned on the mainland due to problem of corrupt local officials money laundering here. So Beijing is in control, but does not want flights to the mainland (oops, shouldnt have announced those MAX). And now it will want some face/respect back too, so the bureaucratic machine will slow to an appropriate speed to remind people who is in control.

- MAX mgmt: has been unbelieveably stupid and took a very blase approach, and has upset everyone by declaring destinations that NX and Beijing clearly dont want them to have, before speaking to them.

Which leaves you with a senior mgmt team that probably has to go (but wasnt it good pay while it lasted boys?), aircraft that are coming too quickly for the politics to be resolved, and if it survives, an airline with aircraft that can only compete on existing LCC non-China routes, where it cant make money.

I really hope for all concerned that this gets resolved in 2 weeks, but I have been around for too long to be anything other than cynical. 2 weeks is the blink of an eye for people who rock up late to work, have a long lunch and nap, and knock off early - and do FA at their desks.

Pilots Beware
 

Arrowhead

Difficult to argue with your main premise - particularly that guys need to be very sure that they know exactly what they are signing for. I am not sure that there is even much conviction amongst the MAX operations guys. They certainly feel they have had the mushroom treatment from the information I have heard.

Also difficult to argue with your judgment on the MAX senior management -for the three "amigos" involved it may owe more to sycophantic naivety and a sheltered upbringing than mere stupidity. The real rogues may be the share-holders - not noted for their care and concern. Would you let your daughter marry anyone from Air China, Shun Tak or CNAC??

However, that matters little to the pilots awaiting their joining dates. They are not stupid - and I would be surprised of the CV are not being updated as I write. That could be exactly what NX want - the need to recruit using their own "sources"?

Let us hope they confound the sceptics - my money is not on MAX surviving but the pilots and aircraft may still be needed. Air China and Air Macau are short of both.

Hailer

Max plans binned
 

Heard from locals on Friday that Max has been scrapped. Engineers already employed were all given notice late last week

Thud and Blunder
 

My guess is that there will be another airline but one which loses as much money as NX (if not more, as most of the core costs are being locked in at the top of the cycle by a MAX workforce that will not be too bothered about building a cost-effective airline whilst they are being shafted by their lead shareholders).

The current KA management team will be replaced by a suitably nicotine-stained Air China/NX implant and the AOC will come through a bit late but by middle of next year.

So, who is this good news for?

Certainly for the various apparatchiks running NX who hold on to their positions for a little longer, and probably for a few guys from Air China who get to come down to Macau and play Big Brother.

Its also not bad news for pilots wanting a couple of years OK money with MAX/NX, a type rating and some solid hours out of Macau. Like Arrowhead says, NX knows enough about itself not to aspire to make money but it is focused on blocking anyone else from doing anything. Air China is their lender of last resort and they cannot accept "foreigners" on their patch. So job security should be OK for people ready to put up with all of the bollocks.

Its bad news for Macau; the aviation scene will stumble on for another couple of years with no significant internal change and most outsiders will just laugh. NX can't even make money in a monopoly environment...
Air Asia's own growth ex-Macau has highlighted that all of the rehearsed arguments about unsustainable routes are nonsense. The fault is with NX management (and implicitly with their shareholders for choosing, backing and retaining them).

Its bad news too for Viva in that they will continue to be stymied politically, running up bigger losses and making fresh investment for an undefined business plan extremely difficult to source. Ultimately they are as much of a political project as NX and MAX and have no scope for growth unless the politics changes. If they had options out of Macau they would not have an aircraft in Papua New Guinea and their founder would not have departed to Russia.

NX is symptomatic of Macau companies in general, although a particularly diseased case. Shun Tak is not much better but at least has a land bank it can trade on. Its like a scene from Night of the Living Dead, with the corporate corpses desparately gorging themselves in the last few hours before sunlight. Now, who brings the sunlight is a more interesting question...

WT

I suspect everyone on the mainland will be too busy in the run up to the Olympics to do anything (including allocating new slots). So its sooner or much later. On pilots, knowing Air Macau and the regulator I doubt they will take on more than a handful on non-typed guys, if any at all.

"Its bad news too for Viva in that they will continue to be stymied politically, running up bigger losses and making fresh investment for an undefined business plan extremely difficult to source. Ultimately they are as much of a political project as NX and MAX and have no scope for growth unless the politics changes. If they had options out of Macau they would not have an aircraft in Papua New Guinea and their founder would not have departed to Russia."

VIVA fought hard against NX to win Busan and Sydney, and arguably Phuket. More battles likely to follow over the next six months, including the local regulatory (not political) scene. Without MAX, there will be even more political pressure to get more routes launched out of Macau, by either NX or VIVA - esp since the casinos are now undershooting forecasts. And you are wrong about PNG and AP - both are beneficial to VIVA.

MAX
 

still, could have have been an opportunity for us non rated guys to get a leg up in the airlines, stick it out for the length of the contract and take it from there.:ouch:

Too early to abandon all hope?
 

Despite the conviction of the previous few posts I would be reluctant to write the epitaph for MAX just yet.

It is certain that the in-fighting between MAX and Air Macau has led to a despicable loss of expectation for pilots awaiting start dates. However maybe something can be rescued from the ashes yet - those hotel beds and casino tables in Macau have to be occupied, and I suspect the casino/ hotel operators could not care which bunch of useless self serving and opinionated managements provides the air services as long as they happen.

What is certain is that all the brave talk about creating something different is just hot air. Maybe pilots looking for type ratings and/ or jet experience can still get what they need and then "consider their options"? It would be a brave man, though, who gave up another offer to wait for this lot.

I happen to know that the people involved in the recruitment feel pretty shamefaced about the whole thing - they have been made to look very foolish by the actions of the share-holders. However, for those pilots that can hang on. or have nothing else on offer all hope has not yet evaporated in my opinion.

One thing I do not agree with - Macau does not suck. It ain't Las Vegas or Geneva but it beats the hell out of lots of current expat venues as a place to live.


Hailer

I agree with Hailer, indeed moreso. Macau is a great place (bar the PRD pollution) once you get to know your way around properly. Dont let bitter and twisted old NX pilots put you off. :mad:True, there is more traffic and rent costs more, than 5 years ago. Also true, pay is a even more, there are loads more decent places to eat and drink, and multiples more recreational activities to do.

Hailer, remind us who has resigned from MAX in the last two weeks? :}(positions not names)

i will adopt the prudent approach of expecting the worst and hoping for the best. keep those insightful posts going guys, either way, will be interesting to hear how it all unfolds

Resignations
 

Arrowhead,

Not got any information on departures other than the Head of Operations (FH), but he had got to the end of his contract and I think it is unrelated - although he is reportedly very disgusted by what has happened. However further departures are bound to be just around the corner.

The shrewd ones will wait to see what transpires - particularly a potential pay out? The pilots who may have been shafted by this would be well advised to join forces and get an opinion on Macao labour law which could be in their favour for a few dollars at least.

I would hope that the management that has led everybody up this gum tree will be the first to fall on their swords. It takes skill to snatch defeat of this order from the jaws of victory - capital, aircraft and routes all available but incompetence, megalomania and jealousy win the day!

It will be very interesting to see if the regulator (AACM) is going to dance to Air Macau's tune - some of the things that Air Macau apparently want to do would make the hair curl in any normal regulatory regime.

I hope that the Macau Express guys use the facility of pprune to air their opinion on this shambles - if nothing else it might make them feel better! For the sake of those guys facing an uncertain winter let us hope that they manage to salvage something.

Hailer

Trouble In Tinsel Town
 

This is the second bunch of losers FH has been involved with (the first being HKE) as Head of Oooops! and safety. No doubt assuring all joiners of a rosey future then moving on before the s**t hits the fan. If he is embarrassed about it , he should be.
Time to smell the roses FH.

It's Macau and its government who should be embarrassed - four years of trying and still nothing credible has emerged in terms of air service support for the new Macau economy. Its almost as if they want HKG or Zhuhai to take up the slack. Roll on those new ferries from the Venetian and we'll see if it can be done.

CNAC is the prime culprit in all of this in pushing something forward without any coherent plan. Air China then gets more directly involved and asks more sensible questions about where cost advantages are coming from versus incumbents and CNAC (and their third attempt at a management team) has no answer.

Air China doesn't really care anyway, as long as no one else can move into the space. They're too busy dreaming of intergalactic domination to bother with trivial stuff like Macau. Plus the politics of their Taiwan obsession means that controlling a dull aviation environment is more important than anything else.

Throw in an NX senior management desperate to prevent even the mildest of performance comparisons in their own backyard and we have all the ingredients of the current mess. Forced to put money they don't have into an airline they don't want, no doubt NX will now do its best to make a "dual airline" strategy impossible...

Shun Tak is also getting some lessons in minority shareholding...at least Virgin Blue saw the writing on the wall with the CNAC gang and wisely cut their losses earlier in the process. Pansy better stick to monopolies in future...

Question abt the start date.
 

Does anyone can tell abt the expected start date of Macau Express. It makes me worrying a lot!

It's not likely to be good news
 

Mali Mali - you worry probably with good cause, unfortunately. The civil war between MAX and NX is apparently all but done - down to the mopping up of the last pockets of resistance. It is unlikely to bring with it good news for the pilots hired by MAX - at best they can probably expect to go through an NX recruitment process (and even if successful be expected to fund their own type ratings). NX are enjoying bragging rights all over town and no spirit of reconciliation is evident

The MAX senior management undoubtedly made a grave error underestimating the opposition and over estimating their own reputation and worth. However we may be about to see that bad as they may have been they were brilliant compared with the muppets who will now take over the show. As to the shareholders and board of MAX - a sad ineffectual lot.

Interesting to see if the regulators have any b**** or whether they are in the pocket of NX as postulated. If they are God help everyone - particularly the passengers.

Even in the current climate this is likely to be a sad and unjustified blow for the pilots promised jobs. As ever in this business the pilots seem to be treated as nothing more than collateral damage. I hope they cause some ripples.

Hailer

NX does it again!!!
 

The new restructuring of flight operations department in NX really shows the kind of people that are at the wheel.

Capt D remains as VPFO, he probably forgot how he got that job, but I still remember!!! You were a snaughty little kid, kissing the CEO's ass for over a year when you were the safety manager assistant. Lucky, lucky, the office of the safety department was next to the CEO's, mmhh!!:confused:

The safety manager left, and you self promote yourself to safety manager!! ok, but when the ex, ex, ex, CP (sorry lost count) left, the CEO went over the old VPFO and promoted you to CP, weird???:= First time ever in NX history that a CEO does this!!! Especially from a CEO who can't tell the difference between a A300, and A320 and judges good piloting skills on the softness of the landing!!!:}

But back to Capt D, so the memo came out and you were suddenty the new CP, wow!!! Congrats you really worked hard for that job!!!

What??? One month later the VPFO goes away??? You had nothing to do with it??? :=

Then you called your old buddy from the safety department to be the new VPFO, and he stays only for 2 months, how hot was that seat anyway??:\

Well congratulations again Capt D, you are now the new VPFO after 3 moths as a CP, and you are doing a hell of a job!!!! :yuk:

In the words of the CP (Capt RP) that resigned "If the chinese boy is there just to make money, that's his problem, I can't do the same so I'm leaving":D

Let's go down a step then, the new CP is Capt. CJ, congratulations to you, I really believe you could do a great job as a CP, but that's not gonna happen, and it's not your fault either.:*

Keep in mind that you were not the current VPFO's first choice, you were the 4th!!!! That means that there are 3 guys ahead that he rather have there than you, mainly his (PANG YAO) but luckily AACM said no to all his proposals!! No wonder it's been 5 months since the old CP announce his resignation and no white smoke for that long!!! You guys must be really busy!!:rolleyes:

In deed you are, I figured out why!!! You were figuring out a scheme to promote your friend without the approval of AACM, so you came up with a new position in the company, Fleet manager!!! Wow, congrats Capt F.!!:D

First I thought he was manager of the A320 only, and someone else would take the 321 and the 319, but it turns out he got the whole thing!!!!!HA ha..funny!!!

Ok, but back to reality, an airline with only 320's requires a fleet manager?? Wait a minute, I forgot there's a Cargo A300!!! but they have a fleet manager, well that makes sense because the CP is not qualified on the A300, but he is on the 320, so why the :mad: we need a fleet manager???

Possible answers :
1 - For him to filter all info that gets to the newly appointed CP?
2 - To kick out the current CP at the first opportunity and slide his PANG YAO to CP when that happens?
3 - For his PANG YAO to make more money?

Don't know, maybe there's something else!!! Must be his good skills as an instructor, and his punctuality!!:ugh:

Let's not forget that Capt. F is a hard working chap!!! Last time I had a training class in the office and he was the instructor, he only arrived 1 hour and 15 minutes late, and only took more 45 minutes to figure out how to work the computer!! Must be a new record for him, I heard he took longer before!! The funny part came when he was looking at the slides on the screen and reading them for the first time!!! Awesome preparation!!!:D

Really feel sorry for MAX and the newly recruited pilots, this is the kind of management that NX runs, not sure what's gonna happen but AirMacau loves to create obstacles, this is the only way they can compete, by not having any competition!!!

Safe landings guys!!!;)

Macau Express
 

So the facts are now thus:
a) Nov sees 3 more daily flights added to MFM: Malaysian from KUL, AirAsia from Kuching, and China Eastern from Shanghaia)
b) Conversely, NX Nov/Dec schedule shows dropping 2 routes (Guiyang and Changsha), and cutting another in half (Chengdu)
c) NX Q3 pax numbers down 2% yoy, and cargo tonnage down 6% yoy - versus economy up >20%
d) NX getting another A300 pax, to be converted to freight (gosh, the last implementation was so successful!)
e) 2 capts resigned in the last week, more pilots expected to follow in the New Year

So the rumours are now thus (I am NOT vouching for the credibility of any):
1) NX will send back 2 A321s early next year
2) NX will pick up one A320 from the MX contract early next year
3) NX looking into taking on some pilots from MX, since NX has own need which is expected to get worse in the New Year (see above), plus looking into some kind of wet lease deal for MX
4) Air China looking into re-organising whole NX mgmt team, and consolidating the lot to Beijing
5) NX to move to own handling in Macau in Nov
6) MX setting up new simulator training agreement in Europe/Mid East
7) most importantly, the restuarant monopoly in Macau Airport ends at the end of this year, and McDonalds is coming

So MX does not yet appear dead and buried just yet.
Meanwhile Air Macau continues getting smaller as Macau gets bigger. Go figure...

Any good news from them????:rolleyes:

I am hearing 2 top mgmt bods at MX have gone in the last week, and that the aircraft are now definitely going to Air China (together with NX mgmt). MX therefore appears buried.

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of this. However, if you are waiting for MX, sounds like you now need to activate plan B.

Update
 

Arrowhead, It appears you are correct. The whisper is CEO (FW) and Chief Commercial Officer (RC) gone. Chief Pilot (CN) resigned. COO (DL) to follow. With a hierarchy like that it is no wonder they had no commercial case to make that would have justified the existence of a LCC!

No doubt there will be much spreading of the blame for this shambles with the ex management in the bast traditions of failed airline managements refusing to accept any responsibility.

In the interim I do not believe that the poor pilots who were offered jobs have been given any official notification of what is happening.

The rumour mill has it that Air Macau and Air China will put in their own management very soon to persevere with the AOC application - presumably to try to get the services up and running whilst they complete the take-over.

Are they underestimating the time scale and the difficulties? Probably. However it gives a glimmer of hope for the current employees and the pilots in limbo. Let us hope that some phoenix can raise from these ashes.

The bright spot is that the new management probably can not be much worse!

Hailer

"put in own mgmt"?

With top NX mgmt rumoured to be for the chop, and operations staff already overstretched with audits and recruitment, I cant see how anyone at NX will take on MX AOC responsibility. Which perhaps explains the rumour the aircraft may be going to Beijing.

Also heard Air China may be partnering with TransAsia for PEK-MFM-TPE, and not using subsidiary and partner NX. Oops. What does that say about Beijing's relationship with NX mgmt?

:sad:....:eek:....:(