What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)
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Why is it that a lot of the Americans I have come across in my wanderings all seem to mention that kind of "leadership style" when talking about American business -- not just flying or Suggs?
Is it just arrogance or a lack of understanding of how to motivate people? I know there are many exceptions to blast me with, but there are also more than eneough a-holes.
Is it just arrogance or a lack of understanding of how to motivate people? I know there are many exceptions to blast me with, but there are also more than eneough a-holes.
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I think a lot of it's the influence of the U.S. military, where you often learn a rather primitive style of leadership and followership too!
At the time Suggs made his famous remark there was an over-supply of helicopter pilots coming out of Viet Nam so that it was an employer's market for ex-military helicopter pilots.
Another thing is that the U.S.A. is a republic with 50 different States, when many States in the South have rather weak laws protecting employees. You often used to get this "It is my way or the highway!" stuff from the employers, when they were quite correct in that up to a point!
Others here can tell you a lot more about P.H.I. and what really went on, when all I know is what I read in the papers. I certainly recognised his style from aviation jobs I had and lost.
Too, it is a fair argument whether he got it all that badly wrong, given that P.H.I. is still big and still in business.
At the time Suggs made his famous remark there was an over-supply of helicopter pilots coming out of Viet Nam so that it was an employer's market for ex-military helicopter pilots.
Another thing is that the U.S.A. is a republic with 50 different States, when many States in the South have rather weak laws protecting employees. You often used to get this "It is my way or the highway!" stuff from the employers, when they were quite correct in that up to a point!
Others here can tell you a lot more about P.H.I. and what really went on, when all I know is what I read in the papers. I certainly recognised his style from aviation jobs I had and lost.
Too, it is a fair argument whether he got it all that badly wrong, given that P.H.I. is still big and still in business.
I was told ol' Bobby Suggs was on a recruiting trip down on Bourbon Street....observed a drunken lout laying face down in the gutter...walked over...rolled the guy onto his side....and offered him a job flying week on and week off for PHI.
The guy was heard to reply...."Piss off Bob....I am on break this week!"
The domestic helicopter industry in the United States has really suffered from the PHI/Bob Suggs school of Helicopter Management.
Overheard in Saudi at an Aramco dining facility....
Chief Pilot, American ex-PHI type, asks new pilot if he had ever worked for PHI before......to be told...."Not before I came to Aramco!"
Oh.....but how true that was!
Told to me by a Bristow Nigeria GM....."I don't go into the BRC bar anymore because I get tired of hearing about all the problems." When I asked if he how many of the problems ever got fixed.....all I got was a blank stare....the kind that suggested it was Eket for me for life.
How did the Black Sardine run the show in Lagos all by himself if it takes the dozens of management staff it does today?
When asked when Nigeria would go to six and six like ACN a Bristow Flying Superintendent stated "When we can no longer crew the operation on the eight and four roster."
Outa,
The advent of pilot unions resulted not from good conditions enlightened management....quite the contrary. It is true good economic times increase the demand for aircraft and crews and companies will make concessions during those times they might not make otherwise. But....and a big But it is...the pilots and engineers have to demand those concessions both by their abilities, skills, and experience but also by requiring increased pay and benefits before they will hire on or continue working for the operator.
The singular best way of achieving that is by means of a group effort...be it a union or some such device. The pilot unions in the United States have made a lot of progress in past years.
You have to remember some of the pilots in the United States oil patch went ten to twelve years without even a cost of living raise much less an overall pay raise.....and the operators like Bobby Suggs wonder why the pilots organized?
Are we not seeing the same thing in Bristow Nigeria now with the Nigerian Pilots?
The guy was heard to reply...."Piss off Bob....I am on break this week!"
The domestic helicopter industry in the United States has really suffered from the PHI/Bob Suggs school of Helicopter Management.
Overheard in Saudi at an Aramco dining facility....
Chief Pilot, American ex-PHI type, asks new pilot if he had ever worked for PHI before......to be told...."Not before I came to Aramco!"
Oh.....but how true that was!
Told to me by a Bristow Nigeria GM....."I don't go into the BRC bar anymore because I get tired of hearing about all the problems." When I asked if he how many of the problems ever got fixed.....all I got was a blank stare....the kind that suggested it was Eket for me for life.
How did the Black Sardine run the show in Lagos all by himself if it takes the dozens of management staff it does today?
When asked when Nigeria would go to six and six like ACN a Bristow Flying Superintendent stated "When we can no longer crew the operation on the eight and four roster."
Outa,
The advent of pilot unions resulted not from good conditions enlightened management....quite the contrary. It is true good economic times increase the demand for aircraft and crews and companies will make concessions during those times they might not make otherwise. But....and a big But it is...the pilots and engineers have to demand those concessions both by their abilities, skills, and experience but also by requiring increased pay and benefits before they will hire on or continue working for the operator.
The singular best way of achieving that is by means of a group effort...be it a union or some such device. The pilot unions in the United States have made a lot of progress in past years.
You have to remember some of the pilots in the United States oil patch went ten to twelve years without even a cost of living raise much less an overall pay raise.....and the operators like Bobby Suggs wonder why the pilots organized?
Are we not seeing the same thing in Bristow Nigeria now with the Nigerian Pilots?
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Send in Your CV to get an answer
bandit,
I'm sure you wouldn't expect a genuine reply to your query. I gather that you're probably asking about Bristow as they operate both of the types you mention. However, to be a bit more helpful I can tell you that it depends on a variety of factors and that you'll only find out for sure if you send in your CV and apply, either to Nigeria or to Andy Morgan, the HR Manager in Guernsey (as all expats in Nigeria are employed by Bristow International in Guernsey). I can tell you that the pay is in US$ and that you receive the same pay every month into your account. In addition to the salary there is accident insurance, life insurance, international medical insurance with CIGNA and a contributory pension scheme. The pension is particularly good as the company will match your own contributions up to 7% of salary. Unless you've worked for Bristow before you'll normally start with no seniority and then any additional years you may get as a result of your previous experience will start from when you pass your command line check. You already have the required ATPL for command, but you'll be assessed depending on other factors, many set by the OGP before deciding exactly what you may be offered.
There has been a lot of complaining on this thread about some of the changes which have been made lately, but the bottom line is that actually the pay is very good with the additional premium one gets for working in Nigeria. If you live in America you'll know exactly what you're going to get, but if you live elsewhere you have to accept that currency exchange rates are always fluctuating and that the pundits nearly always get their forecasts wrong!
. I've had to suffer a downward exchange rate against my own currency for the last 2 years, but now I'm the lucky beneficiary of a change the other way. It's just something you have to get used to.
The best way to find out the answer to your question is to contact any friends you may have working here already or send your CV to either Andy Morgan or to the Operations Manager in Lagos.
I'm sure you wouldn't expect a genuine reply to your query. I gather that you're probably asking about Bristow as they operate both of the types you mention. However, to be a bit more helpful I can tell you that it depends on a variety of factors and that you'll only find out for sure if you send in your CV and apply, either to Nigeria or to Andy Morgan, the HR Manager in Guernsey (as all expats in Nigeria are employed by Bristow International in Guernsey). I can tell you that the pay is in US$ and that you receive the same pay every month into your account. In addition to the salary there is accident insurance, life insurance, international medical insurance with CIGNA and a contributory pension scheme. The pension is particularly good as the company will match your own contributions up to 7% of salary. Unless you've worked for Bristow before you'll normally start with no seniority and then any additional years you may get as a result of your previous experience will start from when you pass your command line check. You already have the required ATPL for command, but you'll be assessed depending on other factors, many set by the OGP before deciding exactly what you may be offered.
There has been a lot of complaining on this thread about some of the changes which have been made lately, but the bottom line is that actually the pay is very good with the additional premium one gets for working in Nigeria. If you live in America you'll know exactly what you're going to get, but if you live elsewhere you have to accept that currency exchange rates are always fluctuating and that the pundits nearly always get their forecasts wrong!
. I've had to suffer a downward exchange rate against my own currency for the last 2 years, but now I'm the lucky beneficiary of a change the other way. It's just something you have to get used to.The best way to find out the answer to your question is to contact any friends you may have working here already or send your CV to either Andy Morgan or to the Operations Manager in Lagos.
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Oi Soggy B = ye old toothless wonder of all things Oyibo - why is everyone so quiet about the Shootup at the Escravos Coral on Wednesday. Scared it might affect the Oil price????? or the CLA?????.JTF had a gun battle with a couple of IJAW in Escravos harbour and all operations flight and ground were halted for 4 hours. Shelter in place = cowering behind mahogany desks while things bigger than 50mm cannons were going boom, I believe I guess on my next visit there I will have a roll of Duct tape strapping the AK onto the chopper.
OH C'mon Now!
Since when has a bit of gunfire in the village meant anything?
You are at greater risk from the engineers than you are from the outlaws, bandits, and militants.
(Mind you I am not slagging off Engineers (well maybe one or two anyway)....just looking at Statistics here...two wounded in a failed robbery and how many fatal crashes over the years?)
Since when has a bit of gunfire in the village meant anything?
You are at greater risk from the engineers than you are from the outlaws, bandits, and militants.
(Mind you I am not slagging off Engineers (well maybe one or two anyway)....just looking at Statistics here...two wounded in a failed robbery and how many fatal crashes over the years?)
"Eh...just put the nut back on and we will b changing the bolt in a few hours anyway!"
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Het SAS ol goat - just cos the engineers are klikkie in the pub don't slag em too much - I can call up more deaths caused by 
pilots than enginas. But then again its not a competition and we all get free coffee.
and I still want my own AK's.
pilots than enginas. But then again its not a competition and we all get free coffee.and I still want my own AK's.
Last edited by RunFastDieTired; 23rd Nov 2008 at 17:53.
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RFDT,
My fangs may be a bit long and yellow now, but I take after my old mum who died with a full set
Anyway the shootup at Escravos was but a minor skirmish compared with the shootup at the Agip cafeteria 3 years ago, or even the Nembe Creek attack the other day.
My old melamine and chipboard desk probably wouldn't make much of a shelter so I guess I'd have to try and run as fast as you and die even more tired!
Sounds quite exciting though if they had things bigger than .50 mm cannons - what were they using? Personally I'd like an M230 chain gun, though on the ancient helicopters I fly the DC power may just fail and I think it would take a bit more than a bit of duct tape to fix it on. I'm told Evostick is pretty good! I'd have a big kick-ass 12 gauge shotgun, like a Serbu Super-Shorty as a last-resort, but kitted out with some of those fancy discarding sabot flechette rounds you can get in the good ole US of A now. They'd certainly make someone think twice about getting too close and give me some breathing space to pull out a Desert Eagle .50 calibre magnum or an AMT Automag V as a spectacularly futile KMAG gesture to mix my brains and the contents of my bowels together. I'd really like a Maadi-Griffin .50 BMG, but then I'd have to invest in a bigger nav bag and I'm just too far gone now for it to be worth while buying a new one 
My fangs may be a bit long and yellow now, but I take after my old mum who died with a full set
Anyway the shootup at Escravos was but a minor skirmish compared with the shootup at the Agip cafeteria 3 years ago, or even the Nembe Creek attack the other day.My old melamine and chipboard desk probably wouldn't make much of a shelter so I guess I'd have to try and run as fast as you and die even more tired!
Sounds quite exciting though if they had things bigger than .50 mm cannons - what were they using? Personally I'd like an M230 chain gun, though on the ancient helicopters I fly the DC power may just fail and I think it would take a bit more than a bit of duct tape to fix it on
. I'm told Evostick is pretty good! I'd have a big kick-ass 12 gauge shotgun, like a Serbu Super-Shorty as a last-resort, but kitted out with some of those fancy discarding sabot flechette rounds you can get in the good ole US of A now. They'd certainly make someone think twice about getting too close and give me some breathing space to pull out a Desert Eagle .50 calibre magnum or an AMT Automag V as a spectacularly futile KMAG gesture to mix my brains and the contents of my bowels together. I'd really like a Maadi-Griffin .50 BMG, but then I'd have to invest in a bigger nav bag and I'm just too far gone now for it to be worth while buying a new one
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OOPS!
Soggy,
When you've finished cleaning your new arsenal, can you enlighten us on the Aero S76 in CHC colours (English for colors!) that appears to be having a little rest on its' side in the entrance to the NAF Base Aero hangar.
Looks like possible case of collapsed drain during towing.
Trog
When you've finished cleaning your new arsenal, can you enlighten us on the Aero S76 in CHC colours (English for colors!) that appears to be having a little rest on its' side in the entrance to the NAF Base Aero hangar.
Looks like possible case of collapsed drain during towing.
Trog
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Another CHC triumph
Trogs,
Surely you can't be inferring that the new hangar is part of a plot to murder Aero helicopters? First collapsing doors cruelly murdering an old Twin Star, now collapsing drains killing off their newest S76. After all these we know-it-all CHC masters came here to show how everything should be done properly and sweep away the last vestiges of the dreadful operation run by the likes of Captain Kobo. Well, they've certainly done that haven't they? 
The new hangar was one of their first grand projects along with that other spectacularly successful project - the East West death camp 
Surely you can't be inferring that the new hangar is part of a plot to murder Aero helicopters?
First collapsing doors cruelly murdering an old Twin Star, now collapsing drains killing off their newest S76. After all these we know-it-all CHC masters came here to show how everything should be done properly and sweep away the last vestiges of the dreadful operation run by the likes of Captain Kobo. Well, they've certainly done that haven't they? The new hangar was one of their first grand projects along with that other spectacularly successful project - the East West death camp
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Trogs,
I also heard that it was the concrete storm drain cover which gave way. I don't know how much damage it did, but the S76 is not renowned for a strong undercarriage and it is particularly weak in the fore/aft plane. We had a 76A++ undercarriage damaged in Ghana recently when the poorly repaired tarmac on the apron gave way when it was being towed. It's quite common to find that drain covers here are of substandard construction, often with no reinforcement. It's for that reason we have steel plates over the top of the drain covers at the entrance to our hangars. I would imagine that Aero will do the same now, if they don't have them already, as I think they also overnight the new EC225 that new hangar. I believe the aircraft has now been lifted out with a portable crane. Hopefully the damage will not be too severe as it was moving slowly at the time of the incident.
I also heard that it was the concrete storm drain cover which gave way. I don't know how much damage it did, but the S76 is not renowned for a strong undercarriage and it is particularly weak in the fore/aft plane. We had a 76A++ undercarriage damaged in Ghana recently when the poorly repaired tarmac on the apron gave way when it was being towed. It's quite common to find that drain covers here are of substandard construction, often with no reinforcement. It's for that reason we have steel plates over the top of the drain covers at the entrance to our hangars. I would imagine that Aero will do the same now, if they don't have them already, as I think they also overnight the new EC225 that new hangar. I believe the aircraft has now been lifted out with a portable crane. Hopefully the damage will not be too severe as it was moving slowly at the time of the incident.
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SoggyB - a kindred spirit of violence and mayhem has been found -with your knowledge of all things effriken you are welcome over to the dark side of the force.You will be issued your very own new armoury all purpose navbag with built in gin hydration system for very few Naira - I picked up a discount sale from yre neighbourly Air-0 as they say they won't be needing them anymore. You don't need nav bags unless you actually fly.
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And Sasless, the person who the éh---just roll the bolt on we'll be changing it soon', quote refers to, is back in aviation and to add insult to many injuries and deaths, is, believe it or not working in a company's quality department!!!!.
As an engineer I find that unbelieveable that a person who plys the trade of looking after peoples lives and treats it with such contempt can be allowed to continue------I'd better shut up!!
As an engineer I find that unbelieveable that a person who plys the trade of looking after peoples lives and treats it with such contempt can be allowed to continue------I'd better shut up!!
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Now we have steel plates too
soggy,
Steel plates over the drain covers. What a great idea With your hangar right next to ours I wonder if anyone ever noticed that you had them (until today ). Well whaddaya know, someone must have been reading Prune - today we have metal plates. Good to see that the all-knowing CHC management was so pro-active
Steel plates over the drain covers. What a great idea
With your hangar right next to ours I wonder if anyone ever noticed that you had them (until today ). Well whaddaya know, someone must have been reading Prune - today we have metal plates. Good to see that the all-knowing CHC management was so pro-active
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Operators/support in Ghana
Hey gents,
I was wondering what sort of work is happening in Ghana?
Is there any sort of maintenance support there?
I am looking to see what is up and around the area.
If you know of anyone that is there or has been, can you ask them to please PM me, or tell a story here.
Thank you
HF
I was wondering what sort of work is happening in Ghana?
Is there any sort of maintenance support there?
I am looking to see what is up and around the area.
If you know of anyone that is there or has been, can you ask them to please PM me, or tell a story here.
Thank you
HF
Any S-92 in Nigeria??
Regards
Aser
Helicopter Engineering Instructor - Nigeria
Bristow
View Employer Vacancies
* Job Role: Engineering Training
* Job Hours: Full-Time
* Location: Nigeria
* Job Position: Permanent
* Company: Bristow
* Salary: Negotiable based on qualifications and experience
* Job reference: WASBU(eng Instr)
* Posted Date: 25 November 2008 14:58:36
We require 2 Engineering Instructors suitably qualified under an acceptable Aviation Authority to instruct on helicopter maintenance, with a view to creating an NCAR Part 147 training establishment to cover Sikorsky, Bell and Eurocopter Types.
Must have minimum of 2 years Instructor experience to include at least 2 of the following types:
S76, S92, Bell 206, 407, 412, AS332.
This post will attract a 6 and 6 rotation, full remuneration package including medical benefits and pension.
Salary will be negotiable and dependant on experience and qualifications.
Bristow
View Employer Vacancies
* Job Role: Engineering Training
* Job Hours: Full-Time
* Location: Nigeria
* Job Position: Permanent
* Company: Bristow
* Salary: Negotiable based on qualifications and experience
* Job reference: WASBU(eng Instr)
* Posted Date: 25 November 2008 14:58:36
We require 2 Engineering Instructors suitably qualified under an acceptable Aviation Authority to instruct on helicopter maintenance, with a view to creating an NCAR Part 147 training establishment to cover Sikorsky, Bell and Eurocopter Types.
Must have minimum of 2 years Instructor experience to include at least 2 of the following types:
S76, S92, Bell 206, 407, 412, AS332.
This post will attract a 6 and 6 rotation, full remuneration package including medical benefits and pension.
Salary will be negotiable and dependant on experience and qualifications.
Aser
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Aser - if you interested the 1st Bristow S92 will arrive Lagos on 14 Dec - it has only been delayed surprisingly by NNCAA bureaucracy.
A second dedicated SAR S92 arrives in Sep 09.
Get your CV in.
A second dedicated SAR S92 arrives in Sep 09.
Get your CV in.