DHL pulls the plug on Astar's.....

[LVTOFLY]

There is a rumor that DHL is interested in buying Amerijet. I believe that this will be terrible for both Amerijet crews and ABX.

 

[IHaveAPension]

There is a rumor that DHL is interested in buying Amerijet. I believe that this will be terrible for both Amerijet crews and ABX.

The Krauts can't just go out and "buy" Amerijet due to foreign ownership issues, but they certainly can give them a contract for flying in the DHL system. This would be very bad new not only for ABX but for Astar too.

 

[IHaveAPension]

FYI,


Memo just out...Sept 9th official move in date.

A few specks on the new facility from our manager of security...

New crew bag room, double current size,
A few more bunk rooms
Phone jacks in bunk rooms
WiFi internet access throughout facility
Internet access kiosks seperate from the flight planning room
Better cafeteria

Sounds nice...

I heard today that DHL has cancelled the building of Astars new ops center in ILN due to cost containment issues. Not sure where they will put you guys and the other contractors up, but better get some more double wides!

 

[AV8OR]

I hear that some Astar boys in ILN are taxiing really, really slow and totally pi$$ing off the ABX guys stuck behind them. Is this a response the losing the JFK-BRU flying? Even the Astar safety guys that were touring the ILN tour commented how slow Astar planes were taxiing.

Cpt. Pension,

It's all in the eye of the beholder...

A. Nobody at AStar is taxiing any slower than we do anywhere else.
B. I had Landon (the AStar safety guy you refered to) in my recurrent class yesterday, and he specifically mentioned how fast ABX guys taxi, not the other way around. He was not being critical, he just mentioned that ABX guys taxi a lot faster than we do, anywhere. But, way to go, trying to turn a non-event into a wedge and inadvertently inferring that AStar pilots are petty and unprofessional. Dude we don't care if it's out of CVG, ILN or BAH, we do our best to make it happen on time. Got make that bonus money again ya know!

 

[AV8OR]

I heard today that DHL has cancelled the building of Astars new ops center in ILN due to cost containment issues. Not sure where they will put you guys and the other contractors up, but better get some more double wides!

You would be wrong. You really need to take your crap elsewhere. Would you like to wager something IHAP, whether you are wrong? How bout this, if we don't move into our new facility because "DHL has cancelled the building of Astars new ops center in ILN due to cost containment issues", I'll volunteer for the penalty box on this website forum for a month, but if we do indeed move in to our new facility, you do the into the box you go? Whatdya say?

Hey, are you EuroWheenie's inside contact?

 

[LarryinTN]

he specifically mentioned how fast ABX guys taxi

The DC9 taxies fast well. Some Captains like to go fast, other's do not. I prefer a more comfortable pace that doesn't require me to hold on while cornering. The DC8s and 767s usually taxi much slower.

I rode jumpseat on an ER flight out of ILN a few weeks ago and the 727 really bounced around on the taxiway even though I know that the DC9 rides fine in that area. The crew even mentioned the rough ride and said it had something to do with the struts and that's why they taxi slow sometimes. Sounds like a strange explanation but I was there bouncing down the taxiway so I am certainly a believer! If my airplane were bouncing around like that I'd certainly want to slow down as well.

 

[EuroWheenie]

hvydriver

Thank you very much for your highly educational posting. It's quite asthonishing how the same issues are so differently reported over here. Suffice to say that what you've mentioned is somewhat in contrast to the rumours floating around over here.

8. I don't see how you can equate flying from, say, Brussels to Heathrow as a domestic flight. It's not the same as flying Cincinnati to New York.

Well, this side of the pond the view point is that it's comparable, based on the fact that the EU is one common market.

LJ-ABX

Sorry, my bad - got the alphabet soup mixed up. It should of course have read ABX and not BAX.

AV8OR

a1: Thanks. Never heard of the bloke before.

a2: See above.

b1: I can see that my initial posting could be viewed as a dig at your wages. I trust you'll belive me when I say that you, in my opinion, deserve whatever you can negotiate. I should also have made a clearer distinction between the air and ground operations, of both Airborne Express (apparently they're not called ABX, thanks for enlighting me) and DHL US. Alas, as long as Astar and ABX Air are making money, apparently the salaries are not an issue.

b2: Allow me to quote you

We might be able to take those lower wages if we lived in socialist countries in the EU who subisdize employees pay with gov bennies. Speaking of broke....

Right, I don't live in a socialist country, neither are any EU nations currently led by a traditional socialist goverment. Closest you'll get is the "Social Democrats" in Sweden, "Labour" in the UK and "SPD" in Germany. Neither or those are even remotely close to embracing traditional Socialist values. The only people being "subsidised" by governments, and this by the way is not universal throughout the EU nor limited to nations with a centre/left government, are people who've been unemployeed for an extended period of time. Some nations, including Denmark which is currently under a conservative government, tie some money to their backs in order to get them out of welfare. It works, to an extent.

Your comment re. "Speaking of broke" leaves me somewhat flabbergasted. If you wish to compare national deficits, I don't think the US has much to brag about. Where I'm from, we've had a + on the balance sheet for the last 10+ years; primarily under a centre/left government (this may blow a bubble or two, but there you go).


IHaveAPension

Then why did DHL replace the Astar DC-8 with a Kalitta 747????? Reduced loads my a$$, it's strictly beacuse Kalitta is cheaper that Astar.

From what they're telling us, there weren't enough freight going around to feed both the LH MD-11 operating out of CGN to BAH, the Astar DC8 and the Kalitta 747. One had to go, and it was Astar that got shafted in a highly political move. I'm not privy to the exact reasons, and have been hearing mixed rumours. However, those I've been talking to are not sufficiently high up the food chain (as I suppose is the case with most of us here) to be advised as to exactly what the reasoning was. I heard yesterday that we're actually loosing money utilising Kalitta, but whether that is true I have no way of knowing.

Latest rumours is that Astar will be back on the JFK-BRU-BAH service by October. Looking forward to seeing you guys over here again.

Other, and very consistent, rumours has it that EAT are seriously looking at acquiring their own long-range widebodies. Anything from 767-300, DC10-30, MD-11 and even 777F has been mentioned. However, those rumours have been floating for the last 4 years so I'm not particularly holding my breath.

 

[hvydriver]

Eurowheenie,

>Well, this side of the pond the view point is that it's comparable, based on the fact that the EU is one common market.<

Perhaps so. I suppose this is an area where we won't find common ground. While I see your point, the fact of the matter is (from my point of view) that while it is one common economic zone, it is still a consortium of independent nations. It is therefore, irrevocably different from flying inside the continental US. Just my opinion.

 

[EuroWheenie]

hvydriver

Quite right, we'll probably never agree. However, since the flying is a commercial operation and the EU is, from a commercial point of view, a single entity intra-EU flights should be regarded as domestic. For EU based carriers that is already the case; there is nothing stopping a operator based in the Czech Republic from launching flights between Germany and Spain, as long as the technical side of the operation is JAR compliant and all that.

One could also argue that domestic flights in the US which crosses a state border are equal to intra-EU flights. If I understand it correct, the individual states in the US have a certain degree of freedom to set taxes, social programs, education etc. The EU is much the same, albeit we obviously haven't a common constitution, defence and foreign policy. Yet. But from a commercial point of view, we're one.

On this subject I suppose we'll just have to agree on disagreeing, but it's no secret that the phalanx of US reg'd aircraft flying intra-EU with US crews are a major thorn in the side of pilots this side of the pond. I trust you appreciate that position.

 

[IHaveAPension]

hvydriver


On this subject I suppose we'll just have to agree on disagreeing, but it's no secret that the phalanx of US reg'd aircraft flying intra-EU with US crews are a major thorn in the side of pilots this side of the pond. I trust you appreciate that position.

Next time fight your own wars and brush up on your German and/or Russian!!!