Fly Globespan/Air India ex LHR
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: U.K.
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fly Globespan/Air India ex LHR
I have heard some good things about this operation from Heathrow ..
I was wandering if anyone has any 1st hand experience as a contractor .. i.e. how the roster works, what are the conditions/support network downroute, time off, best way to manage the contractor's salary etc.
If anyone has any observations as to the quality of life and long term prospects then I would be very grateful to hear them .....
Rgds
I.Duke
I was wandering if anyone has any 1st hand experience as a contractor .. i.e. how the roster works, what are the conditions/support network downroute, time off, best way to manage the contractor's salary etc.
If anyone has any observations as to the quality of life and long term prospects then I would be very grateful to hear them .....
Rgds
I.Duke
Join Date: May 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stay Away!!!!
What an absolute dire mess these guys have made of the operation. The crew are working maximum duty hours. The support from FLight Ops is absolutely criminal in its absence. The hotels are shockingly bad - a 
2 star Travelodge in Calgary would you believe. Late rosters, terrible morale, the head of 767 training is leaving, multiple 20 hour positioning days....yes you heard me...20 hours...
Get this, the Director of Flight Operations has apparently been bribing guys with 787 courses so he can stop the wheels coming off the operation and embarassing himself for having oversold the routes to the Chairman.
This shower are on a highway to nowhere in aviation history.
Remember, this is the airline where the Owner/Chairman takes a personal interest in pilots not getting time in hotels down route at his expense...BECAUSE YOU MIGHT ENJOY YOURSELF ON HIS TAB!!!
Check out the reviews:
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/flygspan.htm
How long do airlines last with that sort of feedback.
2 star Travelodge in Calgary would you believe. Late rosters, terrible morale, the head of 767 training is leaving, multiple 20 hour positioning days....yes you heard me...20 hours... Get this, the Director of Flight Operations has apparently been bribing guys with 787 courses so he can stop the wheels coming off the operation and embarassing himself for having oversold the routes to the Chairman.
This shower are on a highway to nowhere in aviation history.
Remember, this is the airline where the Owner/Chairman takes a personal interest in pilots not getting time in hotels down route at his expense...BECAUSE YOU MIGHT ENJOY YOURSELF ON HIS TAB!!!
Check out the reviews:
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/flygspan.htm
How long do airlines last with that sort of feedback.
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: .
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chaos at Colinton
I'm afraid the post from gsmpilot just about sums the whole thing up. It feels like they really have lost control of situation. We go to work each day and fight a constant battle to get the aircraft into the air. We then land at destination and have to endure a positioning flight somewhere or have to operate another sector. It is becoming absolutely the norm to bat off a 15-20 hour day, minimum rest and then the same again the next day.
The hotel in BOM is good, but the rest of them are variable. If you have ever been to Toronto/Hamilton, you'd know that you could be staying in the Ritz but it wouldn't make up for the crap-hole the place is. Oh yeah, two sectors YHM-MAN-DCS plus position MAN on the way back...enjoy!
The airline is run by a DFO from a past generation with a less than stellar history of airline management. Until he steps down/dies/retires, the airline will be gripped by mediocrity. The best we can hope for is the the owner sells the place to Zoom and we get a professional airline CEO, who understands how to run a real airline. Otherwise it will continue to be a disorganised shorthaul airline playing at longhaul and being run on the back of a fag packet by management who are out of their depth and making it up as they go along.
Sad but true I'm afraid.
The hotel in BOM is good, but the rest of them are variable. If you have ever been to Toronto/Hamilton, you'd know that you could be staying in the Ritz but it wouldn't make up for the crap-hole the place is. Oh yeah, two sectors YHM-MAN-DCS plus position MAN on the way back...enjoy!
The airline is run by a DFO from a past generation with a less than stellar history of airline management. Until he steps down/dies/retires, the airline will be gripped by mediocrity. The best we can hope for is the the owner sells the place to Zoom and we get a professional airline CEO, who understands how to run a real airline. Otherwise it will continue to be a disorganised shorthaul airline playing at longhaul and being run on the back of a fag packet by management who are out of their depth and making it up as they go along.
Sad but true I'm afraid.
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Philippines
Posts: 460
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A little bird, who has known the Flight Operations Director for some considerable time, allegedly told a friend of mine that the Flight Operations Director used to be involved with/own a nightclub in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, had 'protectors' to help collect his rents and was once warned off by the Kray Twins.
Just the qualifications to run an airline. Well several airlines if you take Gill Airways (bust) and Cougar (bust) into account.
Maybe he's going for the hat-trick?!
In view of the foregoing I can't possibly imagine he would offer bribes!!!
Globespan has been a good operator by all accounts over the years transporting passengers on the transatlantic Scotland - Canada run.
Maybe T D has been 'unduly' influenced and has got greedy. The comments he has allegedly made support that view.
I see the position as 'Technical Publications Pilot' has remained unsubscribed for a number of weeks now. A Poison Chalice if ever there was one. I wonder who's undertaking the roles of 'Technical Publications Pilot' and 'Technical Publications Officer' in the meantime. Someone who maybe flies the line, then volunteers for 'extra' duties in his spare time?!
FlyGlobeSpan has the makings, and the opportunity, to be a great airline. The market is certainly there. Good load factors and an established name in Scotland.
It would be a crying shame to spoil it all through greed and the desire to expand without the management infrastructure in place. The 'corporate mushroom principle' - big and overweight at the top, but with a weak stem the company topples!
If history is repeated, no doubt the management have their corporate 'escape capsule' fuelled and ready to launch?!
Let's hope this is only so much gossip and sour grapes? But then again facts are facts.
SITW
Just the qualifications to run an airline. Well several airlines if you take Gill Airways (bust) and Cougar (bust) into account.
Maybe he's going for the hat-trick?!
In view of the foregoing I can't possibly imagine he would offer bribes!!!
Globespan has been a good operator by all accounts over the years transporting passengers on the transatlantic Scotland - Canada run.
Maybe T D has been 'unduly' influenced and has got greedy. The comments he has allegedly made support that view.
I see the position as 'Technical Publications Pilot' has remained unsubscribed for a number of weeks now. A Poison Chalice if ever there was one. I wonder who's undertaking the roles of 'Technical Publications Pilot' and 'Technical Publications Officer' in the meantime. Someone who maybe flies the line, then volunteers for 'extra' duties in his spare time?!
FlyGlobeSpan has the makings, and the opportunity, to be a great airline. The market is certainly there. Good load factors and an established name in Scotland.
It would be a crying shame to spoil it all through greed and the desire to expand without the management infrastructure in place. The 'corporate mushroom principle' - big and overweight at the top, but with a weak stem the company topples!
If history is repeated, no doubt the management have their corporate 'escape capsule' fuelled and ready to launch?!
Let's hope this is only so much gossip and sour grapes? But then again facts are facts.
SITW
Last edited by SpannerInTheWerks; 24th May 2007 at 13:04.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: U.K.
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the responses ... I have heard some horror stories about the general rosterring practices, and the crisis management at times. The Chairman's quote is unlikely to increase the "feelgood factor".
I think they have enormous potential, but wish that companies generally would realise that unrealistic expansion rates can sink and airline before it has learnt to swim.
I have heard that the Air India contract is going well, but would like to hear aswell from anyone who has flown on it to clarify what sort of a lifestyle it is .... i.e. are you dying to get back to Blighty after the 2nd day of the 17 day trip, are the crews nice or is it CNN in the hotel room for 2 weeks ? Have people got good experiences of Wynnwith ?
Cheers
I.Duke
I think they have enormous potential, but wish that companies generally would realise that unrealistic expansion rates can sink and airline before it has learnt to swim.
I have heard that the Air India contract is going well, but would like to hear aswell from anyone who has flown on it to clarify what sort of a lifestyle it is .... i.e. are you dying to get back to Blighty after the 2nd day of the 17 day trip, are the crews nice or is it CNN in the hotel room for 2 weeks ? Have people got good experiences of Wynnwith ?
Cheers
I.Duke
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: .
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Air India Contract
You won't be watching CNN in the room because you will be sleeping...
The crews are okay, typically Asian, very polite and defferent but very hard to bridge the cultural gap. You will NOT be going out boozing with them anywhere.
The operation is run on a skeleton crew so you don't see many people down route, and as I said, they work you so hard you will only be concerned about sleeping.
The flying is as one would expect from operating in Middle East/Asia, chaotic with brief spells of farce. As an added bonus, the monsoon starts soon so the 1 hour holding into BOM will get really interesting once the alternates start going out.
All I can do is stress that it is not like normal longhaul. You will NOT get more than the legal time off (and I mean sometimes 11 hours between longhaul east west trips - not even 24 hours). You will NOT get much pool time or sightseeing time. You WILL be screwed when you get back for your 7 days off which you WILL need to recover.
That is it in a nutshell.
Wynnwith, varies on your expectations. Okay with me, nightmare for others. Several reasons as to why.
If you are purely interested in cash, then join. If lifestyle registers above 0 on your list of things to consider, then don't.
That really is just the way it is. Trust me, nobody wishes it was different more than me because I have to fly the bloody trips.
The crews are okay, typically Asian, very polite and defferent but very hard to bridge the cultural gap. You will NOT be going out boozing with them anywhere.
The operation is run on a skeleton crew so you don't see many people down route, and as I said, they work you so hard you will only be concerned about sleeping.
The flying is as one would expect from operating in Middle East/Asia, chaotic with brief spells of farce. As an added bonus, the monsoon starts soon so the 1 hour holding into BOM will get really interesting once the alternates start going out.
All I can do is stress that it is not like normal longhaul. You will NOT get more than the legal time off (and I mean sometimes 11 hours between longhaul east west trips - not even 24 hours). You will NOT get much pool time or sightseeing time. You WILL be screwed when you get back for your 7 days off which you WILL need to recover.
That is it in a nutshell.
Wynnwith, varies on your expectations. Okay with me, nightmare for others. Several reasons as to why.
If you are purely interested in cash, then join. If lifestyle registers above 0 on your list of things to consider, then don't.
That really is just the way it is. Trust me, nobody wishes it was different more than me because I have to fly the bloody trips.
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ask reception
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hmmm... it's a bit scary actually.
So, the 12on 12off is never respected is it? How many days off do you get then, and how many days will you be actually gone instead of the 12 days.
If you actually fly like mentioned, are you approaching your limits before the end of the month?
The messing about, is it because of pilot shortage or normal scheduling practices.
So, the 12on 12off is never respected is it? How many days off do you get then, and how many days will you be actually gone instead of the 12 days.
If you actually fly like mentioned, are you approaching your limits before the end of the month?
The messing about, is it because of pilot shortage or normal scheduling practices.
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: .
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
12 on 12 off.......ha ha ha...respected.....no I don't recall that being a word used very often to describe duty times and days off.
Days off, normally about 10, some of which will be down route, rarely more than 6 in a row at base.
The limits that are reached are generally the duty time limits because they are so disorganised. You will spend a ridiculous amount of time positioning.
Days off, normally about 10, some of which will be down route, rarely more than 6 in a row at base.
The limits that are reached are generally the duty time limits because they are so disorganised. You will spend a ridiculous amount of time positioning.
Join Date: May 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mangement needing replaced
I agree that a top down shake up is what's needed. A prime example of this is the 737 HoT's lack of competence. This guy has little proper line experience on type for a HoT, i believe a lot his hours are sim time. See the other GSM thread in this forum for more on this individual.
Last edited by gsm738; 24th May 2007 at 10:51.
