What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)
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I owe my career to the Goodyear blimp!
I had my landing clearance at one Florida airport when I noticed the Goodyear blimp there. 'That's odd,' I thought, 'they are usually based at that field just to the east of here.' D'oh! Lucky they weren't off flying around somewhere or else my licence would have been toast.
Chuks dear boy,
With the huge investment of time and treasure you have just gone through to successfully obtain the Holy Grail (JAR License).....it might pay to listen to the Co-Joe a bit closer in the future.
(Congratulations by the way!)
With the huge investment of time and treasure you have just gone through to successfully obtain the Holy Grail (JAR License).....it might pay to listen to the Co-Joe a bit closer in the future.
(Congratulations by the way!)
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BRISTOW - 2Oth CENTURY DINOSAURS ON THE WAY OUT
NEO,
I think you're right, along with mny others I've been waiting to hear about the new Bristow deal. However, after talking to friends in Bristow about the lack of any reasonable additional benefits and the cr*p communication in that company - no news from the big oggas, lack of internet almost everywhere, no loss of licence, no 'perks', I think CHC is a much more caring employer, who are actually in the 21st century and appreciate their employees want 21st century things. The old Bristow attitude of, 'well we always did it this way and people were happy before', will no longer wash. let's wait and see, but I think they will reap the rewards as CHC will have plenty of pilots and Bristow start losing contracts as they find themselves unable to crew their antiques to fulfil contract requirements
. There are many jobs available outside Nigeria now and, along with many other people, I'm one who's looking elsewhere. Soon, I hope to be just an observer on the WNIWA thread.
I think you're right, along with mny others I've been waiting to hear about the new Bristow deal. However, after talking to friends in Bristow about the lack of any reasonable additional benefits and the cr*p communication in that company - no news from the big oggas, lack of internet almost everywhere, no loss of licence, no 'perks', I think CHC is a much more caring employer, who are actually in the 21st century and appreciate their employees want 21st century things. The old Bristow attitude of, 'well we always did it this way and people were happy before', will no longer wash. let's wait and see, but I think they will reap the rewards as CHC will have plenty of pilots and Bristow start losing contracts as they find themselves unable to crew their antiques to fulfil contract requirements
. There are many jobs available outside Nigeria now and, along with many other people, I'm one who's looking elsewhere. Soon, I hope to be just an observer on the WNIWA thread.
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Sadly, OLOG change her name overseas to Bristow because Bristow have a lot more cachet than Air Logistics outside of USA. The new Bristow is a sad shell of the old, with falling standards, low morale and aincient aircrafts in Nigeria. Friend tells me that even they are having to fly some old aircrafts which are not really passing a power check, but nothing is done. Maybe they have no spares parts. 
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With more violence from militants and further oil-worker abductions expected ahead of Nigeria's presidential election next April, energy firms are poised to take tougher security measures to protect workers and spend more money to compensate staff in the increasingly volatile region, security and energy analysts say.
Already, violence and the threat of it have reduced oil production by roughly 700,000 barrels a day, or about 39% of the country's current total output. If the violence continues or increases, companies may be forced to curtail even more production and take more drastic steps to protect workers and infrastructure.
Onshore production has been mired repeatedly over the years in violent clashes with communities, but militants and criminal gangs have recently ventured further out to sea.
That threatens multibillion dollar offshore projects that companies like Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) are counting on to boost oil reserves and profits at a time of stiff competition with state-run energy firms in other parts of the world.
The offshore oil fields are also crucial for Nigeria if it is live up to its sharply higher oil output forecasts over the next few years.
The killing of an expatriate oil worker last week during a botched military hostage-rescue effort sharply ratcheted up the stakes for international oil companies. Executives will have to convince their own employees and governments back home that they are doing everything they can to protect workers in Nigeria.
"We're at the point that the whole security apparatus in Nigeria is in question, including the offshore," said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, a New York-based Africa analyst at Eurasia Group.
Oil companies "are in a real conundrum," he said. "Staff are more vulnerable, the military is unable to prevent these attacks and they're also having to pay more to keep workers on the ground and insure them."
Already, violence and the threat of it have reduced oil production by roughly 700,000 barrels a day, or about 39% of the country's current total output. If the violence continues or increases, companies may be forced to curtail even more production and take more drastic steps to protect workers and infrastructure.
Onshore production has been mired repeatedly over the years in violent clashes with communities, but militants and criminal gangs have recently ventured further out to sea.
That threatens multibillion dollar offshore projects that companies like Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) are counting on to boost oil reserves and profits at a time of stiff competition with state-run energy firms in other parts of the world.
The offshore oil fields are also crucial for Nigeria if it is live up to its sharply higher oil output forecasts over the next few years.
The killing of an expatriate oil worker last week during a botched military hostage-rescue effort sharply ratcheted up the stakes for international oil companies. Executives will have to convince their own employees and governments back home that they are doing everything they can to protect workers in Nigeria.
"We're at the point that the whole security apparatus in Nigeria is in question, including the offshore," said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, a New York-based Africa analyst at Eurasia Group.
Oil companies "are in a real conundrum," he said. "Staff are more vulnerable, the military is unable to prevent these attacks and they're also having to pay more to keep workers on the ground and insure them."
One security consultant familiar with some of the oil companies' operations said they have been paying higher "combat-zone" compensation and insurance premiums to keep staff on the ground.
"There are guns on the premises at company sites, at facilities and the compounds where the staff live. It's very common. The companies need to protect their staff," said one oil industry official in Nigeria.
That could be an explosive mix. Companies may be pressured to rely more on their private security staff to repel attacks, this official said. "They (the companies) have to protect their workers, and it's not being done by the government," the official said.
Earlier this month, the U.S. consulate in Lagos warned about the possibility of coordinated attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta, underscoring the perception among diplomats and outside observers that the violence is likely to increase ahead of Nigeria's 2007 general election in April.
David Hunt of the U.K. was killed last Wednesday after Nigerian security services tried to rescue a group of workers kidnapped hours earlier from an offshore production vessel about 30 miles offshore. The vessel was operated by Eni.
That could be an explosive mix. Companies may be pressured to rely more on their private security staff to repel attacks, this official said. "They (the companies) have to protect their workers, and it's not being done by the government," the official said.
Earlier this month, the U.S. consulate in Lagos warned about the possibility of coordinated attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta, underscoring the perception among diplomats and outside observers that the violence is likely to increase ahead of Nigeria's 2007 general election in April.
David Hunt of the U.K. was killed last Wednesday after Nigerian security services tried to rescue a group of workers kidnapped hours earlier from an offshore production vessel about 30 miles offshore. The vessel was operated by Eni.
. Previous comments are right in that the oil companies refuse to accept responsibility for contracting companies security now, whilst they sit in their very secure residential compounds. The management of CHC and Bristow say they can't afford to pay for secure compounds like Intels (except for 2 CHC managers ) because the oil companies are not paying enough. Well, why don't they present a united front front to these oil company bullies, do like Willbros and simply say that in 3 months they're going to pull out of Nigeria unless the oil companies pay them enough for their staff to be housed somewhere with the same degreee of safety the oil company staff enjoy?In the meantime both companies need to get their collective digits out of their behinds and start paying the extra salary other companies are paying to their employees in this dangerous part of the world. Nigeria is now well up in the list of the top 10 countries where expats are likely to be kidnapped.
So what is new about that around the Bristow House...."Daddy Knows Best" translates into American from the Old English just fine. Nothing new there....Bristow ceased being a real helicopter company very shortly after the Old Man sold it off.
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Ruma,
Caverton a serious contender for the Exxon/Mobil contract
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Even in Nigeria surely not . Just listen to the radio the last 2 weeks 'Boney Mobile, BHS etc., .............'. I know Stillwater were given a share some years back, but if Exxon/Mobil give those clowns a bite of the cherry, it really will be a sad indictment of just how low aviation has finally fallen in this country . Maybe it really is finally time to look elswhere - Bristow are looking for pilots in Kenya and Mauritania, or maybe Baghdad seems like the sensible option now 
Caverton a serious contender for the Exxon/Mobil contract
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Even in Nigeria surely not . Just listen to the radio the last 2 weeks 'Boney Mobile, BHS etc., .............'. I know Stillwater were given a share some years back, but if Exxon/Mobil give those clowns a bite of the cherry, it really will be a sad indictment of just how low aviation has finally fallen in this country . Maybe it really is finally time to look elswhere - Bristow are looking for pilots in Kenya and Mauritania, or maybe Baghdad seems like the sensible option now
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Well, well, another day, another (falling) dollar. We've all heard that the new Bristow pay deal will definitely be 'at the end of the week' so often that it's no surprise that Denny Holdon yet again seems to be suffering from terminal paralysis of the decision-making valve, while his company falls apart around him. Still, I'm sure the profit margins look very good. I hear Peewee and the Major are off on a nice jolly to SA to see if they can find some cheap new pilots willing to go to Nigeria. The big problem now seems to be that everyone has been told (mostly indirectly) that the new 6/6 roster is happening, but nobody has been given any details, including what difference (if any) it will make to pay. Since the change to a US$ salary for all new hires, the deal looks even worse for all except American pilots as the greenback is falling and forecast to continue its slide. Expect more and more pilots and engineers from Third World countries.
There also seems to be no sign of 5N-BJB doing anything other than getting rolled out of the Aero hangar for an inspection by its owner. I expect it's because the NCAA are all away on a celebration seminar somewhere in Europe to celebrate their alleged passing of the ICAO safety audit . Still, Christine is supposed to be in Nigeria this week to give everyone lots of hugs, tell them all that Nigeria is the 'Jewel in the Crown' of the CHC empire and that everyone is just going to so love the great new housing in the Death camp . At least the expectation of more CHC pilots reversing the trend and leaving for Bristow seems to have receded, not because CHC have done anything - it's just that Bristow haven't 
.
There also seems to be no sign of 5N-BJB doing anything other than getting rolled out of the Aero hangar for an inspection by its owner. I expect it's because the NCAA are all away on a celebration seminar somewhere in Europe to celebrate their alleged passing of the ICAO safety audit
. Still, Christine is supposed to be in Nigeria this week to give everyone lots of hugs, tell them all that Nigeria is the 'Jewel in the Crown' of the CHC empire and that everyone is just going to so love the great new housing in the Death camp . At least the expectation of more CHC pilots reversing the trend and leaving for Bristow seems to have receded, not because CHC have done anything - it's just that Bristow haven't .
PeeWee and the Majah.....off to Sunny SA?
Now somehow that just makes me suspect there shall be no great influx of new meat from that direction.
They fail to consider SA is in fact a very small but communicative place where their collective reputations shall have preceded them.
I can here those fellows yarning away in the banned language telling of the comparative merits of the two and Bristow (Nigeria). Shame we have to go to a diffferent web site to hear of their hi jinks and promises.
Now somehow that just makes me suspect there shall be no great influx of new meat from that direction.
They fail to consider SA is in fact a very small but communicative place where their collective reputations shall have preceded them.
I can here those fellows yarning away in the banned language telling of the comparative merits of the two and Bristow (Nigeria). Shame we have to go to a diffferent web site to hear of their hi jinks and promises.
Nigerian In Law
Phone Wind,
Not being sarcastic, but where will you go ? Equal time, tax free, a new problem to solve every day.......... I could go on.
Where else would you go and not get bored ?!!
Cheers,
NEO
Not being sarcastic, but where will you go ? Equal time, tax free, a new problem to solve every day.......... I could go on.
Where else would you go and not get bored ?!!
Cheers,
NEO
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So solve this one!
A law of physics states that two objects cannot occupy the same point in space at the same time.
You are sat in a small crew bus, a boat or perhaps an aircraft while, outside, Nigerians are shooting at it such that you are now sharing your space with small pieces of hot lead while trying to observe that law.
Upon reflection this may appear as one of those daily problems that simply defies solution. Either you accept that you may fail in this, ending up wounded or dead, or else you decide to find someplace with a different set of daily problems to solve.
I don't want to be a real party-pooper but some problems are, while basically the same, much bigger than others. It can be like the difference between walking across a six-inch-wide plank laid on the ground or one that is 30 feet up in the air, same basic problem but very different consequences for failure.
You are sat in a small crew bus, a boat or perhaps an aircraft while, outside, Nigerians are shooting at it such that you are now sharing your space with small pieces of hot lead while trying to observe that law.
Upon reflection this may appear as one of those daily problems that simply defies solution. Either you accept that you may fail in this, ending up wounded or dead, or else you decide to find someplace with a different set of daily problems to solve.
I don't want to be a real party-pooper but some problems are, while basically the same, much bigger than others. It can be like the difference between walking across a six-inch-wide plank laid on the ground or one that is 30 feet up in the air, same basic problem but very different consequences for failure.
One small flaw in your argument there Chuks....the bullets are not at rest...they are merely passing through....thus they remove such mass as they encounter by means of their greater force. Thus they too become the same as most Bristow pilots....they are merely transient and do not come to rest at Bristow.
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Which physics textbook are we reading from here, anyway?
I know a guy who found a flaw in both our arguments, when a small, hot piece of metal decided to stick around. I think his pelvic girdle got in the way; lucky it wasn't his femoral artery when that would have been permanently transient.
So that one wasn't transient at all, although, yes, he proved to be so himself. Well, me and you too, I guess, given that we are all ex-Bristow. But there's 'transient' and 'transient,' I guess. Bullets can be rather permanent when considered on the whole. That guy has his little souvenir and the rest of us might just be a bit off-centre from too much transience of one sort or another.
NEO is basically correct in what he writes here; I just want to point out a small aspect of what he wrote that some of us tend happily to overlook, namely that some of the everyday problems one finds in Nigeria are pretty big ones when one stops to think about that.
Anyone else here like that old country song, 'Through the Bottom of a Glass'? I cannot remember it very exactly, for the usual reasons, but I think it runs something like:
'Turn up the jukebox,
turn down the lights,
I don't need no vision 20/20 tonight.
She ain't much to see
but she looks good to me...
through the bottom of a glass.'
It is surprising how far an approach like that will take you. It is also surprising just how much trouble taking that approach can get you into. It is not surprising how much fun taking that approach can be.
Something like that got me through more than 20 years in Nigeria, actually. It's probably only those who have left who would even bother to point this stuff out. The rest are too busy having fun? Or they just don't want to think about it. Whatever.
So that one wasn't transient at all, although, yes, he proved to be so himself. Well, me and you too, I guess, given that we are all ex-Bristow. But there's 'transient' and 'transient,' I guess. Bullets can be rather permanent when considered on the whole. That guy has his little souvenir and the rest of us might just be a bit off-centre from too much transience of one sort or another.
NEO is basically correct in what he writes here; I just want to point out a small aspect of what he wrote that some of us tend happily to overlook, namely that some of the everyday problems one finds in Nigeria are pretty big ones when one stops to think about that.
Anyone else here like that old country song, 'Through the Bottom of a Glass'? I cannot remember it very exactly, for the usual reasons, but I think it runs something like:
'Turn up the jukebox,
turn down the lights,
I don't need no vision 20/20 tonight.
She ain't much to see
but she looks good to me...
through the bottom of a glass.'
It is surprising how far an approach like that will take you. It is also surprising just how much trouble taking that approach can get you into. It is not surprising how much fun taking that approach can be.
Something like that got me through more than 20 years in Nigeria, actually. It's probably only those who have left who would even bother to point this stuff out. The rest are too busy having fun? Or they just don't want to think about it. Whatever.
Anywhere but Mauritania!
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spinwing,
Is that with Heli Malongo? There are a lot of people interested in them right now.
It seems that CHC and Bristow are getting less and less popular as they expand and pilots just become numbers to accountants and bland managers running 'business units', whose only function is to maximise profit. Standards in both companies in Nigeria seem to be getting lower as they take on more inexperienced people because a lot of the pilots who know this area are leaving or retiring. Line training in CHC is a sad shadow of what it used to be because management say that the old requirements were too much and talk of sending new expat Captains off with supposedly-experienced co-pilots. Now and it's almost a case of the blind leading the blind - 'where's OB/OB?', is this the Trident VIII?, landing behind the Shell MDs house on Shell RA...... the list could go on and on, and probably will as more people get dissatisfied and look elsewhere. Of course, Nigeria is getting a more difficult place to work with most expats now being on some form of curfew after 1800. If one then has poor, or no, internet access; poor recreation and leisure facilities and no financial compensation for this, people will leave for places where these things are available, even if the money is a bit less. Many oil companies and service companies are now paying significant additional bonuses as compensation for hardships and dangers with which they either can't or won't deal in NIgeria. In comparison, the small perks given by Bristow and CHC are laughable, though marginally better than having to work for Caverton who still stubbornly think they can get anybody credible to work 3/1 or 5/1 rosters.
This particular subject seems to have been the main theme on this thread for a while now, but judging by the lack of any positive feedback, it seems that the big two don't read it, and if they do, chose to continue to do nothing as long as they can still man aircraft most days. Bristow continues to just say that the big new deal will plesantly surprise eveyone and will be announced 'next week' and CHC continue to lie about improvements to housing and hire consultants to tell eveyone how nice the Death camp will be (every room will haf a lufferly Zyklon shower)
Is that with Heli Malongo? There are a lot of people interested in them right now.
It seems that CHC and Bristow are getting less and less popular as they expand and pilots just become numbers to accountants and bland managers running 'business units', whose only function is to maximise profit. Standards in both companies in Nigeria seem to be getting lower as they take on more inexperienced people because a lot of the pilots who know this area are leaving or retiring. Line training in CHC is a sad shadow of what it used to be because management say that the old requirements were too much and talk of sending new expat Captains off with supposedly-experienced co-pilots. Now and it's almost a case of the blind leading the blind - 'where's OB/OB?', is this the Trident VIII?, landing behind the Shell MDs house on Shell RA...... the list could go on and on, and probably will as more people get dissatisfied and look elsewhere. Of course, Nigeria is getting a more difficult place to work with most expats now being on some form of curfew after 1800. If one then has poor, or no, internet access; poor recreation and leisure facilities and no financial compensation for this, people will leave for places where these things are available, even if the money is a bit less. Many oil companies and service companies are now paying significant additional bonuses as compensation for hardships and dangers with which they either can't or won't deal in NIgeria. In comparison, the small perks given by Bristow and CHC are laughable, though marginally better than having to work for Caverton who still stubbornly think they can get anybody credible to work 3/1 or 5/1 rosters.
This particular subject seems to have been the main theme on this thread for a while now, but judging by the lack of any positive feedback, it seems that the big two don't read it, and if they do, chose to continue to do nothing as long as they can still man aircraft most days. Bristow continues to just say that the big new deal will plesantly surprise eveyone and will be announced 'next week' and CHC continue to lie about improvements to housing and hire consultants to tell eveyone how nice the Death camp will be (every room will haf a lufferly Zyklon shower)
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Bristows New Deal
Well I can only hope its better than the too quote the HR man SM at Redhill "Generous one they offer me to move to Nigeria".
When the extra months salary which I would have had to work (7 & 5 in Nigeria compared to the 4 & 4 I was doing in Mauritania) was deducted it was worth just over £500 per annum.
Lets see £500 for being shot at, sh*t accommodation and the constant treat of kidnapping. Compared with working with Alain Tyreburst.
Anyone got a coin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
one they offer me to move to Nigeria".When the extra months salary which I would have had to work (7 & 5 in Nigeria compared to the 4 & 4 I was doing in Mauritania) was deducted it was worth just over £500 per annum.
Lets see £500 for being shot at, sh*t accommodation and the constant treat of kidnapping. Compared with working with Alain Tyreburst.
Anyone got a coin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UWOT,
At least an armed robber in Nigeria will stick the knife into your chest and not your back!
Can anyone explain how that w@anker continues to survive in Bristow?
SM at Redhill.....if his lips are moving he is lying! Seems to me I heard a Judge told him as much in court one time....back when the twelve Aberdeen Pilots sued Bristow over the Unjust Dismissal issue (and won!).
Someone correct me if I am wrong. NC43 knows for sure.
At least an armed robber in Nigeria will stick the knife into your chest and not your back!
Can anyone explain how that w@anker continues to survive in Bristow?
SM at Redhill.....if his lips are moving he is lying! Seems to me I heard a Judge told him as much in court one time....back when the twelve Aberdeen Pilots sued Bristow over the Unjust Dismissal issue (and won!).
Someone correct me if I am wrong. NC43 knows for sure.
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In yet another attack in the Niger Delta, this morning a large number of armed gunmen attacked the residential site at Agip's Brass Oil Terminal. It's reported that they killed one person and have taken 3 expat hostages.
Meanwhile, CHC and Bristow pay lip service to the security of their staff. Lots of talk and no action .
The visit of Christine Baird to Port Harcourt may result in a number of applications from CHC pilots to Bristow being withdrawn. In fact I hear that there may now be several more Bristow pilots on the verge of going to CHC due to the lack of anything but vague and unfulfilled promises from Bristow management about the new roster and pay deal. Naturally BC only spent 1 day in the 'Tropical Paradise' There's no talk and no action on the Bristow side and when was the last time any senior Bristow management went out, visited frontline bases and talked to the employees? . They went to Eket, but it took the kidnapping of 2 of their employees to even get them to do that - talk about keeping in touch and being 'people persons'. 
Meanwhile, CHC and Bristow pay lip service to the security of their staff. Lots of talk and no action
.The visit of Christine Baird to Port Harcourt may result in a number of applications from CHC pilots to Bristow being withdrawn. In fact I hear that there may now be several more Bristow pilots on the verge of going to CHC due to the lack of anything but vague and unfulfilled promises from Bristow management about the new roster and pay deal. Naturally BC only spent 1 day in the 'Tropical Paradise' There's no talk and no action on the Bristow side and when was the last time any senior Bristow management went out, visited frontline bases and talked to the employees?
. They went to Eket, but it took the kidnapping of 2 of their employees to even get them to do that - talk about keeping in touch and being 'people persons'.