Air Pacific - Bright & Rosy?
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Professionalism?
Coco Blue
The farmer NEVER wore his hat (he had a full head of hair so didn't need to cover the bald patch!), but I found his professionalism to up there with the best. Even in the ****test wx and doing a GA in windshear you always felt relaxed. Never seen him tense ever. Always cool and calm. But if wearing a hat makes you 'professional' then ?
Politics is what screwed him. I will miss his strawberries & ice cream, smoked sausages and BBQ sauce 'crew meals' on the HNL & YVR sectors. He knew how to enjoy life. We all enjoyed flying with him. CC would welcome with open arms on long trips- something to do with the chocolate in his bag!
Moce Vinaka
The farmer NEVER wore his hat (he had a full head of hair so didn't need to cover the bald patch!), but I found his professionalism to up there with the best. Even in the ****test wx and doing a GA in windshear you always felt relaxed. Never seen him tense ever. Always cool and calm. But if wearing a hat makes you 'professional' then ?
Politics is what screwed him. I will miss his strawberries & ice cream, smoked sausages and BBQ sauce 'crew meals' on the HNL & YVR sectors. He knew how to enjoy life. We all enjoyed flying with him. CC would welcome with open arms on long trips- something to do with the chocolate in his bag!
Moce Vinaka
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I spent a while out there some years ago and enjoyed it but for the racism exhibited toward us white guys.
The FA's were a good bunch although a little reclusive on overnights; treated much, much worse than pilots in the company
The FO's wer amongst the best I've seen, particularly the INdian guys (Fijian born Indians). The local guys were ooutstanding, but the Indian guys just a touch more professional.
GG must have changed; when I was there he was a good bloke so the waterfall effect must be changing him.
I have fond memories of the FO's skills, overnights in downtown Suva, Singh's Curry House for the best curry in the Pacific, having a coldie with BIG Sam (the nicest guy yoou could meet)and Raj (quiet but so professional), and Josh as a checkie (they don't come any better).
All the best to the guys still there. I hope the local guys aren't getting screwed too hard by the mgt.
The FA's were a good bunch although a little reclusive on overnights; treated much, much worse than pilots in the company
The FO's wer amongst the best I've seen, particularly the INdian guys (Fijian born Indians). The local guys were ooutstanding, but the Indian guys just a touch more professional.
GG must have changed; when I was there he was a good bloke so the waterfall effect must be changing him.
I have fond memories of the FO's skills, overnights in downtown Suva, Singh's Curry House for the best curry in the Pacific, having a coldie with BIG Sam (the nicest guy yoou could meet)and Raj (quiet but so professional), and Josh as a checkie (they don't come any better).
All the best to the guys still there. I hope the local guys aren't getting screwed too hard by the mgt.
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The use of metaphors such horses, farmers, cows, green faeces.. its all too confusing... Dont suppose someone would like to just stick to the most under-used language... plain unmetaphorised english.
Just a thought from a slow witted being.
Just a thought from a slow witted being.
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Bulabandit different people have had different experiences with the said gentleman.I respect yours was good,mine was not.There is more to professionalism then wearing a hat,I agree.I wish him all the best because he was a nice guy.At my time GG and the mentioned guys were awesome.I cannot comment on how they are now.It is a good company with some very nice people and thus my initial post,can't bag the whole company because there are a few rotten apples.
Cheers
Coco
Cheers
Coco
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Coco...I agree that there are some good guys in FJ and it being a good company but werent these issues of racism and nepotism brought forward by the good guys?
I also noticed that unity within the Fijian pilots was very strong. They helped each other out wether it was for recruiting, professional advice or just moral support. This was obvious even with the FJ pilots being supportive of their Sunair and Air Fiji brethren. On the other hand there was no such thing with the Indian pilots. It was every man for himself. No support or help from the senior Indian pilots at FJ for their bro's in domestic. Even within FJ the Indians arent as true to each other as their Fijian colleagues. Please dont misunderstand me...I only say it as I saw it.
We all agree that FJ has potential to be a dream job where at the end of the day the pilots can be happy and show the true Fiji spirit.
I also noticed that unity within the Fijian pilots was very strong. They helped each other out wether it was for recruiting, professional advice or just moral support. This was obvious even with the FJ pilots being supportive of their Sunair and Air Fiji brethren. On the other hand there was no such thing with the Indian pilots. It was every man for himself. No support or help from the senior Indian pilots at FJ for their bro's in domestic. Even within FJ the Indians arent as true to each other as their Fijian colleagues. Please dont misunderstand me...I only say it as I saw it.
We all agree that FJ has potential to be a dream job where at the end of the day the pilots can be happy and show the true Fiji spirit.
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Dragon the typical line pilot does not have much sway in the company to make big changes.The culture in the company is much like the culture in FJ itself,changes come from people on top and if they are a bit indifferent themselves then you tend to have an entrenched system.Day to day we still tried and once again would like to point out that it was an underlying problem rather then in day to day activities.I totally agree that the Indian pilots were not as helpful to their own kind as the local Fijian pilots.In fact a lot of Fijian pilots were much more helpful to the younger Indian pilots.That can be taced to the two cultures itself,one being individualistic the other communal.The point I was trying to make as a lot of other posts have is that the company has lost lots of good guys because of some management decisions and attitudes.I do not want a slanging match between the two races as everybody generally got along well.But the atitude of management did encourage this sought of behaviour in a subtle way.That was MY experience.There was only a very few that behaved this way.Ph and TW and these guys ruled the place like it was their kingdom.They have potentially destroyed a very good company.I wanted to participate in this thread because I did not want guys to absolutely trash the company and say how everything was rotten to the core-it is not.There are some absolutely wondeful guys stil working there.AP gave us a start which has allowed to excell elsewhere and I for one do not want to trash it just because I am now out of it.My disagreement is with the management and their attitudes and how they still operate and haven't learnt a thing.Our experiences with individuals differ.That is very normal.
Apologise for the long winded response.
Coco
Apologise for the long winded response.
Coco
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Coco
Sad to see the level to which FJ has deteriorated since I left.The rant I see here is testament to the union busting policies put in place by TW and his mgt team.Leave the race issue out of it.
Got to give FJ credit for training its pilots well. FJ pilots are highly regarded and appreciated in EK,QR,WY,KA and elsewhere.
Masalama
FF
Sad to see the level to which FJ has deteriorated since I left.The rant I see here is testament to the union busting policies put in place by TW and his mgt team.Leave the race issue out of it.
Got to give FJ credit for training its pilots well. FJ pilots are highly regarded and appreciated in EK,QR,WY,KA and elsewhere.
Masalama
FF
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Air Pacific's $1.6bn deal
From the Fijitimes.com.fj website...
Air Pacific will spend $1.6billion on five Boeing 787-9 from a Boeing aircraft company in Seattle in the United States of America, says chief executive officer John Campbell.
In looking at increasing its fleet, Mr Campbell said the airline would be receiving two aircraft in 2011 and another three in 2012.
Mr Campbell said the order for the aircraft was placed in 2004 but the delivery would be in four years.
"It will mean that all of our wide-bodied aircraft fleet are common so we will utilise one type of spares, a common group of pilots and cabin crew which will provide considerable operational efficiency," Mr Campbell said.
He said the aircraft would be extremely capable and could economically cover flights from as short as two hours to as long as 17 hours.
"This is ideal for our entire current and potential network covering points as close as New Zealand and as far away as South America, China and India non-stop," Mr Campbell said.
He said the aircraft was capable of carrying 20 tonnes of cargo and 320 passengers fully loaded and could cover all international points on their existing network and additional points which were under review.
"The B787-9 is extremely fuel efficient, burning less fuel than the 250 seat B767 and saving around 20 per cent in fuel burn per passenger versus the B747," he said.
He said the airline would almost double its capacity over the next five year with the B787s.
"While the wide bodied aircraft seat capacity will increase by around 36 per cent, operational efficiency of the aircraft will virtually double our seat capacity ensuring ample seat availability for tourism and Fiji residents travel needs," Mr Campbell said.
With delivery of the B787 aircraft, he said they would operate five B787, three B737 and share two ATR42-500 aircraft with Pacific Sun.
"It is probable we will also take another B737 between 2009 and 2011 to accommodate forecast tourism growth to Fiji," he said.
He said the aircraft would be leased on a short term basis.
"At the moment we operate three B737 aircraft, one B767-300 and two B747-400 aircraft and share use of two ATR42-500 aircraft with Pacific Sun."
Lets just hope that the "forecast tourism growth" that Campbell mentions does materialise... its just hard to see it with all these mickey mouse political games being played.
BJ
Air Pacific will spend $1.6billion on five Boeing 787-9 from a Boeing aircraft company in Seattle in the United States of America, says chief executive officer John Campbell.
In looking at increasing its fleet, Mr Campbell said the airline would be receiving two aircraft in 2011 and another three in 2012.
Mr Campbell said the order for the aircraft was placed in 2004 but the delivery would be in four years.
"It will mean that all of our wide-bodied aircraft fleet are common so we will utilise one type of spares, a common group of pilots and cabin crew which will provide considerable operational efficiency," Mr Campbell said.
He said the aircraft would be extremely capable and could economically cover flights from as short as two hours to as long as 17 hours.
"This is ideal for our entire current and potential network covering points as close as New Zealand and as far away as South America, China and India non-stop," Mr Campbell said.
He said the aircraft was capable of carrying 20 tonnes of cargo and 320 passengers fully loaded and could cover all international points on their existing network and additional points which were under review.
"The B787-9 is extremely fuel efficient, burning less fuel than the 250 seat B767 and saving around 20 per cent in fuel burn per passenger versus the B747," he said.
He said the airline would almost double its capacity over the next five year with the B787s.
"While the wide bodied aircraft seat capacity will increase by around 36 per cent, operational efficiency of the aircraft will virtually double our seat capacity ensuring ample seat availability for tourism and Fiji residents travel needs," Mr Campbell said.
With delivery of the B787 aircraft, he said they would operate five B787, three B737 and share two ATR42-500 aircraft with Pacific Sun.
"It is probable we will also take another B737 between 2009 and 2011 to accommodate forecast tourism growth to Fiji," he said.
He said the aircraft would be leased on a short term basis.
"At the moment we operate three B737 aircraft, one B767-300 and two B747-400 aircraft and share use of two ATR42-500 aircraft with Pacific Sun."
Lets just hope that the "forecast tourism growth" that Campbell mentions does materialise... its just hard to see it with all these mickey mouse political games being played.
BJ
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Pundit ,
the airline has been around for 50+ years introducing and keeping all sorts of aircraft in that time and over the last 20 odd years have made a profit every year except one or two during the coups.The management are tragic but not the airline.Experience wise most of the Capts if not all have had 10+ years as F/O's and are good operators.In fact AP have been quite conservative with their expansion.I think if J* can take over a national airline then I suppose they can also take over Qantas.I think to make such a broad statement you should be able to quantify it with some solid facts and understanding of the situation not only in AP but Fiji itself.
Coco
the airline has been around for 50+ years introducing and keeping all sorts of aircraft in that time and over the last 20 odd years have made a profit every year except one or two during the coups.The management are tragic but not the airline.Experience wise most of the Capts if not all have had 10+ years as F/O's and are good operators.In fact AP have been quite conservative with their expansion.I think if J* can take over a national airline then I suppose they can also take over Qantas.I think to make such a broad statement you should be able to quantify it with some solid facts and understanding of the situation not only in AP but Fiji itself.
Coco
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Coco,
my apologies, I was refering to the management of the airline as being tragic, not the staff.
QF withdrew from Nadi ops many years ago to codeshare with AP. They still have a significant influence on the board and I would suggest to you that AP strategy is strongly influenced by the major shareholder. (Indeed the CEO is an ex-QF strategic planner who has a very close relationship with the JQ CEO.)
And, will JQ one day take over QF? maybe not in the immediate future, but come the next downturn........ Those airlines with low cost base alternatives will survive
my apologies, I was refering to the management of the airline as being tragic, not the staff.
QF withdrew from Nadi ops many years ago to codeshare with AP. They still have a significant influence on the board and I would suggest to you that AP strategy is strongly influenced by the major shareholder. (Indeed the CEO is an ex-QF strategic planner who has a very close relationship with the JQ CEO.)
And, will JQ one day take over QF? maybe not in the immediate future, but come the next downturn........ Those airlines with low cost base alternatives will survive
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Pundit,
it is funny when we were there we used to call AP the original Low Cost Carrier due to the abysmal pay they had.QF still has a lot of influence with strategic decision making within the company.AP is still a goverment owned airline with QF having 47% ownership and unlike JC or J* is not a fully owned subsidiary and while QF can influence it,it is not the parent company and therefore cant just integrate it.But yes they do just about everything in line with QF policies.
Coco
it is funny when we were there we used to call AP the original Low Cost Carrier due to the abysmal pay they had.QF still has a lot of influence with strategic decision making within the company.AP is still a goverment owned airline with QF having 47% ownership and unlike JC or J* is not a fully owned subsidiary and while QF can influence it,it is not the parent company and therefore cant just integrate it.But yes they do just about everything in line with QF policies.
Coco
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Thats because the current CEO, is a QF puppet. The best CEO FJ ever had was Mike McQuay, we were going place then . . . . . but in true Fiji style we had another coup .
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Nepotism/corruption at best
"Is it true that the requirements to have a frozen ATPL do not exist anymore? I hear that guys are hired now and given a year to do their ATPL's."
Sadly enough, it's all true. Guys getting in now with incomplete ATPL subjects and minimum hours.......a classic recipe for sh*t stew.....Can barely talk the talk...you can just forget about walking it mate......but what really makes it sad is that you have guys out there who have trully done the hard yards but been discarded for reasons unknown to us................Word over the grape vine is that one of the new s/o(incomplete ATPL) intake is a magistrates son...hmmmmmmmmm
Sadly enough, it's all true. Guys getting in now with incomplete ATPL subjects and minimum hours.......a classic recipe for sh*t stew.....Can barely talk the talk...you can just forget about walking it mate......but what really makes it sad is that you have guys out there who have trully done the hard yards but been discarded for reasons unknown to us................Word over the grape vine is that one of the new s/o(incomplete ATPL) intake is a magistrates son...hmmmmmmmmm
Last edited by Pacificbird; 16th Nov 2007 at 01:26. Reason: enter quote
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theres more to it than what meets the eye
"How come so much politicing in this neck of the woods.
Had a holiday there few years ago,seemed very relaxed."
Holidaying is different from actually livng and working here......and to answer your question.....roughly alittle over 100 pilots in all(expats and locals alike) but this number fluctuates on a monthly basis.....fundemental law that govern economics "supply and demand"
Had a holiday there few years ago,seemed very relaxed."
Holidaying is different from actually livng and working here......and to answer your question.....roughly alittle over 100 pilots in all(expats and locals alike) but this number fluctuates on a monthly basis.....fundemental law that govern economics "supply and demand"
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F/O's as Capt?
## NEWS FLASH ##
Another THREE (3) Contract Capts have voted with their feet this week. I've lost count the number that have gone 'back to whence they came'.
(They are going so quickly I hardly get on first name terms with them!!!!!!!)
BUT the real issue here is that 2 of the 3 are Training Capts - NOTE that they have only been TC's for a few months, and only been with Air Pac a couple of months longer. Us lowly assistants have more time on type than these 'Training Capts', not to mention ETOPS time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This has been highlighted over the last few months with a few HNL flts that have given us cause to 'discuss' our concerns of the inexperience in the left seat!!!!!!!!
Sad think is, the 'black sheep' (as the farmer put it) are still out in the cold. He often said "sheep don't drink with horses".
I wonder when our FJ management will start asking questions. The training bill must be near equal to the 747 fuel bill.
Another THREE (3) Contract Capts have voted with their feet this week. I've lost count the number that have gone 'back to whence they came'.
(They are going so quickly I hardly get on first name terms with them!!!!!!!)
BUT the real issue here is that 2 of the 3 are Training Capts - NOTE that they have only been TC's for a few months, and only been with Air Pac a couple of months longer. Us lowly assistants have more time on type than these 'Training Capts', not to mention ETOPS time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This has been highlighted over the last few months with a few HNL flts that have given us cause to 'discuss' our concerns of the inexperience in the left seat!!!!!!!!
Sad think is, the 'black sheep' (as the farmer put it) are still out in the cold. He often said "sheep don't drink with horses".
I wonder when our FJ management will start asking questions. The training bill must be near equal to the 747 fuel bill.