BBC Link

Seven people, including three Australians and a New Zealander, are believed kidnapped in Nigeria.
Media reports say a convoy of cars was ambushed near the city of Calabar in Cross River State on Wednesday morning.
The driver was killed and seven employees of engineering firm Macmahon were taken away on a waiting boat, reports said.
Kidnap-for-ransom is a longstanding issue in southern Nigeria, where gangs target expatriate workers.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the identity of the kidnappers was unknown at this stage.
"It is a very serious kidnapping, a very serious criminal assault, one person was killed and seven people have been kidnapped," Mr Turnbull said.
He confirmed that three Australians were among those kidnapped, along with a New Zealander who is a permanent resident of Australia. It is believed that at least two Nigerians were also kidnapped.
There has been some confusion over the exact number of people abducted by the 30 militants involved in the attack.
Nigerian Police Commissioner Jimoh Ozi-Obeh told reporters that police were working with the Nigerian Navy to ensure all victims were released unharmed.

CHC completely exiting Nigeria - Straight from the head honcho. Party is over in Nigeria for CHC.

Is this true?!
NAAPE shut down Caverton Helicopters operations totally ? Nigerian Flight Deck

One whole day - crippling etc? Love the press.

Caverscam, got to love em...:E:D

I've heard that Bristow Nigeria have laid off some expats in the last couple of days.
Could someone confirm if this is true, and if so, would they know the numbers that went and the bases concerned.

Thanks.

As far as I know Bristow has laid off 8 expats in PH NAF base and another one in Scravos.

It appears that the end is near. :sad:

Was a lot more than that. Expat pilots and engineers. Lagos. Ph naf eket and escravos.

Empathise & Sympathise
 

Genuinely feel for guys who got the bullet, especially in these dire times.

Sad, but I'm afraid this was inevitable. The writing has been on the wall for some time, long before the oil industry crisis and the current security challenges.

NEO :(:sad:

Tough times in a tough market - the industry all over is feeling it. Who is running Bristow Nigeria now that Imlach has left?

Akin Oni is currently 'temporary' MD

When the national pilots eventually all get promoted to hero pilot status and thus find high positions in management themselves the company will still need pilots to fly the helicopters. Unless the national training program can keep pace some expat hires will probably be necessary at some point in the future.
The Bristow S76 ditching topic seems to have gone quiet recently, or removed. I wonder how things are going following all that.

Thanks Soggy - it seems like there has not been much stability there for quite a while.

Tim,

Au contraire; they currently have the best MD, albeit on a temporary basis in charge. I worked there for 23 years and can testify that if anyone will do the right thing it is him. Granted, if hard decisions have to be made he'll do the deed, but there is no agenda with that man. Couldn't get more stable.

NEO

Bristow Group: Near Term Catalyst For 45% Drop - Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE:BRS) | Seeking Alpha
It may well be that Akin is just here so that when Bristow has to lay off nationals as well as expats, it's seen to be done by another national rather than someone like the universally-hated Imlach. I feel really sorry for him being on the spot as the man who'll be seen wielding the knife this time as I believe he'll feel genuinely sad at what he has to do. Unfortunately the sorry state of our industry combined with the Naira's huge crash mean it's inevitable.
After The Center of Excellence, Caverton's recent one day stoppage because of their bloody-minded management's handling of staff demands, it'll be interesting to see how long it will be before they also start making cuts

Multiple Factors ?
 

Mama,

That makes depressing reading, but not entirely unexpected. Ironic that CHC have been spared the 225 debacle by Chapter 11 ?

I'm no economist but from a layman's point of view, Nigeria appears to have all the symptoms of a full blown recession. Add to that the global oil price situation, internal security strife and the Saudi determination to commit Hari Kiri just to mess up their neighbours and I don't see any improvement in the short term.

More redundancies are inevitable; market forces sadly. :(

NEO

Avalanche ?
 

It appears things are becoming difficult, even daily life is hard to say the least. Friends tell me even the basic commodities are hard to find and even then they are outrageously expensive. :uhoh: Aircrew, engineers and support staff being laid off in droves.

Venezuela and Nigeria; who would have imagined ? :sad:

NEO

NEO,

Yes indeed, things are getting dearer, pms is now N245 - N250 a litre, diesel N200 - N210, these prices get even higher when there is a shortage, but filling stations seem to have stock just now, no queues stretching far down the road at the moment. In the market, vegetable and staple prices have been fluctuating badly but everything has certainly gone up on price, while salaries have remained miserably poor for most people. But you can still get a smile and a polite greeting which means a lot.
One thing I have noticed is that the price of Star has not increased just yet, grateful for small mercies !
I understand that the sort out at Bristow was a shock, a lot of good people were sent away. with a number of surprises.

Bluesafari

Akin has decreed that everyone except the Escravos guys will switch from 6/6 to 8/4. If you don't like it, you know what you can do.

I guess it's one way to avoid paying redundancies!

That would be a raise of 50% in income?
and a raise of 100% for money per day to spent it?

OK I will get my coat..

SLB