Bristow North Sea
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: North Sea
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Last in first out is indeed the fairest way to proceed.
However in this case it appears that it is not strictly being applied.
Training Captains (Type) appear to be ring-fenced and exempt!
However in this case it appears that it is not strictly being applied.
Training Captains (Type) appear to be ring-fenced and exempt!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: UK
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BHPS
You are right - NS pilots should maintain parity with their fixed wing cousins, but you miss my point. The oil companies watched as Bristows and Scotia put their prices up and started to make a decent profit. They then watched as pilots and engineers asked for a pay rise. They even watched as strikes were threatened. They must have thought that the country was returning to the 70's. So it is no surprise (to me at least) that they go to great lengths to protect themselves against a future cost rise. Hence the iminent arrival of Bond back in the NS. 10 year contract with a company that is rumoured to not entertain Balpa members. BP must be sitting very smug at the moment.
Helibusdriver,
I dont know how accurate your 1% is, but it matters not. Big companies (like the one you work for) are split up into small units who are responsible for their own budget. So the President for Logistics or whatever he/she likes to call themselves has one objective - cut logistic costs while maintaining the required level of service. They do not care what their savings mean in the whole scheme of things. They only care that at the end of the year they are seen to have earnt their huge bonus for doing a good job.
I cannot believe that there are discussions about the fairest way to make redundancies. There is no way on this planet that Redundancy is fair, which ever way you do it. The sad thing is that the people who really are responsible for redundancies are going to get their share bonuses and a pat on the back from the shareholders for doing a good job. DOING A GOOD JOB!!!??? If management were doing a good job, redundancies wouldnt be necessary.
You are right - NS pilots should maintain parity with their fixed wing cousins, but you miss my point. The oil companies watched as Bristows and Scotia put their prices up and started to make a decent profit. They then watched as pilots and engineers asked for a pay rise. They even watched as strikes were threatened. They must have thought that the country was returning to the 70's. So it is no surprise (to me at least) that they go to great lengths to protect themselves against a future cost rise. Hence the iminent arrival of Bond back in the NS. 10 year contract with a company that is rumoured to not entertain Balpa members. BP must be sitting very smug at the moment.
Helibusdriver,
I dont know how accurate your 1% is, but it matters not. Big companies (like the one you work for) are split up into small units who are responsible for their own budget. So the President for Logistics or whatever he/she likes to call themselves has one objective - cut logistic costs while maintaining the required level of service. They do not care what their savings mean in the whole scheme of things. They only care that at the end of the year they are seen to have earnt their huge bonus for doing a good job.
I cannot believe that there are discussions about the fairest way to make redundancies. There is no way on this planet that Redundancy is fair, which ever way you do it. The sad thing is that the people who really are responsible for redundancies are going to get their share bonuses and a pat on the back from the shareholders for doing a good job. DOING A GOOD JOB!!!??? If management were doing a good job, redundancies wouldnt be necessary.
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Droopystop
Had you explained yourself a little more clearly in your earlier posting it would have helped. However, oil companies don't just do these things to aviation companies, they do it to all their contractors! If contractors raise their prices then staff are going to want a share of that extra profit. Why should they just sit back and let all the bosses and shareholders have it instead?
However, I do agree with the last couple of sentences in your last paragraph.
Had you explained yourself a little more clearly in your earlier posting it would have helped. However, oil companies don't just do these things to aviation companies, they do it to all their contractors! If contractors raise their prices then staff are going to want a share of that extra profit. Why should they just sit back and let all the bosses and shareholders have it instead?
However, I do agree with the last couple of sentences in your last paragraph.
Last edited by BHPS; 3rd Nov 2003 at 22:03.
Join Date: Nov 1999
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Stop press
CHC Scotia's Chief pilot (the replacement for the chief pilot that resigned recently to join the new Bond operation) has just quit also to join bond.
If any of you wanabees has hopes of Bond employment you had better get yourselves an Chief pilot endorsment.
What info did he have that made him jump ship after only 17 days in the hot seat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHC Scotia's Chief pilot (the replacement for the chief pilot that resigned recently to join the new Bond operation) has just quit also to join bond.
If any of you wanabees has hopes of Bond employment you had better get yourselves an Chief pilot endorsment.
What info did he have that made him jump ship after only 17 days in the hot seat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Unfortunately, after all these years, nothing changes on the
north sea, and the same old problems keep
occuring time and again,the same wheels just keep getting
re-invented but at the end of the day are going nowhere.
The North Sea is a dying industry, and before long the good old
NS pilot will have to check the pax in, load up the bags,
fill it with fuel, push it out to runway 34 to save fuel, and
start it manually to save electricity. After an 8hr flying day (eating his own packed lunch) he'll then drive everybody home and just have enough time to wash the helicopter for the next day.
I hope I'm wrong!!!!
north sea, and the same old problems keep
occuring time and again,the same wheels just keep getting
re-invented but at the end of the day are going nowhere.
The North Sea is a dying industry, and before long the good old
NS pilot will have to check the pax in, load up the bags,
fill it with fuel, push it out to runway 34 to save fuel, and
start it manually to save electricity. After an 8hr flying day (eating his own packed lunch) he'll then drive everybody home and just have enough time to wash the helicopter for the next day.
I hope I'm wrong!!!!
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Republic of Ireland
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I don't get it...
First everyone jumped on the bandwagon, slagging the big operators in the North Sea (CHC and Bristow) despite the fact that they are the top payers and are unionized operations.
Then everyone jumped at Bond because they were a non union shop.
Now everyone is pleased that people are leaving the big guys and moving to a non union/anti-union operation.
Am I missing something here?
Then everyone jumped at Bond because they were a non union shop.
Now everyone is pleased that people are leaving the big guys and moving to a non union/anti-union operation.
Am I missing something here?
Bristow unrest?
A friend 'up north' tells me that there is lots of bad feeling amongst Bristow staff at the moment after some heavy handed stuff from their managers - thought they were all happy after their recent pay rises. Maybe the company wants the money back!!
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Scotland
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Bristow Unrest!!
In response to FD2's comments, yes there is LOTS of unrest at Bristow! Apart from the threat of making 14 Captains redundant, the company are imposing swinging reductions in Loss of Licence insurance (as well as the tax and NIC problems), and have now informed the BALPA company council (CC) that there are more problems with the final salary pension scheme! The CC has serious concerns about the timeframe of the pension problem.
The company proposal for LoL is totally inadequate.
At a recent meeting of the BALPA members in Aberdeen (a substatial percentage of all pilots), the CC chairman was able to quell the unrest. After these latest threats, the troops will not be calmed down so easily.
In fact, I believe that a consultative ballot for industrial action is just around the corner. With the pilots at Air Logistics having major problems with Bristow's parent OLOG, over in the US, it is quite possible that industrial action could occur on both sides of the pond. What will the OLOG shareholders think then?
Watch this space!!
The company proposal for LoL is totally inadequate.
At a recent meeting of the BALPA members in Aberdeen (a substatial percentage of all pilots), the CC chairman was able to quell the unrest. After these latest threats, the troops will not be calmed down so easily.
In fact, I believe that a consultative ballot for industrial action is just around the corner. With the pilots at Air Logistics having major problems with Bristow's parent OLOG, over in the US, it is quite possible that industrial action could occur on both sides of the pond. What will the OLOG shareholders think then?
Watch this space!!
Join Date: Oct 2003
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I would LOVE to see loads of the guys finally go fixed wing cos the've had enough, and watch those greedy, useless in Bristow management struggle to fulfill the contracts once and for all. What a wonderful christmas those pilots are going to have with redundancy in the back of their minds. I hope those in charge sleep well at night. Oh, by the way, if you can't get pilots to go to Nigeria then pay TONS more because its a SH*THOLE
in Bristow management struggle to fulfill the contracts once and for all. What a wonderful christmas those pilots are going to have with redundancy in the back of their minds. I hope those in charge sleep well at night. Oh, by the way, if you can't get pilots to go to Nigeria then pay TONS more because its a SH*THOLE
Join Date: Aug 2002
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So now the pay in the North Sea is so high that more people are to be made redundant - at least that's how it seems to read on other threads on this forum.
Many of us in Nigeria are much happier than we ever were in the North Sea, despite your perception of our low pay. However, many here are also now wondering about the threat of redundancy with CHC taking over ACN. The average age of pilots in ACN (as in so many places these days) is well in the 50s, with quite a few over 60 and CHC limits seem to be only 60.
Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of sympathy with those facing possible redundancy just before Christmas and I think that Bristow is nothing like the company it was in the 70s when old man Bristow knew almost all of the pilots by name. In those days the company had amongst the best loss of licence and pension schemes in the business. Unfortunately it seems that, despite what I've been reading about BALPA on another thread, they haven't really helped much, except for getting a salary increase.
I think one of the problems for all of us in the industry is the increasing demise of the smaller companies as they are all gobbled up by the big 2, OLOG and CHC. Unfortunately, going fixed wing may increase salaries, but many of my friends who are now working for the likes of My Travel are also wondering if they will be in employment next year. Longt-term job security in this industry has not improved in the last 30 years
Many of us in Nigeria are much happier than we ever were in the North Sea, despite your perception of our low pay. However, many here are also now wondering about the threat of redundancy with CHC taking over ACN. The average age of pilots in ACN (as in so many places these days) is well in the 50s, with quite a few over 60 and CHC limits seem to be only 60.
Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of sympathy with those facing possible redundancy just before Christmas and I think that Bristow is nothing like the company it was in the 70s when old man Bristow knew almost all of the pilots by name. In those days the company had amongst the best loss of licence and pension schemes in the business. Unfortunately it seems that, despite what I've been reading about BALPA on another thread, they haven't really helped much, except for getting a salary increase.
I think one of the problems for all of us in the industry is the increasing demise of the smaller companies as they are all gobbled up by the big 2, OLOG and CHC. Unfortunately, going fixed wing may increase salaries, but many of my friends who are now working for the likes of My Travel are also wondering if they will be in employment next year. Longt-term job security in this industry has not improved in the last 30 years
100 years to go!!
Will the company be around for another 100 years for management to "re-earn" the trust they "managed out of the workforce in the last few years.
Leadership gone down the drain and they can't face the music.
Leadership gone down the drain and they can't face the music.
unrest....
Thanks Bondu - it looks like there is more going on there than meets the eye - maybe they want some money back for their bonuses. I must stop being such a cynic...
Gossip has it that the Shell contract was actually LOSING money in the southern sectors - surely some cock ups there if true! However, it might mean very little cash being shipped back to the States each month and some pressure being applied from that side of the water to bump up the figures...
Gossip has it that the Shell contract was actually LOSING money in the southern sectors - surely some cock ups there if true! However, it might mean very little cash being shipped back to the States each month and some pressure being applied from that side of the water to bump up the figures...
Join Date: Dec 2003
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When I started flying the North Sea for Bristow it was a hic little operation flying out of a small Scottish aerodrome. The people who turned it into what it was when OLOG came on the scene, the biggest and best helicopter operator in the world ( if Carlsberg made helicopter operators it would have been Bristow) , are now being screwed by the greed of management and shareholders. The management may be good at counting the money but have no idea how it is made. They do not understand the skill levels required to make a helicopter operation work. Maybe it is time to show them how little money they will make without a skilled workforce.
Although I'm not an afficionado of offshore flying, particularly in the far north; it seems you boys have gone through a lot to reach the standards recently achieved. Now it all seems like a sham as the management relentlessly continue to undermine the morale of the flight crew.
They surely must think this is the soft underbelly of their operation and is therefore the easiest target for collateral damage!!!
I hope, the 'crew' are in a position to call their bluff once and for all, and finally put to rest the incessant sniping that must have undermined staff morale, and indirectly - flight safety????
Good luck and best wishes...............
They surely must think this is the soft underbelly of their operation and is therefore the easiest target for collateral damage!!!
I hope, the 'crew' are in a position to call their bluff once and for all, and finally put to rest the incessant sniping that must have undermined staff morale, and indirectly - flight safety????
Good luck and best wishes...............
Join Date: Mar 2003
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The major oil companies squeezed their contractors to reduce prices. Pilots didn't care - they whinged. The operators faced new non union competition in every major market. Pilots didn't care - they whinged. The manufacturers continue to drive up the costs of equipment and support. Guess what pilots did.
Remember this - your allegience should be to the company you work for first - not BALPA. Do you really think that the management of Bristow is going to lose money just to spite the pilots. It's time to grow up people. It's a whole new world out there and it's only going to get tougher.
It is time to stop whinging about Bristow and ask yourself - did I do all I could do to help. To date, I doubt it.
Remember this - your allegience should be to the company you work for first - not BALPA. Do you really think that the management of Bristow is going to lose money just to spite the pilots. It's time to grow up people. It's a whole new world out there and it's only going to get tougher.
It is time to stop whinging about Bristow and ask yourself - did I do all I could do to help. To date, I doubt it.
