ASIAN SPIRIT under new management

[blueforce]

planewhisperer

thanks for the good news.

any word on the other MA60s?

[plane whisperer]

Hi Blueforce.I think one MA60 will arrive within next week also if what I hear is true.In any case one bus is already ready for ferry with others following very shortly.

Very eye catching livery and I cant help but say that I never thought that our well known and loved juice drink colors would actually look good on a bus

[blueforce]

well and good for Zest.

any connection to Zest?

thank you.

[ads1963]

The mismanagement under Yao continues!

Watta shame:

http://stella-arnaldo.*************/...ch%20Rodriguez

Roaches attack Zest Air passengers...eeew!



LAST week I received an email w/c apparently has been making the rounds of several friends in the tourism business and email groups. I am publishing it to warn travelers about the hazards of riding on Zest Airways (formerly Asian Spirit), which in the past, I've written about because they flew w/o any insurance. I forwarded the same email to Butch Rodriguez, the carrier's VP for Commercial Affairs and official spokesman, but have not received any reaction to email writer Ms. Polintan's concerns.

Gee, Seair's Nikos Gitsis must be thanking his lucky stars he didn't accept the buy-out offer of Zest Airways' Alfredo Yao.

Here's the email:

On Tue, 11/25/08, Marge Polintan <******@yahoo.com> wrote:

Customer Relations/ZEST AIR:

We are a party of 17 (15 adults and 2 minors) who all took the Manila-Caticlan on Nov. 22 and returned to Manila on Nov. 24 via Kalibo-Manila when our return flight was diverted from Caticlan to Kalibo.

We checked in all 17 of us at Caticlan about 4:10PM only to be told that we have to motor to Kalibo as our flight was diverted. When we asked why, we were given the most stupid reasons that only a moron can accept. Your MR. RODEL URGUELLES informed us that the plane could not take off as sunset was at 5:20. (1) Our flight was supposed to leave at 5:00PM so clearly we would have been up in the sky when sunset was supposedly setting in. (2) Another stupid reason given to us was that the Caticlan airport had no runway lights making it impossible for us to take off!!!! Why in heaven's name do you schedule late afternoon flights knowing that the Caticlan airport is not fitted with lights (I seriously doubt if is this is true). (3) We also asked why we were not contacted to let us know that they were moving our flight earlier. They were able to contact us before we left Manila that our departure was moved to an earlier time. (4) We informed your Mr Urguelles that we had a pregnant lady in our party and were concerned about the long trip from Caticlan to Kalibo. We were asking for a guarantee that should she suffer a miscarriage, the airline will be made answerable for it. Of course he could not give any guarantee. Having no choice we took the risk and motored to Kalibo for a good one hour motor ride. Upon reaching Kalibo, we found out that two other Zest Air flights were likewise diverted. We were made to wait some more as the planes coming from Manila were delayed. I surmised that this was the main reason why our flights were moved from Caticlan to Kalibo.

We were finally herded to an airplane for our flight to Manila. With grumbling stomachs and exhausted from the trip from Caticlan, we had to make our way inside the airplane in darkness. When we asked the flight attendant why there were NO cabin lights, we got another STUPID response and were informed that they are conserving energy and therefore we have to grope for our seats in darkness without any airconditioning. Madilim na Mainit pa!!!!!! What would have been a one hour flight seemed like an eternity as it took us about an hour and a half to reach Manila in darkness.

Having undergone all these nerve wracking experience what was more irritating apart from the stupidity of your staff is the fact that they did not even offer any apology for all the inconvenience we were experiencing. I think you should all go back to school and take courses on basics of good manners, effective management and people skills. Your staff is sorely lacking in all of these!!!!!!

This is our first and last time we are flying ZEST AIR. You can be assured that the 17 of us will be your worst advertisement and will make it a point to inform all our friends and other concerned agencies.

Passengers
MARGARITA S. POLINTAN
LUIS MANUEL S. POLINTAM N
MIA MARGARITA S. POLINTAN
JOSEFINA S CRISTOBAL
MARIANO CRISTOBAL III
RIZZA JOIE CRISTOBAL
EMMANUEL UBIADAS
CATHERINE UBIADAS
GABRILLE ERIN UBIADAS (Minor)
VIRGINIA AGALOOS
BERNARDO AGALOOS III
AILEEN AGALOOS
RACHEL EUSTAQUIO
BERNADETTE NEWELL
ZANDRA NEWELL
ANDREW NEWELL (Minor)
TIMOTHY BLANK

AFTER two weeks, below is the response of Zest Air's Customer relations department. Geez, not even a personal call to apologize to Ms. Polintan? No offer of a comp hassle-free trip next time? How totally lacking in respect for their passengers. Tsk, tsk.

From: Customer relations
To: Marge Polintan <****** @yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:53:54 PM
Subject: Re: [stcqchs'65] Fw: ZEST AIR/ASIAN SPIRIT NEVER AGAIN-A HARROWING EXPERIENCE

Mam,

I apologize for the inconvenience and have noted your concerns and complaints, the old planes will be grounded and 5 new planes will be in placed.

Best regards

NOW I know Rodel Arguelles, who has been Asian Spirit's Caticlan station manager for the longest time. I've never had a problem w/ him. He has been one of the more efficient employees I know in Asian Spirit. So I'm not so sure what has happened to him. Could be a reflection in the change of management style and their policies.

And yaaak! Ipis! I've also heard that the planes' toilets are not cleaned well. Plain soap and water are used instead of that blue toilet-duck product. So Zest Air management would rather cut expenses that make sure their passengers are safe from health risks huh? Sweet.

There was a time when Asian Spirit was one of the best and most efficient budget carriers in the country. Now that it's been transformed to Zest Air, it is just sh**. Sad.

And another

http://stella-arnaldo.*************/...Asian%20Spirit

Disillusioned



CONTINUING my tirade about Asian Spirit, I really had high hopes for this airline, which in the past, had merely suffered from the lack of proper marketing support and strategy. I had so believed in the leadership and abilities of its new owner, Zest-O king Alfredo Yao, who became my idol especially after interviewing him, and finding out how much he had struggled to become the success that he is today. I was amazed at how humble he still remained, despite his fame and fortune.

What was memorable in that interview was his response to my question on advice he could give to new entrepreneurs. This is what he said:

“If you’re just starting in business, get out of your comfort zone. Being an entrepreneur is really hard work in the beginning. Keep your focus. But more than anything, you must take care to earn the respect of your colleagues and suppliers. You can only do this by having word of honor in any transaction. Success doesn’t come overnight, but by being decent and honest in all your dealings, it will help you in the long run. By word of mouth, people will know you. ’Pag sinabi mong magbabayad ka ng utang, for example, magbayad ka. It is sad that nowadays, this trait, of being trustworthy or having word of honor, has slowly disappeared.(See Look to the Sky, BusinessMirror, May 7, 2008)

I find it really hysterical for him to say something like that and completely do the opposite...e.g. miss payment again on his carrier's insurance premium, after he himself committed to pay Prudential Guarantee by a certain deadline. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

I dunno about you, but I am certainly disillusioned and puzzled by Mr. Yao's behavior.

What's the meaning of this?

http://stella-arnaldo.*************/...cio-lines.html

WELL, well, what's this I hear? Another transport company just had their offices blessed and feng shui'ed last Wednesday, June 25, 2008.

According to my sources, Asian Spirit had a feng shui ceremony that day, which coincidentally, was the day the airline committed to pay the premium it owed its insurer, Prudential Guarantee. One of the quirky things that happened was during the blessing ceremony, all women who gave birth this year were told to leave the offices, as they are considered unlucky I suppose.

You would expect that all things would have gone well for Asian Spirit from then on. (If you recall, the airline had seriously jeopardized its passengers who flew on its planes from June 19-23, 2008, because the carrier had no insurance. See my earlier blog entries.)

Sorry to disappoint you feng shui believers out there. Because by the end of the day, AIG London, Prudential Guarantee's reinsurer, sent the airline a Notice of Cancellation of its insurance policy after...gasp! missing the deadline to pay Prudential! Ay anovayan Ambassador Yao!

Of course, by next morning, June 26, Prudential Guarantee was paid. Pero sa true lang, ano pa ang silbi ng feng shui kung inefficient naman ang management ng airline na ito? To think nag-PR pa sila saying they were mounting "mercy flights" to Kalibo, Aklan, and San Jose, Antique, ferrying relief goods for the victims of Typhoon Frank. Tsk, tsk. Bilib na sana ako pero...wa din.

Attention Director Carmelo Arcilla of the Civil Aeronautics Board...hoy gising!

Reading this article above one can have the feeling that the airline is not properly insured!

[eagle135]

Zest Air brings 4 planes to Clark


By Riza T. Olchondra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 08:09:00 12/18/2008

Filed Under: Air Transport


Zest Air, formerly Asian Spirit, brought four new aircraft into the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in preparation for international and domestic flights from the new Philippine gateway, Clark International Airport Corp. said Wednesday.
Zest Air has acquired three M-60 airplanes with a capacity of 56 seats and one Airbus A320 with 162. These arrived at the Clark civil aviation complex through the DMIA.
Airline president and chief executive Alfredo Yao said another Airbus A320 was to arrive Jan. 3, and two more were expected to arrive in mid-2009.
Yao said Zest Air’s plans included flights to Hong Kong, Incheon in South Korea, Macau, Xiamen and Shanghai in China, and Bangkok in Thailand out of DMIA. Edited by INQUIRER.net

[ads1963]

The complaints of passengers don't stop!

How mismanaged is that airline! They don't pay back the fares for flights because they have not enough cash on hand. They collect for flights which never operate and let the passenger believe that the flight will be operating!

Renaissance in progress... - The Batanes Disaster that is called ZestAir!

The Batanes Disaster that is called ZestAir!

After months of slow but clear planning; I, together with Jay Jallorina was finally all set and booked for Basco, Batanes! It was a dream destination of mine especially after getting a glimpse of what Batanes had to offer through Jay's shots from the Epson sponsored event a few months ago which was also published and made cover in Digital Photographer Philippines' Issue 22: Coast to Coast. Great light, crashing waves, rocks, and huge sea stacks... what more would a landscape photographer ask for?

Booking a flight was hassle free on my part through ZestAir's online facility (except that I had to follow-up on the E-Ticket twice before it was finally faxed/emailed to me). Though Jay had a problem since the online system wasn't accepting his credit cards. It was quickly remedied by a trip to the ZestAir ticketing office in Makati. On the evening of November 17, Jay texted me that we were go with our flight leaving December 28 for Basco and eventually we would be coming back to Manila on January 4. That's roughly 7 days of exploring and shooting Batanes! It finally all came together... or so it seemed.

I received a message from Jay yesterday, almost 1 month after booking, that ZestAir abruptly cancelled our flights for "Operational Reasons". I have no idea what those operational reasons are but they are cancelling all Sunday flights to Basco immediately. Weird thing is, I never received a call/email from ZestAir regarding the cancellation of our flights. I only knew because Jay got the call, but not me. I am tempted to assume that if Jay wasn't informed, I would be left hanging in the air come the day of the flight.

Anyway, after a few minutes of going through the phase of being angry, sad, to acceptance; I decided to calm down and look for alternative flights. Of course, I wasn't going to look to ZestAir, by that time they were already scratched from my good book. Looking at the bright side, we thought we could just refund the money and book a flight elsewhere. Fortunately, SeaAir still had flights to Basco on the 26th and a Manila bound flight on the 3rd of January. It was 3 thousand pesos more expensive than that of ZestAir's but it had to do. We were still determined to push through no matter what.

So today, Jay and I went to ZestAir's ticketing office in Makati. Jay made his sincere, guilt-casting speech towards the staff while I learning from the past, (when I complain to staff, I usually get so riled up to the point of being unreasonable and flat down furious) decided to keep quiet. Jay got his refund immediately since he paid cash over the counter when he booked. I on the other hand was a different sad story. I was informed that I was getting my refund as a charge back to my credit card. When I asked how long it would take, the sales agent said, "30 to 60 days depending on the bank's cut-off". What the f*ck!!! Add to that, the agent said that she was already sending my appeal for a refund. Appeal?! Was she kidding me? We were the one's getting screwed and we're the one's who need to make an appeal?!? Apparently, I also had to make my own personal "appeal" towards the online booking facility to get my refund. Talk about customer service! Craptastic policies!

Fortunately I had some extra funds that I got from my company's yearly Christmas gifts. It was supposed to go to bills payments and buying gifts for Christmas but alas, ZestAir totally destroyed my December budget.

After that ordeal, we made our way to SeaAir's ticketing office to book our flights which went smoothly enough. We've rescheduled our trip to the 26th to January 3. A bit longer than expected but atleast it'll give us more time to shoot. Hopefully, all goes well with SeaAir.

A word to the wise, if you're booking a flight, I do not recommend ZestAir unless it's a last resort. Unfortunately, the brand restructuring of Asian Spirit to Zest Airways only made it worse.

Taken from their slogan, here's to ZESTAIR... ALL AIR, NO ZEST! THERE'S A NEW PEST IN THE AIR! ASIA'S MOST INFURIATING AIRLINE!

I love the last sentence:

ZESTAIR... ALL AIR, NO ZEST! THERE'S A NEW PEST IN THE AIR! ASIA'S MOST INFURIATING AIRLINE!

http://freeze-mythoughts.***********...ine.html#links

What's in a Tagline?

A tagline is a branding slogan, a phrase that will reflect the product's concept or otherwise, it's a marketing tool to create a desired image in line with the company's mission.

In the Philippines, banks for one has taglines like "you're in good hands" with Metrobank and BDO has "we find ways". The former connotes confidence building while the latter aims convenience banking; both have somehow lived up to their tag line.

SM Malls goes for "we got it all for you" while Ayala Malls "because you deserve more", then there's Max's "sarap to the bones", Jollibee's "langhap sarap". Some claims ownership like Coca-cola's "coke ko 'to" and McDonald's "love ko 'to".

Even countries market their tourism sector with phrases like Wow Philippines, Amazing Thailand, Sparkling Korea, Uniquely Singapore...

Airlines like Cebu Pacific failed to live up to it's on time track record so they changed it's tag line from "99% on time" to "it's time everyone flies CP". The latter is a shift in marketing strategy to dominate the market by offering absurdly low fares. While PAL changed from "Asia's sunniest" to "It's about experience" to "Clearly No. 1", to highlight some facts or make a statement.

Asian Spirit on the otherhand recently changed it's name to Zest Airways, following it's new owner's Zest-O brand for drinks. By changing it's name it can save itself from the mockery of being tagged as "leave as asians, land as spirits". But what really struck me is their new tagline - "Asia's most refreshing airline." Duh, what's that again? I wonder what that tagline aims to convey or simply a lame effort to relate the word "zest" with "airlines". I hope it doesn't mean fresh air, the last time I boarded Asian Spirit, a fan is provided, that came in handy since there is barely cool airconditioning throughout the flight. Nevertheless, this is a welcome development to all travelers and a renewed challenge to the airline industry.

[ads1963]

More Complaints

Another passenger with complaints:

Owen's Travel Site

Zest Air Is Unfair! - DO NOT BUY ZEST AIR TICKET!Dec 1, '08 9:35 AM
for everyone
just one of my travel ramblings...

zest air is aka bwizest air
zest air is also zhet air
zest air is unfair
zest air is the worst in the air

i am one of their victims
i bought 4 tickets with them
and all of those 4 tickets
were just changed and not followed

and i know many more victims to this
those travel joiners i had
that have to cancel the tour
because zest air changed their schedule

it could be the right of the airline
but this time its clear that
they abused their passenger
by having promo that were not true

i will file a law case with zest air
i will wish them close shop
i will recommend not to buy zest air ticket
i hope they stop their craziness.

Wonder how they'll refund all of their passengers which bought tickets for the holidays and only 2 MA60 and one DASH7 is flying? Will they charge it again to their cashflow?

[ads1963]

And another complaint!

Wisps of Hair and Tiny Sprays of Water Asian Spirit my A

Asian Spirit my A
< Asian Spirit, now known as Zest-Air, is so far the worst airline I have ever encountered. They cancelled our flight to Batanes on questionable reasons, cancelled my flight to Virac due to ’scheduled maintenance’ and even cancelled my mother’s along with 10 other friends’s flight to Coron for reasons I did not bother to ask. As if it’s not enough that they cancelled the flights, in my case, the Virac flight has been cancelled for two weeks but they never bothered to call me to inform me. In my mother’s case, they transferred the passengers to other airlines like Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines and never bothered to inform their passengers. People got the news through word of mouth, from one passenger who bothered to inquire about the flight to another and onto another. In my case, what made it worse is I had to keep dialling their hotline for three straight days to verify if my Virac flight was really cancelled and never got to talk to anyone. When i finally did, I was put on hold for 10 minutes at a time for about five times, and this is not a joke or an exaggeration but I actually fainted for having to stand for almost an hour as I decided to use a pay phone instead of my cell phone, while in the middle of the conversation with the stupidest customer service representative alive. We ended paying almost five thousand in hospital bills because we were worried about the baby and had tests done to make sure everything was okay.
The [stupidest] customer service representative said I was entitled to full refund for all my fully-paid credit card-charged tickets and she said to expect the refund within 30 days.
Since I cannot get the P14,500 back in cash from the credit card company, I decided to shop and charge the purchases to my credit card. That is how I got to find out that travel actually costs so much. The following is the equivalent of 3 round-trip tickets:
Canon Pixma ip1700 (my HP printer refused to turn on and HP informed me they are already at their ‘end-of-support’ for my printer model)
16 window curtains
1K worth of supplies from National Bookstore
Christmas presents for 13 people (yes, I do my Christmas shopping reeeally early)
Birthday present for 1 person
8 place mats
3 sets of kitchen containers
2 shower curtains
2 bathroom mats
2 original limited-edition CDs
and last but not the least, 5 light bulbs. (Reminds me of the jokes, how many whatevers does it take to change a light bulb?)
It turned out to be one hell of a realization. P14,500 converted to things other than airline tickets turns out to be a lot. If the trips have not been cancelled we would’ve spent another twenty thousand more in food, fare, accomodations and other miscellaneous expenses. That is how I came to decide to put a limit to all these travels. A thousand here and there piles up to become ten thousand, and then, it’s not cheap anymore.
Now, back to more Asian Spirit hassles, I would have been happy enough with the purchases I was able to make with my refunded 14,500; except that it has been more than 30 days and there is not a trace of my money. I would like to do some follow-up on this refund, but that involves calling the hotline (it is so hot that you’ll faint when you get on it) again. Meanwhile, my credit card charges are piling up finance charges day after day. Okay, it’s my fault that I tried to get my money back so soon. Can anyone blame me if I was so depressed by this turn of events that I had to resort to hoarding curtains and other household stuff?
Life, as always, more often than not, sucks.

November 6th, 2008 at 5:14 pm



5 Responses to “Asian Spirit my A”

1. [*]

[basic]

Ahem!

They canceled they're bookings especially batanes because Chief Pilot "Boy putik" can't even land the MA60! with strong winds! maybe he is afraid to overshoot the aircraft.

"Guess what"!!!!! For the first time the FIFTH brand new MA60 Failed to be ferried from CLARK to MANILA because the pilot Capt.LINE CHECKER forgot to apply parking brake while he was strarting the A/c and he blame the mechanic for not placing the chocks on the wheels. from what i know who would go out there and get those chock while the A/C is starting?!!!.btw, there was a damaged to the wing i dont know where it hit maybe some tree! LOL!.

The company is really in big mess lots of old school pilots are so proud of who they are and pretend to control over things and there are a lot who is pretenders. there is war between Aircraft to Aircraft! Yikes!


Capt. "M" failed twice on the Airbus training program so other went abroad and flew the BAE. the info came from the assistant chief pilot of the MA60.


Different company, different Aircraft but same old SH***t. if the culture doesn't stop there will be no changes. so the mess isn't just with the passenger but inside the company aswell.

One more thing MA60 First Batch pilots are not yet done with they're IOE (Initial Operating Experience) Capt. BOY PUTIK is choosing who he wants to get into IOE fast. they have 2 instructors who does not know how to speak English!!! and they need a translator for every flight! what the heck! and one more thing these guys are just waiting for they're schedule for almost 3 months. they cant even celebrate a very nice Christmas no money sila!

when will Yao stop listening to CPT. LOUD MOUTH?!

Capt VP operations! Do something! atleast your the last resort for the Company!

well i spilled the beans this time. Merry Christmas! lets wait what will happen with company next year.

[ads1963]

The Answer

Here is the answer to all their mischief and incompency:

Zest Airways - Asia's most refreshing airline.

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

We, the bonafide employees of ZEST AIR
Do solemnly pledge our allegiance to this company
And to the industry that it represents
With pride, honor and dignity.
That we will wholeheartedly devote our skills, knowledge, expertise
and energy to the extent most favorable to the interest of ZEST AIR.

That WE WILL WORK AS A TEAM and remain as one no matter
what adversity may come. That we will truthfully represent ZEST
AIR as employees filled with zest, life, enthusiasm, excitement,
and vibrance toward our work.

That this oath will always have its meaning in our hearts and minds
and will serve as a reminder, not merely meaningless words but an
oath bound by commitment and sincerity.

TOGETHER WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS DREAM HAPPEN!
TOGETHER WE ARE GOING TO UNLEASH THE ZEST IN EACH
AND EVERYONE OF US!

For the common good of all, for the greater Glory of God and this
Country.

May God help us.

Mabuhay Zest Air!!!

You guys in the Philippines seem to like Perjury cause its not a crime and anyone can give an oath and do what everybody wants to do and not violating his or her oath.

I have seen that in political happening but never in an airline. Airlines are going for different type of certifications but not for an oath of allegiance. But in Zest Air you can do what you want cause you have sworn that you do nothing bad and the worst for the industry is still the best for Zest Air and nobody will charge you for perjury because you are assumed as "innocent" till prooven guilty in court.


Perjury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. It is important that the false statement be material to the case at hand—that it could affect the outcome of the case. It is not considered perjury, for example, to lie about one's age, unless that person's age is a key factor in proving the case.


Perjury is considered a serious offense as it can be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice. In the United States, for example, the general perjury statute under Federal law provides for a prison sentence of up to five years, and is found at 18 U.S.C. § 1621. See also 28 U.S.C. § 1746. In the United Kingdom the penalty for perjury is a prison sentence of up to seven years, however prosecutions for perjury are rare.

The rules for perjury also apply to witnesses who have affirmed they are telling the truth. Affirmation is used by a witness who is unable to swear to tell the truth. For example, in the United Kingdom a witness may swear on the Bible or other holy book. If a witness has no religious beliefs, or does not wish to swear on a holy book, the witness may make an affirmation he or she is telling the truth instead.

Collecting money from paying passengers and knowing very well that the flight will not operate and than keeping the pax's money for 60 days is a crime but again not in the Banana Island Republic of the Philippines!

You will work most favourable for Zest Air but not for your clients cause you cheat them! There is really something wrong in that wanna be "airline".

Just wondering were blueforce and B747-800 are? they seem to have been paid-off already not to give their insights anymore or did they fall asleep?

[mandaragit]

crab mentality

ads...3

you are really relentless in your efforts of disparaging, discrediting this airline. what motivates you? your hatred must be so deep against this one person who happen to be positioned in the airline. is it envy? did he refuse you entry into the same airline? are you a pilot? your english is not level 4 compliant so you must be still a wannabe? why do you seek b474-800 and blueforce? are you finding your crusade a lonely and forlorn misadventure?

do you see them violating any rules or regulations? why don't you report them to CAAP? are you afraid you cannot stand up to your own objectives? do you want this airline to shut down? nevermind the hundreds of filipino employees earning their livelihood thru this airline. nevermind that the other airlines have their own bit of these passenger complaints also. you must only focus on this particular airline because of this hatred festering in your bones.

i consider you a true blue, genuine, filipino crab! no new year for you!

[ads1963]

@ mandaragit

I don’t know personally any of the guys involved in the management/ownership of the airline but I have heard from my friends over in the Philippines about them. If I am not mistaken, I have met Cpt. Loudmoth on a few occasions during layovers in KSFO during his time in PAL when he was already a Napoleon type of pilot.

My English is as good or as bad as anyone else English but what does this have to do with the ways the airline is run?

I have received several mails in response to my postings from the Philippines and I was given valuable information about the operation of Asian Spirit/Zest Air in the past. I can see that this airline is going the way of One-Two-Go here in Thailand http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/2...-sep-07-a.html and this because there are some stooges in the management who do not know how to manage an airline at all.

Basic said it very well in his posting http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/321976-asian-spirit-under-new-management-7.html#post4611002:

when will Yao stop listening to CPT. LOUD MOUTH?!

Capt VP operations! Do something! At least your the last resort for the Company!

These guys do not know how to run an airline and it looks also to me that the VP Operation is the last insider who is knowledgeable and capable to replace CPT. LOUDMOUTH. Otherwise they would have to resort to “pirating” managers from other airlines – as they did in the past – and who wants to join an outfit like that except for people who are considered “dead wood” and ineffective. You can see it in the people who joined them (VP Marketing etc.) Other airlines were happy when they left because they knew of their limited capacity and they were just a burden to the other airlines and are now considered “valuable assets” of this “airline” aka general aviation operator of larger planes.

I think your perception of an airline is wrong! It’s definitely not about job creation but about money making and service. If an airline does not provide proper service it can not make money because nobody will fly with it and pay money for their tickets. No investor in his right mind will put up an airline to create jobs. Did you ever study in college? Economics comes first before you can decide to create jobs and your business plan execution will determine the profitability of your business and if the management are mis-managers the owner is in trouble.

The payment for nonexistent flights is a form of fraud. The pax is offered and has paid for something which does not exist and his money is held by the airline inside their daily cash flow. So the airline works with the pax’s hard earned money and keeps it for 60 days or more because the airline claims the credit card company is not crediting them back within 60 days.

A good service policy and not an oath of allegiance would be the proper way to go. But again the airline goofed up on this.

Haven’t you learned in college the following principlaes in managing a successful company?

1. Leadership:First of all, you need good leadership. Great leaders raise the aspirations of their followers; they make people more confident, energetic and enthusiastic. Such leaders make people embrace the adage: a plausible impossibility is better than a convincing possibility. People, who are motivated by great leaders, dream big, make sacrifices and achieve miracles. It is not sufficient just to have great leaders.
You need a mechanism to identify, train, empower and mentor successive generations of leaders. Such leadership training and mentoring has to become the responsibility of the current generation of leaders.
2. Vision: You have to create a grand, noble vision which elevates the energy, enthusiasm and self-esteem of everyone in the company while ensuring that everybody sees a benefit in following the vision.
3. Benchmarking: Your company has to benchmark itself on a global scale in every area including sales, production, human resources, R&D and finance. It creates an open and confident environment where first-raters recruit first-raters.
4. Measuring To Improve: A great company continuously measures and improves the following attributes: meritocracy, fairness, justice, openness, speed, imagination and excellence in execution.
5. Shared Values:A great company practices an enduring value system, and follows the finest system of corporate governance.

If not, go back to school and study so that you get your goals into line.

And for your information: I am not a Pinoy but a mixed Thai/French national. So much to your statement:

i consider you a true blue, genuine, filipino crab!

And forget your CAAP because they are still rotten to the core and nothing has changed since the good old days when it was still called ATO. We are facing the same problems here in Thailand.

[FLEXPWR]

Contacts?

Hi, anybody know who I can contact in management/training OPS?

Any PM appreciated, thanks.

FLX

[cncalpha]

Hope Mr. Zest.. is quicker than LG of 5J, took him years to find out what the hulk was up to.

[eagle135]

Air Aceh
New start up LCC backed by Banda Aceh regional government 51% and Malaysian group 49%.operating BAE ATP
First ac awaiting delivery from former operator Asian Spirit second week of Jan
Second ac expected last week Jan from Int Air Parts UK formally operated by Emerald Airways.
Looking for rated captains and engineers for immediate start.for more info PM poster or email

[B747-800]

ads1963

Just wondering were blueforce and B747-800 are? they seem to have been paid-off already not to give their insights anymore or did they fall asleep?

haven’t been paid off by anybody yet but admit I fell into a holiday sleep during the x-mas leave. and guess what? visited the beautiful island girls in the philippines for about 3 weeks.

luckily i did bump into some pilots and aviation managers working in the philippines during parties and on boracay island. guess what: i didn’t fly zest air but seair to the white island.

and btw luckily i didn’t bump into cpt. loudmouth there but into one of his frustrated pilot who cried out his heart about the real circumstances and stories that are shaking up zest air.

maybe yao should fire ALL of his managers, except for his vp operations, settle the debts of zest air/aisian spirit and sell the aircraft asap. the guy has/had all good intentions to make a start-up airline successful but his coo/s, of whom zest air has several, are messing up his business plans really BIG TIME.

when will yao realize that he is taken for a ride and that he has to use his fist to get HIS airline into shape?

[basic]

And when will YAO. realized that most of his pilot on the ma60 wanted to get the position of a COO.

I notice that the group of the chief pilot are bragging so much of they're ma60 and trying to race to the finish line feeling that this planes is faster than the Q400, ATR and dornier. hmmm lets se,e winds are shifting this time in RWY24 in CATICLAN will just wait for some cold fronts and see what can ma60 do to land from 24 with gusty conditions

mandaragit

if you see some bad reaction already to your company why don't you make some actions. make those pilots act like professional one and get less on showbiz. did zest air pay them less that all they can do in they're life is to talk like a gay? , your lucky those airbus guys didn't join the group.try to check your turboprop pilots. they are worst than a truck driver.

One more thing. the MA60 is exceeding its performance limits in CATICLAN even the Chinese instructors refuses to land there well if there is weight penalty to comply then its OK . so passengers just be careful out they're.

First officer, try to act as pilots not just an operator or a captains maid. i know some of your captains are trying to be a single pilot on the Ma60 just like what Capt. M did on his training on the airbus. if he acts stupid do your job. if he kick you out of the company don't bother, there are more better equipment to fly. just pm me!

M- Mr.
A- Amogawin
60-60's
it show this aircraft is old just like the chief pilot.

one last thing. if the VP operations doesn't do his thing well those airbus will teach them some manners. although i am flying Boeing i shut my mouth if one airbus pilots brags something on his flight rather than an MA60 talking to me as if he is thinking that he is flying and B787.

[ads1963]

No Zest on Zest Air

And on goes the saga of Zest Air over in the Philippines. Service seems to be NOT WRITTEN on their flag!

Untitled Document

Horrible airline


Tourism, according to Senator Dick Gordon, has one of the bright prospects for the Philippines in the face of what appears as bleak prospects for 2009 because of the continuing international financial crisis.
However, there are many issues that the Tourism Department and other regulatory agencies would have to address for tourism, especially domestic tourism, to achieve its full potentials.

Take for example the experience of Marge S. Polintan when she and 16 other passengers took a Zest Air a.k.a. Asian Spirit flight from Boracay last Nov. 24.

The series of letters that Marge and her fellow passenger Josefina S. Cristobal has sent to Zest Air/Asian Spirit as well as to their friends is one of the hot items on the Internet next to blogs on the “Alabang Boys” and the “Valley Golf brawl.”

Their account of the poor service and unsanitary condition of the Zest Air/Asian Spirit plane is very discouraging for those who want fly the smaller airlines which, unfortunately, are the only ones serving many of the country’s airports.

Marge’s letter to Customer Relations of Zest Air said:
“We are a party of 17 [15 adults and two minors] who all took the Manila-Caticlan on Nov. 22 and returned to Manila on Nov. 24 via Kalibo-Manila when our return flight was diverted from Caticlan to Kalibo.

“We checked in, all 17 of us, at Caticlan about 4:10 p.m. only to be told that we had to motor to Kalibo as our flight was diverted. When we asked why, we were given the most stupid reasons that only a moron can accept. Your Mr. Rodel Urguelles informed us that the plane could not take off as sunset was at 5:20. (1) Our flight was supposed to leave at 5 p.m. so clearly we would have been up in the sky when sunset was supposedly setting in. (2) Another stupid reason given to us was that the Caticlan airport had no runway lights making it impossible for us to take off!!! Why in heaven’s sake do you schedule later afternoon flights knowing that the Caticlan airport is not fitted with lights [I seriously doubt if this is true]. (3) We also asked why we were not contacted to let us know that they were moving our flight earlier. They were able to contact us before we left Manila that our departure was moved to an earlier time. (4) We informed your Mr. Urguelles that we had a pregnant lady in our party and were concerned about the long trip from Caticlan to Kalibo. We were asking for a guarantee that should she suffer a miscarriage, the airline will be made answerable for it. Of course he could not give any guarantee. Having no choice we took the risk and motored to Kalibo for a good one hour. Upon reaching Kalibo, we found out that two other Zest Air flights were likewise diverted. We were made to wait some more as the planes coming from Manila were delayed. I surmised that this was the main reason why our flight were moved from Caticlan to Kalibo.

“We were finally herded to an airplane for our flight to Manila. With grumbling stomachs and exhausted from the trip from Caticlan, we had to make our way inside the airplane in total darkness. When we asked the flight attendant why there were no cabin lights, we got another STUPID response and were informed that they were conserving energy and therefore we have to grope for our seats in darkness without any airconditioning. Madilim na, mainit pa!!!!!! What would have been a one-hour flight seemed like an eternity as it took us about an hour and a half to reach Manila in darkness.

“Having undergone through all these nerve-wracking experience, what was more irritating apart from the stupidity of your staff is the fact that they did not even offer any apology for the inconvenience we were experiencing. I think that you should go back to school and take course on basics of good manners, effective management and people skills. Your staff is sorely lacking in all of these!”

Another passenger on that flight, Josefina S. Cristobal, also wrote Zest Air Customer Relations and she has an even more horrible story to tell:
“Customer Relations,

“Your airline just sucks! I am 54 years old and had the most horrible flight in my entire life in your airline! I am well traveled and never in my trips have encountered such rudeness and heard such unreasonable answers. I have told your ground staff that I am not fit to travel long trips since I have a bad back having diagnosed with slip disc and severe scoliosis, but for whatever reason, we had to take a long trip by bus to Kalibo, Aklan when what we agreed upon when we bought tickets was for your airline to shuttle us to Manila-Caticlan, Caticlan-Manila. You did not even have the decency to inform us that it is impossible to fly to Caticlan when sunset sets in. We felt so cheated and no amount of reasoning or explanation can justify this very bad act. We paid you up to the last centavo you charged us and we expected good service. But what we all got from this very tiring trip was a mere Jollibee spaghetti and bottled water. We were 17 in all and got only 16 packs.

“The other thing was that when we were already inside the pitch black plane, [we had to crawl to our seats since the pilots won’t turn on the lights to conserve energy] they did not even have flashlights. We were all so dead tired from the long trip and was already getting sleepy when one of our foreigner companions shouted at the top of her voice since small cockroaches started crawling on us. Oh, it was plenty. How unsanitary could you guys get? It just clearly shows that you don’t clean your airplanes. It had this awful smell once you board the plane so no wonder there were cockroaches. Almost all of us had to grab the newspapers tucked on the seats to kill the cockroaches as much as we could. No amount of apology could justify all this harrowing experience. Rest assured that this will be the first and last flight with your airline and we will tell our friends and family about this experience with Zest Air, the lousiest airline company ever.”

One would think that after receiving these nasty letters, the management of Zest Air/Air Spirit would go out of its way to apologize and placate their angry passengers. All Marge Polintan, Josefina Cristobal and company got was a short letter from Zest Air Customer Relations which read:

“Mam (sic)
“I apologize for the inconvenience and have noted your concerns and complaints, the old planes will be grounded and 5 new planes will be in placed (sic).”

After reading the letters there are some things that the disgruntled Zest Air passengers should understand:

1. Zest Air did not want to put on the lights so you would not see the cockroaches;

2. You should be thankful that the airline was thoughtful enough to provide newspapers in case that you see the small crawling cockroaches despite the darkness;

3. Why do you expect intelligent answers from what you describe as very stupid people.

Levity aside, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano should look at the operations of Zest Air/Air Spirit and see what corrective measures his department can make to correct the airlines’ abominable service.

Durano has been trying to promote Philippine tourism but stories like those from the passengers of the Nov. 24 Zest Air flight negates all his efforts. He should remember the communications principle that the fastest way to kill a bad product is to promote it.

[basic]

cockroaches? thats nothing! they cant even buy a new slide at the back of the a320 now they cant full load the plane.

hmmm, I heard an MA60 crash landed in caticlan. hard land? overshoot? undershoot? any info? that's what happen if a chief pilots has all kinds of five attitudes. i just hope that passengers are safe.

[ads1963]

Its high time that somebody stops this airline to operate!

Are the Philippines Civil Aviation Authority waiting till people are killed by this airline? Can nobody over there in the Philippines pull the plug on this unsafe and unprofessional operation before another accident will happen?

Three injured in Zest Air plane crash in Caticlan airport | ABS-CBN News Online Beta

Three injured in Zest Air plane crash in Caticlan airport

Three passengers were injured after a Zest Air (formerly Asian Spirit) plane crashed Sunday morning at the Caticlan airport.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Ben Ciron said that the airline's ZEST MA60 Aircraft Flight 865 undershot the Caticlan airport runway, leaving two children and one crew member injured.

"About 0657 am today, ZEST MA60 Aircraft Flight 865 undershot runway at Caticlan airport with 22 adult pax 2 children 1 staff member. No passengers suffered major injuries," Ciron said in a text message.

Reports said that strong winds caused the aircraft's landing gear to explode, hitting the barrier of the Caticlan airport at around 6:40 a.m. Sunday. After swerving 180 degrees, the plane was said to have crashed into the airport's passenger lounge.

The Caticlan runway was closed because of the incident, causing a Cebu Pacific ATR aircraft to be grounded in the Caticlan airport.

In the meantime, flights to and from Caticlan will continue to operate from Kalibo airport until further notice.