Thats very good, but are these guys all available from their current jobs to fly over here at short notice !?!

Guys, with all due respect, but some of you are over-reacting. This is precisely what the CEO wanted to achieve. All he is aiming for, is spreading fear to help him negotiate a better ( read:worse) collective work agreement.
Don't panic and seek legal advice, chaps.
Good luck!

Let's not exaggerate: the 744 and 748 are common types and you don't need a special rating to fly a 748.

All you need is a quick transition course of a few days, I think the FAA minimum is 2 days. :hmm:

From "rumours" it appears that Cargolux Italia is currently running with nearly 30 pilots for 1 aeroplane, is this a normal Crew index in the cargo business? I thought a crew Index of 6-7 max 8 would be enough!

Who know what?
 

What I realise by reading all these stuffs here, is that nobody knows anything! Thanks to PPRUNE that stands for "Rumour Network".
However, somebody knows many things: M. Akbar Al-Baker. Is there anybody who's ready to ask him his point of view? That would help, isn't it?

the management at cv needs to address cost issues and productivity top down and not the other way..in 2008 -2009 crisis certain members of cv wanted to downsize to 8 aircraft,fortunately one vp maintained that a 14 a/c fleet would survive and consequently this proved correct with a return to profits when others were suffering. if the arabs go there will others more than willing to fill the gap.. believe me..:D

Tank2Engine, thank you, yes, I am well aware of the requirements for the "conversion" to the -8 having done it myself !

My point was that the whole Cargolux Italia scenario seemed unlikely, and giving them all a quick conversion to the -8 was included in my doubts.

The FAA or Boeing quote of a 2 day course is absolutely ridiculous in my humble opinion.

Well...if the Arabs let CV go down the drain then those same Arabs (read: QR) will fill probably the void. :suspect:

It's a win-win situation for them; spend a few million (perhaps the equivalent of one 777F) to buy only 35% in a company, run it into the ground, and then take all it's assets/customers/employees/routes.

To quote Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels: It's a deal, it's a steal, it's the Sale of the f*kcing Century!" In fact, f*kc it Nick, I think I'll keep it" ;)

Suppose, hypothetically speaking, that a new business plan only caters for 5-7 aircraft in LUX and mass lay-offs are required, then that problem will be solved instantly as hundreds of -8 rated pilots will flood the market. Given a choice, I would guess that those laid off pilots will probably prefer a new base in MXP over one in DOH.

IMHO it could be a zero sum game, you don't need any new or additional -8 pilots. The only thing required is to (forcefully) transfer a bunch of already -8 rated pilots by making them redundant in once place (LUX) whilst waving a new and lower contract in front of their faces from another place (MXP or perhaps DOH). :{

Shareholder structure to stay the same at Cargolux

Photo: Guy Jallay
(CS) The distribution of shares among Cargolux shareholders is to remain the same, ministers confirmed to unions at a meeting on Thursday.

LCGB President Patrick Dury said that Economy Minister Etienne Schneider and Transport Minister Claude Wiseler had confirmed that the current structure of shareholder would remain in place, even should the company be recapitalised.

In the meeting unions demanded that the Luxembourg social model be upheld and they asked for clarification on the structural changes Cargolux is envisioning.

While unions agreed that there were difficulties in the industry, representatives said it was time to stop toying with employees' fears. They added that it was in the best interest of Cargolux to motivate its employees.

Ahead of the meeting, Economy Minister Etienne Schneider had said he wants to keep maintenance operations of the air freight carried in Findel, saying that ways would have to be found to make the sector competitive.

Next week Tuesday, representatives of the government, the unions, as well as Cargolux, Luxair and lux-Airport will meet for a round table discussion on the future of the Luxembourg air transport sector.

Lux Wort paper reporting that staff, with Union support, planning a demo in front of Parliament on Nov 13 . Big question is why the government , 65 % share holder, seems to be sitting on its hands. CV and LG are major employers.

Not recent but still interesting: Cargo expansion for Qatar Airways - The National

It's all widely known and and largely outdated blablabla about "it would make a very potent airline between us and them." In the mean time, 1,5 years down the road, the facts are telling a totally opposite story, perhaps that's the only interesting thing about it. Humorous however, is that as usual, "Mr al Baker declined to provide actual figures." :)

Here's another nice (and more recent) interview in which Mr. al Baker dodges the whole QR profitability issue. Lot's of rumours and hearsay, but nothing official black on white in the form of an annual statement. So, before they have a go at the profitability of CV, I really wonder how much money does the QR cargo branch make or lose every month flying cargo at rock bottom rates in order to gain market share with brand new and expensive 777F's? :suspect:

topic went very quiet... everything fixed? all happy again at cv?

Not really

Flight Global reporting that Qatar is ditching its stake in Cargolux. What happens now?

http://www.arabianaerospace.aero/qatar-pulling-out-of-cargolux-say-airline-sources.html?utm_source=googleNews&utm_medium=organic&utm_ca mpaign=news_feed

Good news or really bad news???

Apparently the luxembourg government is already looking for new shareholders. In this case Volga-Dnepr

Article in german from a local newspaper:
Tageblatt Online - Qatar Airways könnte aussteigen - Nachrichten

It's official: Qatar Airways to split from Cargolux

LW Archive
(ADW) It is now official! Qatar Airways is pulling out of Cargolux and the Chairman of the Board Albert Wildgen is resigning. Rumours regarding the split circulating throughout the day were confirmed by Transport Minister Claude Wiseler to the "Luxemburger Wort".

On Friday a strategic Cargolux board meeting was held which included Qatar Airways head Akbar Al Baker.

What Qatar Airways wanted was the interim CEO and CFO of Cargolux, Richard Forson, to become the permanent CEO. However Luxembourg shareholders had ruled this out at a meeting that layed out the strategic future of the company, explained the Minister of Transport.

Akbar Al-Baker’s response was that there was no point in continuing with Cargolux and therefore Qatar Airways would pull out of the agreement.


Albert Wildgen, the outgoing Cargolux CEO
Albert Wildgen’s resignation

At the same time the resignation of Albert Wildgen as Chairman of Cargolux became known. According to RTL, he will still remain in the post until the end of November, a position he has only held since September 2011 as the successor to Marc Hoffmann.

Just how soon Qatar Airways will split from Cargolux and and who will take over their 35 percent of the company is not yet clear, emphasised Minister Wiseler.

If you think about it... the 35% will cost 3-4 football players (Soccer for the cousins)....