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Tag: Bristow Helicopters

  • Aviation unions ground operations at Bristow, Caverton helicopters

    Aviation unions ground operations at Bristow, Caverton helicopters

    Aviation Unions on Thursday grounded the operations of Bristow Helicopters and Caverton Helicopters over refusal of their management to address issues bordering on the welfare of their members. The unions comprised of National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers ( NAAPE ), Association of Aviation Professionals ( ANAP ), and other affilates in the United Labour Congress ( ULC ).

    Members of the unions in the two helicopter companies withdrew their services, including the supply of fuel until issues raised by the unions are equitably resolved.

    At the General Aviation Terminal ( GAT ), wing of the Lagos Airport, scores of union members blocked the entrance and exit gates of Bristow Helicopters to prevent passengers and others planning to patronise the firm from gaining access.

    Singing solidarity songs and dancing to music blaring from loud speakers, the union members expressed disenchantment over the way and manner the management of Bristow Helicopters maltreats and humilate its Nigerian workers.

    They dislayed placards with inscriptions that drives home the maltreatment of Nigerian workers by the helicopter company.

    Some of the placards reads: “Racism in Bristow must stop”.

    “Nigerian Jobs for Nigerians”

    “We say no to forced labour in Bristow”.

    “Stop abusing and violating our rights and privileges “.

    Addressing members of the unions, National President of NAAPE, Comrade Galadima Abednego said they were forced to shut down Bristow and Caverton Helicopters because of the failure of their management to address issues concerning their members.

    He said attempts by NAAPE in the last four years to impress it on the management of Bristow to do the needfull has failed despite interventions by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Federal Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA ).

    He said : “The management of Bristow Group has been unrelenting in violating both the spirit and letters of the Conditions of Service wittingly agreed to by them. 

    The airline has kept pilots and engineers progression at bay.

    Refusal to pay for forced work rotation which they kept in place for the whole year January to December of 2017. 

    Declared redundancy but refused to offer any justification as required by labour law and Condition of Service, while bidding for time to render potential victims helpless. 

    Commenced a policy of witch-hunting, intimidation and victimization of union members leading to arbitrary sacking of a pilot without recourse to the procedures established in the Conditions of Service. 

    Created and forced engineers into a shift pattern that requires them work for in excess of what is agreed in the Conditions of Service.

    Read also: Buhari vows to improve aviation infrastructure

    “Our union has tried its best to be calmed, composed and matured under this maze of malfeasance on the part of the management. 

    “We have tried every form of engagement with the hope of securing an amicable settlement of these issues. But our forbearance has been taken for granted, and our patience has been repaid with scorn and mocking by the management.

    “Having no further means to get amelioration, our union has no alternative than to embark on this industrial action.” 

    The NAAPE President said the strike could only be called off, if the management of Bristow takes steps to resolve pending issues.

    He said : “Accordingly, this strike action will remain in place until the following demands are met.

    “That the  management of Bristow Group justifies their extraordinary recruitment of expatriates, or streamlines the  number of expatriates in its employ to be in alignment with Nigeria’s Expatriate Quota Laws.

    “Recalls the NAAPE member sacked arbitrarily with due apology and immediately locate all pilots and engineers appropriately on the progression matrix established by the Conditions of Service.

    “Pay  arrears of all work done as per approved pay structures in the company  as  contained in the Conditions of Service,  abrogate all shift systems that are contrary to the progressions of the Conditions of  Service and for work done presently in excess of approved hours of work in the  Conditions of Service. 

    “Undertake to abstain from current strong arm tactics, impunity, intimidation, manipulation of facts, and general recklessness.

    “We call on the Minister of Labour and employment, the Minister of Interior,  Minister of State, Aviation, the leadership of the National Assembly, the Director General of the NCAA and all agencies of government connected to these issues to come to our aid  in confronting and bringing under control, this hydra-headed monster called Bristow Helicopters. 

    This will be in the general interest of Nigeria and her citizens, as well as the orderly development of the aviation sector in Nigeria.” 

    On Caverton, the NAAPE boss said the firm’s operations was shut because it has been shortchanging its members.

    He said : “We shut down Caverton Helicopters operations because the the condition of service has expired. The management has been using delay tactics.”

  • AIB to release reports on Bristow helicopters, Dana Air crashes

    The Commissioner of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr. Akin Olateru, said on Thursday that there are at least 37 accident reports pending at the bureau at the time he assumed office in January.

    He also said the final report of the Dana Air crash which killed 163 people in June 3, 2012 in Lagos and three others would be submitted to the Presidency for approval before being released to the public.

    Besides the Dana accident report, information on the  two Bristow helicopter and AOS helicopter crashes will be forwarded to the Presidency for approval.

    Olateru stated these at a forum organised by the Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos.

    He, however, assured that the reports of the four accidents would be made known by next week while a minimum of 10 accident reports would also be released to the public before the end of the year.

    The AIB chief stressed that the era of keeping accident reports in the bureau’s wardrobe was over with his management team.

     

  • NAAPE grounds Bristow Helicopters operations

    NAAPE grounds Bristow Helicopters operations

    NATIONAL Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) yesterday  shut Bristow Helicopters nationwide over its plans to disengage indigenous pilots and engineers on its pay roll.

    Confirming the development, its national President,  Balami Isaac, said: “Their operations are currently grounded and nothing will be happening there today.

    “The issues necessitating the shutting includes: victimisation of members especially executives, illegal redundancy, violation of conditions of services by making members to work up to 60, 72 hours without paying overtime, cancelation of even rotation and forcefully outing everybody to work more and earn less.

    “In other words, reduction in salary and refusal to honour the exchange rate agreed during negotiation.”

    According to NAAPE, the shutdown on the helicopter company was as a result of its management declaring 13 local engineers and 10 Nigerian pilots redundant.

  • Bristow Helicopters ex-staff undergoes entrepreneurial training

    Former staff of a leading helicopter service provider, Bristow Helicopters Nigeria operation has been urged to invest their benefits wisely by taking advantage of new opportunities in the businesses environment.

    The ex-staff, at an entrepreneurial training organised by Bristow Helicopter were challenged to seek for opportunities in various sectors of the economy.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the three days programme in Lagos, facilitator of the training and Chief Executive Officer of Safecrest Services Limited, Mr. Solomon Ohiomah said the programme is designed to assist the participants to amongst others, plan for a qualitative life after former employment and identify available business opportunities in the business environment.

    Also, it is to give a guide to the fundamentals of generating business ideas, preparing business plans, setting up and managing a business as well as personal finance management.

    Mr. Ohiomah explained that leaving formal employment is neither a calamity nor a death sentence, rather it time to retire and re-fire into other areas of human endeavours and a time to embark on new ways of life.

    He said government and companies must prepare workers to look forward with confidence to retirement as a new and inevitable phase of life.

    The workshop features paper presentations on framework for personal financing planning, economic and coping strategies in a recession, career and personal development.

    Others are forms of business and how to register them, writing bankable business plans and sources of start-up capital as well will-preparations, prudent management and investment and pension and gratuity administration.

  • Bristow Helicopters invests $6m in Port Harcourt hangar

    Bristow Helicopter has invested over $6 million in the construction of a hangar in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the Managing Director, Captain Akin Oni, has said.

    He also said the helicopter firm invests over $5million yearly in the training of helicopter  pilots and engineers at the Bristow Academy in the United States.

    Oni, who spoke at a briefing on the activities of the airline in Lagos, said Bristow  has over 35 per cent of the market share in the logistical rotary wings sector  in the country, adding that the firm will  invest  in domestic capacity in the  sector by supporting the training of helicopter pilots and engineers at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.

    He said the airline has the capacity to carry out major maintenance on its 31 aircraft at its hangar in Lagos with indigenous engineers.

    He said five years ago Bristow commenced the repairs of its helicopter  fleet in Nigeria using its indigenous engineers, adding that it has saved over $1.5 million on freight of the helicopter spares, taxes and duties and other associated costs.

    He spoke of plans by the airline to acquire a micro gas turbine to provide power for its operations  to reduce costs of diesel.

    He said the micro turbine, which cost the firm about $1.5 million would arrive Nigeria soon.

    He listed challenges in the helicopter business to include inadequate infrastructure, epileptic power supply, which he said, constitutes a major barrier to its operations.

    He said: “Infrastructure at the airports, especially power supply, is a major headache, forcing most companies to run on generators. This has huge impact in our operations. Another major challenge is the huge cost of training our pilots and engineers outside the country.

    “We need to develop local capacity in the training of such key personnel. If we train such personnel in Nigeria, we would save a lot of money,” he added.

    He denied insinuations that Bristow was dominated by expatriate pilots and engineers.

  • Bristow Helicopters to train pilots with $4.8m

    Bristow Helicopters to train pilots with $4.8m

    Bristow Helicopters is to spend $4.8million (about N758.4m) on training of its pilots, the Managing Director, Capt. Akin Oni, has said’

    The said it would spend $300, 000 each on 16 pilots this year.

    Oni said the training of pilots, engineers and other technical personnel was a yearly exercise by the company, adding that the current pilots would be trained at the Ilorin Aviation College, in Kwara State.

    He explained that the selected candidates were picked from 2,000 applicants, while the training is expected to last for between seven and eight weeks.

    He informed that after the initial training at Ilorin, they would proceed for further training to Bristow Academy in Florida, United States of America.