Loco Good News
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WWW, sorry but I have to disagree with you, the guilty need to be named, those people are responsible for a mass exodus of pilots making a reasonable airline to work for a well and truely bad one.
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I seem to remember a similar thread when V H-P left...... and a wave of relief when Mike was announced as Ops Director....
Intead of celebrating Mike's departure, think about why it happened, the constraints he had and what the future holds....
If you think Andy Harrison asked him to reconsider his position because he wasn't popular out on the line, then you are very mistaken....
Mike had his targets to hit, mistakes were made and when anyone on this forum can say they haven;t ever made a mistake (yeah, lets have a look at FDM and see how perfect you are) then they can criticise him. He's gone...thats it, start talking about how tomorrow can be better than yesterday.
The point to all this is that there will always be a conflict between line pilots and pilot management in LoCos because everything is an asset and is made to work as hard as possible. There's a balance somewhere between pay and working hours and roster patterns and so far, that balance has not been achieved. Once you find it, recruitment and turnover stops being a problem. The new Ops Man needs to find that balance..if he can't then we'll see another thread like this in 2 years time.
Maybe PG will be looking at how Ken does....
Intead of celebrating Mike's departure, think about why it happened, the constraints he had and what the future holds....
If you think Andy Harrison asked him to reconsider his position because he wasn't popular out on the line, then you are very mistaken....
Mike had his targets to hit, mistakes were made and when anyone on this forum can say they haven;t ever made a mistake (yeah, lets have a look at FDM and see how perfect you are) then they can criticise him. He's gone...thats it, start talking about how tomorrow can be better than yesterday.
The point to all this is that there will always be a conflict between line pilots and pilot management in LoCos because everything is an asset and is made to work as hard as possible. There's a balance somewhere between pay and working hours and roster patterns and so far, that balance has not been achieved. Once you find it, recruitment and turnover stops being a problem. The new Ops Man needs to find that balance..if he can't then we'll see another thread like this in 2 years time.
Maybe PG will be looking at how Ken does....
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At the risk of being too controversial, I am one of those who think that others should not go at the moment. One of the other managers named here has had an almost impossible situation to deal with and is frankly only a worker bee. The guy who has carried the can should have done but we need to see what happens next. There is actually very little to be gained by mass sackings - you just end up with a whole new team on a huge learning curve and all the mess that brings.
The real deal here is rostering. I am not being flippant in saying this - the guy we need is the one who changes the current deal and I do not care what his name is. Out there somewhere is someone who will take the bull by the horns and get rid of 5-2-5-4. Whoever you are, we want to meet you. Come on down!
The real deal here is rostering. I am not being flippant in saying this - the guy we need is the one who changes the current deal and I do not care what his name is. Out there somewhere is someone who will take the bull by the horns and get rid of 5-2-5-4. Whoever you are, we want to meet you. Come on down!
Last edited by Norman Stanley Fletcher; 4th Jul 2006 at 18:36.
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5-2-5-4 rostering
NSF,
Intrigued by your comments - the Flight International article 6th June was waxing lyrical about this and stated that a survey of EZY pilots said 93% felt less fatigued by this pattern.
Intrigued by your comments - the Flight International article 6th June was waxing lyrical about this and stated that a survey of EZY pilots said 93% felt less fatigued by this pattern.
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Porky
The 'survey' quoted in the article was over 18 months old and was taken in the midst of a fully crewed rostering trial prioir to the full network wide implementation of the pattern. In short, it was out of date and wholly innaccurate........................another stunning piece of jounalism!
Monkey
I too remember VH-P leaving but I certainlydon't quite remember the 'wave of relief' you refer to. Indeed the reputation came before the man.......and proved to be correct within a matter of months. There wasn't one mistake made, there were numerous unprofessional and embarassing errors throughout his tenure, and the time had well and truly come to part company.
I have heard nothing but good stuff about his successor in the last few days and that has got to be welcome news. If he can organise, plan and manage, he will have 3 qualities the outgoing gentleman lacked!
The 'survey' quoted in the article was over 18 months old and was taken in the midst of a fully crewed rostering trial prioir to the full network wide implementation of the pattern. In short, it was out of date and wholly innaccurate........................another stunning piece of jounalism!
Monkey
I too remember VH-P leaving but I certainlydon't quite remember the 'wave of relief' you refer to. Indeed the reputation came before the man.......and proved to be correct within a matter of months. There wasn't one mistake made, there were numerous unprofessional and embarassing errors throughout his tenure, and the time had well and truly come to part company.
I have heard nothing but good stuff about his successor in the last few days and that has got to be welcome news. If he can organise, plan and manage, he will have 3 qualities the outgoing gentleman lacked!
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Flaps One
be careful, if you seek to lower the esteem of the person concerned you could be liable for slander. It is quite known who various posters are on these fora. Just some friendly advice.
The issue here is not the ops director moving on but what impact the decisions that have been made in the past have had on easyjets earnings. With so much chartering and cancellation ( compensation? ) going on ,could easyJet make a loss this summer?
be careful, if you seek to lower the esteem of the person concerned you could be liable for slander. It is quite known who various posters are on these fora. Just some friendly advice.
The issue here is not the ops director moving on but what impact the decisions that have been made in the past have had on easyjets earnings. With so much chartering and cancellation ( compensation? ) going on ,could easyJet make a loss this summer?
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In the current edition of Flight International there is a letter from Mervyn Granshaw expressing concern over some of the short comings of the articles with regard to fatigue. Unfortunately as is usual, unlike the large euphemistic full page spreads containing questionable material, the letter is consigned quietly to the back pages. Wouldn't want to upset the apple cart with the truth would we........
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Just to concur with my colleagues here - 5254 is almost universally despised. The article in Flight International was frankly a Pravda-esque embarassment to easyJet. It was simply the unquestioned view of the easyJet PR department saying that the sun never sets on the empire and all will be well in the morning etc. As I have stated in other threads, the rostering situation will change, but I think only incrementally over the next year or so. It is not realistic to expect any changes at all until after the summer. We are in all honesty facing a manpower crisis on a scale unseen previously at easyJet. As has been highlighted elsewhere, our Chief Operating Officer has just 'resigned' in the wake of some major embarrasment to the company in terms of planning and recruitment. We are cancelling some flights altogether, subbing out certain flights to other airlines and flying Line Captains about 5 days a month in the right hand seat due to a critical shortage of First Officers. Our training department is stretched to the absolute limit and we are having to send newly recruited pilots into ground jobs for several months as we have insufficient training resources to train them. All these problems were totally predictable, but no one did anything to stop the rot until it was all too late. Hardly surprisingly heads have rolled and I daresay others may follow!
By September it will all no doubt look better but in the meantime it is crisis management. I have considerable sympathy with our long suffering rostering, crewing and ops departments who are trying to maintain a credible level of service with insufficient resources to make it happen.
Despite it all, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I personally am not concerned about the immediate problems - my concern is for the futue. There is still a battle to be won but I do believe it will happen.
By September it will all no doubt look better but in the meantime it is crisis management. I have considerable sympathy with our long suffering rostering, crewing and ops departments who are trying to maintain a credible level of service with insufficient resources to make it happen.
Despite it all, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I personally am not concerned about the immediate problems - my concern is for the futue. There is still a battle to be won but I do believe it will happen.
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Has anyone heard the little piece of "Galley FM" thats been floating about this week that finally the crewing dept are reaching the end of their teather and are planning a strike????
I have to take my hats off to the poor guys down there, cant say i would like to be in their shoes with crew screaming at them left right and centre, if i get taxied to another base to sit on ASBY i think i might blow a fuse!!
I have to take my hats off to the poor guys down there, cant say i would like to be in their shoes with crew screaming at them left right and centre, if i get taxied to another base to sit on ASBY i think i might blow a fuse!!
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Originally Posted by Norman Stanley Fletcher
Despite it all, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I personally am not concerned about the immediate problems - my concern is for the futue.
NSF - can you tell me under what circumstances you would get concerned?
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SadlyCynical
Interestingly crew sickness (FD and CC) is at it's lowest level for 3 years.
FDM compound events are also well below industry norm (based on CAA data).
Those facts (not rumour I'm afraid) are a credit to the crews working their butts off.
The big question is how long it can go on for!!!
Interestingly crew sickness (FD and CC) is at it's lowest level for 3 years.
FDM compound events are also well below industry norm (based on CAA data).
Those facts (not rumour I'm afraid) are a credit to the crews working their butts off.
The big question is how long it can go on for!!!
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Very true those facts are a credit to us working our butts off and also proves that measuring fatigue using OFD events is fundamentally flawed. Plenty of mistakes can be made without triggering an event. You can take it from me and my 900hr accumulator that 5254 is s**t, fatiguing and completely unsustainable in the long term.
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Given all the negative information I have heard about 5254 I am indeed surprised to hear that sickness is down, and more importantly, FDM events are lower than industry standard.
There are two conclusions to be drawn; either there are no problems and things can continue as they are, or the monitoring has yet to catch up with reality (for whatever reason).
All I can say with certainty is that the rostering guru I have spoken to tells me that whilst the 5254 trials came back with encouraging results, the long term reality is that it doesn't work.
The summer has only just begun, lets see what the statistics say at the end.
There are two conclusions to be drawn; either there are no problems and things can continue as they are, or the monitoring has yet to catch up with reality (for whatever reason).
All I can say with certainty is that the rostering guru I have spoken to tells me that whilst the 5254 trials came back with encouraging results, the long term reality is that it doesn't work.
The summer has only just begun, lets see what the statistics say at the end.
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Rostering Trial Sham
Rumor has it that the original 5254 trial was rigged.
Ask any of the line pilots in the 2 bases involved (EDI and LTN) how many hours they were doing per month when the trial was supposed to be in full swing and compare that to what they get now. Pilots from other bases were shipped in quietly to do the work of the EDI and LTN pilots while they all sat at home on their SBY duties... Doh!
still, the pilots have voted with their feet in the last year with over 160 having left for pastures new, so the Co. did 'emselves no favours in the end.
The company line this week is, "its okay we've got enough pilots, they just don't have any hours left!"
Meanwhile the poor old cutomers are having to be flown around by the likes of Futura and Titan - its only a matter or time guys............
Ask any of the line pilots in the 2 bases involved (EDI and LTN) how many hours they were doing per month when the trial was supposed to be in full swing and compare that to what they get now. Pilots from other bases were shipped in quietly to do the work of the EDI and LTN pilots while they all sat at home on their SBY duties... Doh!
still, the pilots have voted with their feet in the last year with over 160 having left for pastures new, so the Co. did 'emselves no favours in the end.
The company line this week is, "its okay we've got enough pilots, they just don't have any hours left!"
Meanwhile the poor old cutomers are having to be flown around by the likes of Futura and Titan - its only a matter or time guys............