What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)
If I am not mistaken....the US Law was modified to cover US Corporations operating overseas following a lawsuit involving ARAMCO. If any of these pilots are American....and OLOG being American...this could be very interesting.
Nigerian In Law
Sas,
Not sure how it would affect things, but if the guys are 60 and over BGI will have employed them as contractors, i.e. on a day rate and with a very short notice period etc. They won't have staff rights so unless things have changed since the last time Mobil did this they don't even have to give a reason for dismissal.
But of course I stand to be corrected
Cheers,
NEO
Not sure how it would affect things, but if the guys are 60 and over BGI will have employed them as contractors, i.e. on a day rate and with a very short notice period etc. They won't have staff rights so unless things have changed since the last time Mobil did this they don't even have to give a reason for dismissal.
But of course I stand to be corrected
Cheers,
NEO
NEO,
Perhaps Flying Lawyer can weigh in on this...but one would assume that under the current laws in the USA....age alone cannot be the discriminating factor in personnel actions.
Shell in the Gulf of Mexico has done the same thing....no pilots over 60 as part of the contract terms thus putting the onus on the contractor to provide "suitable" pilots.
The bottom line is whether pilots adversely affected by such limitations in excess of existing laws and regulations that limit pilots by age are willing to take legal action for damages due to age discrimination.
I would suggest....an individual pilot's chances of winning a lawsuit against EXXON would be rather limited.
There are old farts in their 70's still flying in the Gulf of Mexico thus arbitrary age limitations seem ill advised. The majority of such laws and regulations came about in the very early days of the airlines and have very limited support based upon scientific data.
The airlines saw the mandatory retirement age as a way to keep some progression going for new hire pilots by weeding out the senior pilots as they aged rather than as a "Safety" measure.
Perhaps Flying Lawyer can weigh in on this...but one would assume that under the current laws in the USA....age alone cannot be the discriminating factor in personnel actions.
Shell in the Gulf of Mexico has done the same thing....no pilots over 60 as part of the contract terms thus putting the onus on the contractor to provide "suitable" pilots.
The bottom line is whether pilots adversely affected by such limitations in excess of existing laws and regulations that limit pilots by age are willing to take legal action for damages due to age discrimination.
I would suggest....an individual pilot's chances of winning a lawsuit against EXXON would be rather limited.
There are old farts in their 70's still flying in the Gulf of Mexico thus arbitrary age limitations seem ill advised. The majority of such laws and regulations came about in the very early days of the airlines and have very limited support based upon scientific data.
The airlines saw the mandatory retirement age as a way to keep some progression going for new hire pilots by weeding out the senior pilots as they aged rather than as a "Safety" measure.
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Alaska
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Actually the age 60 rule was designed and is still used to get the expensive employee's out of the cockpit to be replaced by pilots with less seniority and therefore pay them less money.
Nigerian In Law
Owl,
At the moment I guess the beneficiaries would be the very few 25 to 59 year old pilots left. Hardly any cadets these days, so all these policies do is exacerbate the shortage.
NEO
At the moment I guess the beneficiaries would be the very few 25 to 59 year old pilots left. Hardly any cadets these days, so all these policies do is exacerbate the shortage.
NEO
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Lost and Legless somewhere in LaLaLand
Age: 77
Posts: 481
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I sense the misguiding hand of **mi here 
. He thinks it'll get more jobs for his boys, but all it will do in the short to medium term is make sure that Exxon/Mobil will find it difficult to crew their aircraft. Shooting and feet comes to mind, but that's Nigeria for you 
. He thinks it'll get more jobs for his boys, but all it will do in the short to medium term is make sure that Exxon/Mobil will find it difficult to crew their aircraft. Shooting and feet comes to mind, but that's Nigeria for you
Nigerian In Law
Let's Wait & See
Phone,
Whatever the motivation it will only mean a redeployment of some people.
More kidnappings/violence could trigger an exodus which would be much more serious.
NEO
Whatever the motivation it will only mean a redeployment of some people.
More kidnappings/violence could trigger an exodus which would be much more serious.
NEO
"...could trigger an exodus which would be much more serious"
I guess losing 16 captains since January is a gentle trickle
I guess losing 16 captains since January is a gentle trickle
Ah...Poo! Who cares about 16 Captains....mere numbers Old Boy!
Pilots are a dime a dozen don't you know....hundreds of guys begging for the job....CV's stacked high to pick from.
Crap, 212Man....just who is left beside the Dinosauers at Warri, a Trellis Climber or two, and a few landed immigrants?
Pilots are a dime a dozen don't you know....hundreds of guys begging for the job....CV's stacked high to pick from.
Crap, 212Man....just who is left beside the Dinosauers at Warri, a Trellis Climber or two, and a few landed immigrants?
And most of those 16 came from the already understaffed S76 fleet I was told, some replaced with expatriate copilots: most with no type, command and offshore experience.
That pile of CV’s must be from the bottom of the barrel SASless, wonder how long they will hang around when the going gets tough just before next year presidential elections.
212 man even worse is DC leaving because he was the backbone of the S76 training department and it will be interesting to see how they will cope without him (who will lead the team, set and keep the standards, etc).
Greetings
Finalchecksplease
That pile of CV’s must be from the bottom of the barrel SASless, wonder how long they will hang around when the going gets tough just before next year presidential elections.
212 man even worse is DC leaving because he was the backbone of the S76 training department and it will be interesting to see how they will cope without him (who will lead the team, set and keep the standards, etc).
Greetings
Finalchecksplease
Last edited by finalchecksplease; 18th Sep 2006 at 10:14. Reason: Spelling correction
Nigerian In Law
212man,
My comment was meant in the context of a lot more people being right on the edge rather than the ones who (mostly) jumped ship. There are guys who have had enough of all the security s**t etc. One more little thing would be likely to tip the balance.
NEO
My comment was meant in the context of a lot more people being right on the edge rather than the ones who (mostly) jumped ship. There are guys who have had enough of all the security s**t etc. One more little thing would be likely to tip the balance.
NEO
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Jankara
Age: 64
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
CHC also have problems manning their S76s and it seems that several have been on the ground recently because they have no crew to fly them. They also seem to have a lot of new crew arriving with little or no time on the C+ and no genuine offshore time. Things can surely only get worse when they start sending pilots away for AW139 courses. They also seem to have a lot of people, both pilots and engineers who are unhappy about the location of the new quarters they will be forced to move to and some may even leave because of this.
finalschecks, you're also right about seeing how many will hang around when the going gets tough in the runup to the Presidential elections next year.
It seems that both Bristow and CHC are at a crisis point in Nigeria right now, but the senior management of both companies is unwilling to accept that it's only when they offer more money for being in Nigeria that they will have enough properly qualified staff. Nigeria is a huge market and still expanding. The companies are willing to invest in expensive new helicopters, but not pay what it takes to get enough qualified people to fly and maintain them
finalschecks, you're also right about seeing how many will hang around when the going gets tough in the runup to the Presidential elections next year.
It seems that both Bristow and CHC are at a crisis point in Nigeria right now, but the senior management of both companies is unwilling to accept that it's only when they offer more money for being in Nigeria that they will have enough properly qualified staff. Nigeria is a huge market and still expanding. The companies are willing to invest in expensive new helicopters, but not pay what it takes to get enough qualified people to fly and maintain them
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Afrika sometimes
Age: 68
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I hear that Caverton are trying to get rid of their Agusta 109. I guess they finally realised that it's not a good machine for a place like Nigeria where airfields with fuel are far and few between. It was quite a nice machine when they bought it so it will be interesting where it next ends up.
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: A man of the world
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How many new ex-pats have arrived in the last three months? Lots leaving but how many HAVE actually been replaced? Are the principle contracts up for renewal any time soon?
Interested on the sidelines.
Interested on the sidelines.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Lagos
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Caverton
Tom,
Caverton may be able to get the money for the A109 sooner than they thought. The 109 was flying, probably single crew, probably with a pilot new to the Port Harcourt area (as the machine is normally Lagos based), and he failed to find the NAF Base in heavy rain this afternoon, so had to put down in a field. The way the security situation is here now, the aircraft has probably already been broken up for spare parts and pieces will be available in Aba market by this evening!
Seriously though, I hope the crew and passengers are okay. It's another thing which highlights the dangers of flying in this country where the weather is unpredictable and accurate forecasts are practically non-existent. It's really necessary for companies to make sure the crews have a lot of experience in this area before letting them just blast off on their own. With so many of the companies losing many of their experienced guys there's every possibility of the same thing happening again. It's all too easy for a newcomer to arrive here and think that it's really pretty easy (which it is for 90% of the time) but normal rules, like being able to make a forced landing in a helicopter to avoid bad weather are fraught with danger here, as even when you can land, you may well then be in even more danger.
Caverton may be able to get the money for the A109 sooner than they thought. The 109 was flying, probably single crew, probably with a pilot new to the Port Harcourt area (as the machine is normally Lagos based), and he failed to find the NAF Base in heavy rain this afternoon, so had to put down in a field. The way the security situation is here now, the aircraft has probably already been broken up for spare parts and pieces will be available in Aba market by this evening!
Seriously though, I hope the crew and passengers are okay. It's another thing which highlights the dangers of flying in this country where the weather is unpredictable and accurate forecasts are practically non-existent. It's really necessary for companies to make sure the crews have a lot of experience in this area before letting them just blast off on their own. With so many of the companies losing many of their experienced guys there's every possibility of the same thing happening again. It's all too easy for a newcomer to arrive here and think that it's really pretty easy (which it is for 90% of the time) but normal rules, like being able to make a forced landing in a helicopter to avoid bad weather are fraught with danger here, as even when you can land, you may well then be in even more danger.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Pierre et Miquelon
Age: 68
Posts: 187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Caverton helicopter landed back safely late afternoon. It used to be fairly common at one time for helicopters to have to make landings because of bad weather in the rainy season in Nigeria, there being little or no helicopter IFR. It's been rather rare in recent years because rainy seasons have not been as severe as they used to and the security situation means that pilots have to make a difficult decision between landing, pressing on at low level amongst all the masts and obstructions in Nigeria or carrying out dubious unapproved instrument approaches.
No helicopter IFR? Since when?
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Dubai
Posts: 348
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
SAS I suspect you remember the occasions we went up to Opukushi from Warri in the days before GPS trying to keep the rain from making out dodgy SPDC map go soggy as we counted river crossings as a steady flood of water poured through the overheads! I'm sure we were not IFR, but probably in IMC! It was nice to find the right canal where the helipad was located.
How's it got harder with GPS?
TOD
How's it got harder with GPS?
TOD
Ah yes...the days B4GPS in Nigeria!
Single pilot...weather reports at the IA like "Heavy rain Captain...but we can see the river almost." or "We can see about halfway up the mast." or.....the dreaded "Oh Captain, it is much rain here, very heavy." Dusty season....vis 300 meters or so...trying to find a mud rig somewhere out to the South almost to the coast.
Recall the difference between white rain and black rain?
The Opukushi run in the morning...VFR on Top of the fog....looking for the steam column from the flare and groping for the ground....yes those were the days.
Doing the Forcardos run by jumping the river and picking up the seismic line to the village with the old sawmill....then hugging the south shore to the terminal while looking up at the trees.
Yes..those were the Good Ol' Days.
Single pilot...weather reports at the IA like "Heavy rain Captain...but we can see the river almost." or "We can see about halfway up the mast." or.....the dreaded "Oh Captain, it is much rain here, very heavy." Dusty season....vis 300 meters or so...trying to find a mud rig somewhere out to the South almost to the coast.
Recall the difference between white rain and black rain?
The Opukushi run in the morning...VFR on Top of the fog....looking for the steam column from the flare and groping for the ground....yes those were the days.
Doing the Forcardos run by jumping the river and picking up the seismic line to the village with the old sawmill....then hugging the south shore to the terminal while looking up at the trees.
Yes..those were the Good Ol' Days.