No season of good will at Aer Arann
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No season of good will at Aer Arann
There once was a time when Aer Arann was a pleasant place to work where staff were always willing to go the extra mile and customer service was of paramount importance however the management never made the most of the good times squandering large amounts of money. When the economic situation in Ireland led to the company falling into examinership there was the hope that process would introduce a new investor with the resources and skills to restructure and realise the potential of the airline. The only right thing the owner could do at this point was to walk away for the sake of the company.....
This we now know did not happen, surprisingly the owner was allowed to propose what is at best a messy and questionable business plan with no change to the inept management structure that got Aer Arann into the situation it found itself in (but of course that was all the volcano’s fault) Creditors were short changed ranging from airports to taxi companies while the owner was lauded in the media as the saviour of the plucky Irish regional. Things have gone from bad to worse since. The major lifeline for the company came in the form of the Aer Lingus regional routes but it has been to the detriment of the Aer Arann legs, the company virtually abandoning customer service. It was decided to operate with minimum crew ( sometimes less than minimum) stretching the legalities of flight time limitations such as it had become the daily norm leaving exhausted crews operating aircraft with ever increasing technical issues.
The illegal pay cuts were only the beginning but no one imagined that it could lead to crews operating and being forced into discretion on an almost a daily basis. Cabin crew have at times been bullied into doing so. Many duties involve driving a hire car half the length of the country ( no exaggeration) to fly a duty and drive back to base, this had led to some individuals falling asleep at the wheel. Anyone that question this practice are dealt with .
The chief pilot seems to act now only as a management puppet , His most common quote being “ I don’t think that duty is fatiguing” . He has lost all credibility with the pilot body and should enjoy his bonuses for cutting costs in the flight deck department.
Over the recent cold spell the company culture that was established with PSO routes years ago (ie the flight must go) resulted in many appalling decisions in an under crewed operations department. While other airlines take early decisive action and cancel flights , Arann operations insist on spending several thousand de icing an aircraft to dispatch with 3 passengers. 24 hours later the aircraft and crew are stranded at the destination aerodrome and the company is down an aircraft for the following day. The main skill the ops department seem to possess is to haemorrhage Eddie Stobart’s money.
When a workforce is under such stress mistakes will inevitably occur. A rise in the number of level busts, itself a result of the company culture led to management choosing the pilots as scapegoats. A document was circulated citing carelessness as the main factor, all the while ignoring the dreaded F word.
I am sure the powers that be will see this post and I would hope that they would undertake all efforts to improve the current situation, Sadly the arrogance and contempt for the employees means that little or nothing will change.
This we now know did not happen, surprisingly the owner was allowed to propose what is at best a messy and questionable business plan with no change to the inept management structure that got Aer Arann into the situation it found itself in (but of course that was all the volcano’s fault) Creditors were short changed ranging from airports to taxi companies while the owner was lauded in the media as the saviour of the plucky Irish regional. Things have gone from bad to worse since. The major lifeline for the company came in the form of the Aer Lingus regional routes but it has been to the detriment of the Aer Arann legs, the company virtually abandoning customer service. It was decided to operate with minimum crew ( sometimes less than minimum) stretching the legalities of flight time limitations such as it had become the daily norm leaving exhausted crews operating aircraft with ever increasing technical issues.
The illegal pay cuts were only the beginning but no one imagined that it could lead to crews operating and being forced into discretion on an almost a daily basis. Cabin crew have at times been bullied into doing so. Many duties involve driving a hire car half the length of the country ( no exaggeration) to fly a duty and drive back to base, this had led to some individuals falling asleep at the wheel. Anyone that question this practice are dealt with .
The chief pilot seems to act now only as a management puppet , His most common quote being “ I don’t think that duty is fatiguing” . He has lost all credibility with the pilot body and should enjoy his bonuses for cutting costs in the flight deck department.
Over the recent cold spell the company culture that was established with PSO routes years ago (ie the flight must go) resulted in many appalling decisions in an under crewed operations department. While other airlines take early decisive action and cancel flights , Arann operations insist on spending several thousand de icing an aircraft to dispatch with 3 passengers. 24 hours later the aircraft and crew are stranded at the destination aerodrome and the company is down an aircraft for the following day. The main skill the ops department seem to possess is to haemorrhage Eddie Stobart’s money.
When a workforce is under such stress mistakes will inevitably occur. A rise in the number of level busts, itself a result of the company culture led to management choosing the pilots as scapegoats. A document was circulated citing carelessness as the main factor, all the while ignoring the dreaded F word.
I am sure the powers that be will see this post and I would hope that they would undertake all efforts to improve the current situation, Sadly the arrogance and contempt for the employees means that little or nothing will change.
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Well thank goodness for this! There's me thinking that only the 'sandpit' operators ignored F*t*g*e - that very bad f-word of modern aviation...
Good luck AA guys - hope my old ATRs are still going strong
Good luck AA guys - hope my old ATRs are still going strong
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Thanks for speaking out on this issue. This profession is overdue for some serious change with respect to all of us flying around zombiefied for the sake of some operations joe/jody sitting behind their desk from 9-5. I spent years waking up in hotel rooms after an 18 hour day wondering what city I was in just because the fed's really did not care to see the pilots point of view, but rather only the company man's point of view. In the U.S. that all came to an end with the cologan crash last year, the fed's and congress finally had to respond. After the fact of course.
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the F word
hey change,
reactions and actions only come after crashes, its called "the tombstone imperative" there is a book about it in circulation, i read it many years ago.
sounds like the malignant RYR disease is spreading to other operators. what a shame.
reactions and actions only come after crashes, its called "the tombstone imperative" there is a book about it in circulation, i read it many years ago.
sounds like the malignant RYR disease is spreading to other operators. what a shame.
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same everywhere
Guys,
more i become senior in aviation and more i think it is becoming the norm to hear things like this. Who can change this? US....
It is 99% like this nowdays in the world, so what else can we go, how far can we escape?
globalization of bad terms and unsafe operations!!
Please, lets organize some sort of fight or i will definitely loose hope...
D
more i become senior in aviation and more i think it is becoming the norm to hear things like this. Who can change this? US....
It is 99% like this nowdays in the world, so what else can we go, how far can we escape?
globalization of bad terms and unsafe operations!!
Please, lets organize some sort of fight or i will definitely loose hope...
D
I spent a very enjoyable 2 years with AA in GWY and the airline was a very different place to be then. The then base capt who is now the chief Pilot was a real pilot person, one for the troops but as is the same in all companies, a move to an office with a desk, a management coffee maker and a BONUS means inevitable change. I have many friends still flying for Aer Arann, many want to leave but can't now due to the rise of pay to fly with locos like ezy and ryr, the traditional earn your experience on a turbo prop before moving on to jets has been scuppered by kids with rich mummy's and daddy'd willing to buy a seat in a flash jet so they "can do good landings for the girls" (as one cadet told me last week).
I hope things turn around, a great little airline with some fab crews !
I hope things turn around, a great little airline with some fab crews !
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Disappointed
The real examiner,disappointed to read about your post but it had to be done.I have friends in aa and i dont hear from them as much,probably too busy working..
It still makes me wonder how the judge approved this "rescue package"..aer arann made 16 million of a loss and stobart are putting in some where between 0ne and three million,the numbers dont add up.
It still makes me wonder how the judge approved this "rescue package"..aer arann made 16 million of a loss and stobart are putting in some where between 0ne and three million,the numbers dont add up.
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Had a beer this evening with a friend that works for AA. Seems its only a matter of time until something very serious happens. Tales of report times being changed to make things legal, pressure to operate when fatigued and even phone calls from the CP if you wont use discretion. Operating into difficult airfields in very marginal wx, planes flying around with no ADF's.Tired crews operating into the London TMA with no-autopilot.Didnt they have a flame-out a few years ago?????
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Sorry to be so blunt but
The Captains only have to say NO and the flights don't happen. They have a responsibility to the passengers. If this is guaranteed to lead to them being fired then they resign first, but it's too late after a crash to say "It's because of this this and this".
Sadly in this day and age of 'European Aviation Safety', you cant count on the authorities to lift a finger but its always worth a try, even if anonymously. Also, I know that for every Captain that does have the balls to stand up and say no, there will be some spineless little prick willing to take an unsafe flight anyway but that's just the way it is in this business.
I hope if its as bad as being made out then all the good guys at RE find new employment soon, but in the meantime I'm afraid its time to make a choice. And for those posters about to tell me that morals don't feed hungry mouths, I say to them that An accident is often career stunting and a death-in-service payment wont keep a roof over loved ones heads.
Standing by for incoming.
Sadly in this day and age of 'European Aviation Safety', you cant count on the authorities to lift a finger but its always worth a try, even if anonymously. Also, I know that for every Captain that does have the balls to stand up and say no, there will be some spineless little prick willing to take an unsafe flight anyway but that's just the way it is in this business.
I hope if its as bad as being made out then all the good guys at RE find new employment soon, but in the meantime I'm afraid its time to make a choice. And for those posters about to tell me that morals don't feed hungry mouths, I say to them that An accident is often career stunting and a death-in-service payment wont keep a roof over loved ones heads.
Standing by for incoming.
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The Real Examiner you are only telling a fraction of the story.
Tell us about the ADFs jumping from plane to plane and the heavy REI and REH being
put on the short runways and the dumping of passengers as a result. The "good" ATRs
being put in Gig Green and kept for the long runways at Cork, Shannon and Dublin.
The bonus story is not going away either.
Tell us about the ADFs jumping from plane to plane and the heavy REI and REH being
put on the short runways and the dumping of passengers as a result. The "good" ATRs
being put in Gig Green and kept for the long runways at Cork, Shannon and Dublin.
The bonus story is not going away either.
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Well said,
Any Capt worth their salt should refuse a duty if they see safety will be compromised. This will inevitably lead to cancellations, which is the main measurement for crewing levels in most airlines by senior management!
Any Capt worth their salt should refuse a duty if they see safety will be compromised. This will inevitably lead to cancellations, which is the main measurement for crewing levels in most airlines by senior management!
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Mercenary Pilot you are right. For every Capt that says no there are 5 others willing to operate, working days off then complaining about being tired from all the work! And some of them are training Capt who should be setting an example.It is true that if you refuse to use discretion, Ops will get the Chief Pilot to give you a call. What they think this achieves, I dont know but to someone looking at it from the outside it looks like intimidation. And F/O's who speak up and voice their concern, find themselves with a roster from hell and NO chance of upgrade as they are seen as trouble makers.
Yes they did have a flameout a few years back due to a fuel gauge inop and the incorrect procedure being applied.But from what I hear now the HIL is going longer and longer for each aircraft.
So fatigued crews who are being harassed and pressured PLUS crap airplanes EQUALS.......................??????
Yes they did have a flameout a few years back due to a fuel gauge inop and the incorrect procedure being applied.But from what I hear now the HIL is going longer and longer for each aircraft.
So fatigued crews who are being harassed and pressured PLUS crap airplanes EQUALS.......................??????
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It also speaks volumes of the atmosphere in AerArann if crew feel that they must come on an anonymous forum to voice concerns. Crew concerns are obviously not taken on-board. Its been noted on another thread that the bonuses would have added up to approx 200,000euro, at a time when crew are still trying to live with the illegal paycuts. Our benevolent owner likes to portray himself as a man of the people who looks after his workers, so what has gone wrong???
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as a pax who uses them into LCY, I must say I have watched them degenerate over the past few years. Withdrawing from routes such as IOM-LPL seems to be when the rot set in. The a/c are grubby and appear unloved, and the little freebies that make a difference have all gone.
Maybe it is time for a complete makeover, and the birth of StobartAir. If they keep the planes half as smart as the lorries, maybe consumer confidence will return.
Maybe it is time for a complete makeover, and the birth of StobartAir. If they keep the planes half as smart as the lorries, maybe consumer confidence will return.
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Looks like big similarities between Aer Arann/ Padraigh and Finna Fail/Brian Cowen, arrogant and asleep at the wheel, Does this make Eddie Stobbart and Tim Kilroe the IMF???? 
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I can only agree with the Real Examiner. A very good friend of mine has worked for Aer Arann for a number of years and he regularly expresses the concerns outlined by the original poster.
The chief pilot who may have started out with the best of intentions is a complete management lackey these days. He only operates once a week and then can’t see why certain duties are not fatiguing to him!!! He oversaw the illegal pay cut of crews, allowed crews to operate almost on a daily basis in fatigue on aircraft with multiple defects into small regional airports.
Apparently some of the guys and gals in Galway have a 6 sector duty that is only legal by around 30 minutes. It is fatiguing at the best of times apparently and then factor in the current cold spell and it is a complete nightmare, the chief pilot apparently gave his personal guarantee in the autumn that he would not sign it off for the winter, it is still being rostered!!!
The operations department are not able or not allowed to prioritise or cut flights when things go wrong. This is apparently due to a completely inadequate “commercial” department who want every flight to go even though some are almost empty and the cost of de-icing the aircraft wipes out any revenue. The delays push the actual revenue flights back by hours, annoying a great many more passengers, paying out of hour’s airport charges to the regionals and putting the crew on constant max flight duties and minimum rest. Just what does an ex marketer from Vodafone Ireland know about commercial flight operations?
Also they have insisted in rotating two ATR72-201’s into Galway. These aircraft have a huge performance penalty for both take off and landing. Often crew have to fuel stop resulting in between 5 and 7 sector days for crews or at the very least taking minimum fuel to Luton in CAT 2 conditions. All this only serves to add to crew fatigue and stress as well as throwing out the entire days schedule so the later duties have to operate into the early hours of the morning. All this goes on while the 500s and 212s are happily operating in Aer Lingus colours on non limiting runways. Utter madness.
The pilot body and cabin crew body as a whole are treated with utter contempt by management. They were subjected to an illegal pay cut but not only that saw all pay scales agreed upon completely thrown out of the window. There is now no pay scale at all and many crews are effectively on a year one salary despite being there for many years. There is a huge pressure applied on crews to operate into discretion. Crews are driving hire cars the length and breadth of the country in horrendous weather, operating and then driving back to base again in the middle of the night, the management even have the audacity to get crews to fill the car up with fuel and then claim the expenses back.
A select amount of crew have added to and facilitated this madness for quite a while now. They insist on working days off which adds to the crew shortage and operating into discretion is a just something that is done. Operating into discretion should be a carefully considered procedure when you factor the type of flying that Aer Arann crews have to endure. The rostering is a complete joke with the Christmas roster only coming out a few days beforehand leaving many of the crews who try to commute at a complete loss as to their festive arrangements.
What the airline needs is for the current management, board and commercial department to up sticks and leave and allow competent people to take the helm.
What the guys and gals in Arann need to do is come and join me flying the ATR in the Mediterranean Sun.
The chief pilot who may have started out with the best of intentions is a complete management lackey these days. He only operates once a week and then can’t see why certain duties are not fatiguing to him!!! He oversaw the illegal pay cut of crews, allowed crews to operate almost on a daily basis in fatigue on aircraft with multiple defects into small regional airports.
Apparently some of the guys and gals in Galway have a 6 sector duty that is only legal by around 30 minutes. It is fatiguing at the best of times apparently and then factor in the current cold spell and it is a complete nightmare, the chief pilot apparently gave his personal guarantee in the autumn that he would not sign it off for the winter, it is still being rostered!!!
The operations department are not able or not allowed to prioritise or cut flights when things go wrong. This is apparently due to a completely inadequate “commercial” department who want every flight to go even though some are almost empty and the cost of de-icing the aircraft wipes out any revenue. The delays push the actual revenue flights back by hours, annoying a great many more passengers, paying out of hour’s airport charges to the regionals and putting the crew on constant max flight duties and minimum rest. Just what does an ex marketer from Vodafone Ireland know about commercial flight operations?
Also they have insisted in rotating two ATR72-201’s into Galway. These aircraft have a huge performance penalty for both take off and landing. Often crew have to fuel stop resulting in between 5 and 7 sector days for crews or at the very least taking minimum fuel to Luton in CAT 2 conditions. All this only serves to add to crew fatigue and stress as well as throwing out the entire days schedule so the later duties have to operate into the early hours of the morning. All this goes on while the 500s and 212s are happily operating in Aer Lingus colours on non limiting runways. Utter madness.
The pilot body and cabin crew body as a whole are treated with utter contempt by management. They were subjected to an illegal pay cut but not only that saw all pay scales agreed upon completely thrown out of the window. There is now no pay scale at all and many crews are effectively on a year one salary despite being there for many years. There is a huge pressure applied on crews to operate into discretion. Crews are driving hire cars the length and breadth of the country in horrendous weather, operating and then driving back to base again in the middle of the night, the management even have the audacity to get crews to fill the car up with fuel and then claim the expenses back.
A select amount of crew have added to and facilitated this madness for quite a while now. They insist on working days off which adds to the crew shortage and operating into discretion is a just something that is done. Operating into discretion should be a carefully considered procedure when you factor the type of flying that Aer Arann crews have to endure. The rostering is a complete joke with the Christmas roster only coming out a few days beforehand leaving many of the crews who try to commute at a complete loss as to their festive arrangements.
What the airline needs is for the current management, board and commercial department to up sticks and leave and allow competent people to take the helm.
What the guys and gals in Arann need to do is come and join me flying the ATR in the Mediterranean Sun.
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Regarding the early 6 sector out of Galway, it's only legal because they have 20minutes turnaround times and unrealistic block times. This duty normally generates 2-3 discretion reports per week, which begs the question, what are the IAA doing to regulate it? Oh and normally this duty is followed by a 0525 report the following day, which our illustrious CP has said is "not tiring". However if you do call in fatigued you are met with abuse from Ops. Sad but true.