lionsleeps14 Nov 2011 19:34
Fly540Angola,"l-e fly540" or so I was advised by a city broker.
I can give you first hand knowledge of exactly whats happening with this so called airline,reason,I was employed by them for over 1 year,based in Cabinda(Angola)
Basically I was recruited to fly the ATR42,never had an interview or simulator test,just sent them my cv and bingo got the contract,this was Sept 2009.They then started to pay a very significant salary immediately direct from LONRHO shipping,this is before I even met anyone from the company,not only myself but at least another 15 pilots were hired this way!!! which is totally unheard of.I expected to travel to Angola immediately but months went by,got PAID every month,full salary then in June 2010 they called me and the other guys,I had already been paid 9 months salary!!,Arrived in Luanda,next day travelled to Cabinda where the other pilots were based.Expecting to fly/train/ within a few days,no NO flying just waiting around! stayed in luxury accommodation/maid/chefs had chauff driven(brand new vehicles) this was costing LOnrho an arm and a leg!! So15 pilots on full salary,huge accommodation costs,atleast 30 office staff!! YES 30,2 OFFICES,brand new 4 wheel drives,when I say office staff I mean they were all on full salaries,but they were just sitting around,using internet,facebook etc,allday long.Then there were 2 guys one the gen manager,another Dir of operations,they lived in Luanda in an exculsive park,the rent alone was 25000 dollars per month,yes 25k!!! remember Luanda is the most expensive place on earth to live,they were both on high salaries also.
What I found out was the General Manager was indirect contact with Lonrho,London,he held the purse strings in Luanda for the whole operation,every expense had to go through him,we thought it very odd at the time.
Ican go on and on,but we all thought it was a very unusual business set up,we were all getting paid to do no work,we never flew at all,in 1 year working for them I flew 1 hour on the ATR,for training,yes 1 hour.
I managed to leave the company after I fell ill in Cabinda,a year ago,I was extremely ill with Malaria and another disease.The company tried to prevent me leaving the country by withholding my passport!! for over 2 months,.
Guys/investors an aweful lot of money has been wasted in Anglola,Lonrho state they are flying all over Angola,FACT they are not,I am in regular contact with friends I met there,they have one old ATR72 flying Cabinda-Soyo,fact,
There is so much more I can say about this,but Fly540 Angola is a very unusual business model in my experience,its a way off losing vaste sums of money.I for one would never invest in LONR,
If anyone would like any more information please let me know.
Best RGDS