GFslowdown on upgrades etc
 

Latest
1-20 upgrades per year
2-list of 777 is ready (but for ethical reasons they will ask us which fleet we prefer)
3-777 pilots will sign a bond for 3 years
4-f/o close to command (within 3 years) will not go to 777
5-considering bitting system

Thats hilarious! GF even in good times have never done 20 upgrades a year and now they expect you to believe they will slow down to that rate. What a load of nonsense. 10 year FO's still waiting for a left seat. Ask them to tell you about the 3 bears, thats another fairytale. Here's something more credible for you. The Crown Prince has decided to give GF one year to make a profit or he is going to pull the pin.

JB: "The Crown Prince has decided to give GF one year to make a profit or he is going to pull the pin."

See Psalm146:3 :ok:

I assume "pulling the pin" = privatization?

Aren't the 777s coming as a wet lease??

Well, he might as not waste his time because that is simply not possible.
Where to next lads?

Mike Park, who in their right mind would invest money in a company which has not seen profit for decades? With the financial crisis we have now there is NO private money to be had anywhere. As Che says, where to next?

Bahrain Air if you want.... I reckon its highly likely that the new planes will be transferred across to the national carrier of the kingdom of bahrain :E. Why continue to pump money into GF when you can pretend to start fresh with Bahrain Air [of course same hands stealing from the drawers].

left_to_first_class, Bahrain Air are in an even worse state than GF. They can't even afford to pay for their cabin crews to go & do their annual rechecks!!!

Why a 3 year bond? I thought we were now on 2 year bonds. FO's within 3 years of command are ineligible for the 777? So by the Company's estimates of upgrades, you mean only the most junior FO's on the A320 would be eligible for the 777 (IF it even comes)?

Doesn't surprise me. I have trouble seeing how they could be profitable. But like most anything in the region, profitability does not seem to be a precondition for continued operation.

cause the a/cs are leased for 3 years +2 years option

concerning on who is going to 777. Arpox 175 f/o all fleets

aprox 90 f/o 320

60 min upgrades within 3 years

what's left aprox 110 f/o for 30 slots

something like that

Ummm, more like "good night nurse" or "thanks for comin" or "don't come monday" or "last one out turn off the lights". That kinda thing. Geddit?

Think around four years since DEC's hit here..

Does anyone think GF will again utilise DECs when the aircraft orders start coming in, especially the 777s?

Dream Dream .....:=

Cannot imagine why we would hire DEC's, unless we run out of candidates qualified to upgrade...most airplanes coming are replacements for older ones anyway, not additional.

interesting you say that ib because for the sake of bahrainisation, i think gf will bring in decs.
why? a lot of the senior local f/os on the a320s without the required hours are at risk of being overtaken by junior expats who have the requirements. most of these nationals will need at the very least five years to be assessible.
bringing in contract decs stalls the progression process and 'buys' time (literally and figuratively) for the locals to get the requirements. they will fly through the hours (ahem mind the pun) and enabling the seniority to stay on course.
though i potentially will be at a loss, i'm a believer in a pure seniority system. it ain't perfect but the second best option is a far away second.

not sure what the count is on the 320, as far as qualified f.o.'s, but there seems to be for the moment anyway, enough qualified f.o.'s on the big bus to come back to the bus-let for commands...in a few years this might change..have never seen commands here given on preference to nationality or otherwise..but if they run out of qualified f.o.'s then all bets are off I suppose..seniority is understood to have a by-pass provision, hiring DEC's is much more of a "seniority breach" than by-passing senior f.o.'s without the requirements for command...I'll bet the senior f.o.'s will avoid any new fleet as it will most likely "lock" them in position for a period of time..in any event when the bypassed f.o.'s do upgrade, then they are automatically senior to the folks who bypassed them...

brassplate

A far as I know the local F/Os on the 320 have only been in the right seat for upto 3 years. So they are hardly "senior". Anyway there are plenty of truly senior local F/Os on the 330/340 ready for their upgrades. But that has never stopped DECs before so don't expect it to make any difference now.

.... local guy with 3 years in gulf air is consider a senior... He flies 600-700 hours a year... mmmm so he will probably have around 2000hr. What about the expat that joins with aprox 6000hr the company? He has all the requirments except the 3 years in the company. On top of that he probably has done few visual approaches in his career. A visual approach in gulf air is like Imelman's maneuver.