A flight to forget
Oh what a flight
Okuk's Last Flight
B707 Anecdotes
B707 Introduction
A Biblical Story
A Biblical Story 2
A Biblical Story 3
Forbidden Fruits
Joe's Jolly (Poem)
The Golfer
Suitably Restrained
PX Advertisment 1
PX Advertisment 2
PX Advertisment 3
PX Article 1
PX Article 2
PX Article 3
The Check Ride
First and Last Flt.
First Command
DC3 KOK - POM
The Holiday
Friends at Last
History of P2ANQ
Ferry Flight
Crayfish
FO Cassanova
Larry Blackman
Secret Revealed
Airbus A300
Cargo Capers
Doing it Differently
Side Slip
Larry Blackman
4th Floor Memo
International Arsonist
Office Works
Thru Eyes of a Hostie
Airline Anecdotes
AIRCREW INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS B707 INTRODUCTION Posted by Peter Sharpe
The PNG Air Pilots union was active during this period to ensure that Air Niugini pilots were given the opportunity to promote to 707 operations after the purchase of that aircraft and to replace Tempair contract pilots. Agreement was made not without a certain degree of heartburn, as all expatriate pilots were dismissed after holding a 3-4 hour stop-work meeting.
After Government intervention, the pilots were reinstated the next day Negotiations continued between the groups with the Pilots assisted by the AFAP Manager Len Coysh, who had been assistant to Bruce Crofts during Crofts AFAP tenure, with Bryan Grey being assisted by Bruce Crofts.
Neither party were prepared to concede ground and after a day or so of intense bargaining, the pilot group retired to the Davara Hotel along Ela Beach to consider their options, with Grey, Crofts and their team met at Grey’s Air Niugini house.
After an hour or so at the Davara Hotel with the pilot representatives imbibing, becoming a little more aggressive in attitude, I was called to the phone to find Bryan Grey inviting the pilot group to his house for a few convivial beers. After consultation with the others, Arthur Johnson, Bill Moroney, Val Lysenko and Bill Spencer, we all went to his house to find him surrounded by his management team including, Bruce Crofts, Paul Bolger Brian Costello, Peter Evans, Peter Watson, Jerry Hudson and others.
The house had a quite large swimming pool and to cut the story short, Peter Sharpe quickly ended up in the pool with skinned knees and elbows, followed by a number of others including Grey and Coysh. Bruce Crofts pleaded that he did not want his attire to get wet and delayed his pool entry until he had stripped to his underwear, leaving his clothes neatly folded at the poolside. Crofts went into the pool followed shortly thereafter by his pile of clothes!
Bolger and Costello quickly got into Bolger’s car, locked doors, windows as they could not drive away due to other parked vehicles blocking their exit, started the engine to run the air-conditioning. Wet socks and other items of attire were stuffed into the exhaust pipe hoping to flush them out by stalling the engine. That idea failed, so Bolger and Costello were left in the car without a cold beer! As a result of that meeting at his house, the heat was removed from both party’s to the extend that after verbal agreements entered into that evening, more positive written agreements were signed the following day. It was a very smart move by Bryan and certainly resolved and removed any further threat of industrial action by pilots.
Eight pilots were selected to undergo training with Qantas and more to follow as demand dictated. A win win situation with both party’s happy.
Brian Grey was a hard but fair and as President of the Pilots Union, I did have considerable contact with him during the operation of the airline, as well as after hours in a social atmosphere at the Yacht Club. Bryan’s departure from Air Niugini was the result of political interference that has plagued each and every GM over the years.
At one stage Grey was having great difficulty in obtaining government approval to buy an additional F28, when all of a sudden the local newspaper Post Courier, carried an article that Air Niugini in association with a maritime Captain King, was seeking permission to introduce a passenger carrying submarine for tourist operations.
Well, the proverbial hit the fan with the resultant furor reverberated around the corridors of parliament with very many angry words criticising Grey for the submarine idea, and emphatically stating that Air Niugini must be involved only in aviation.
Air Niugini got approval for the additional F28.
After leaving Air Niugini in March 1979, Grey returned to Ansett Transport Industries for a while until he and a partner purchased the regional carrier East West airlines that was later sold to Ansett. Bryan Grey was instrumental in starting up what was to be Australia’s third major air carrier, Compass Airlines. As history shows, like UK’s Freddy Laker, Grey was before his time and that the country’s other major carriers were not ready to permit an upstart like Compass entry as a third major domestic airline. But Compass was the thin edge of the wedge that brought change to Australian Aviation forever.
Bryan Grey passed away in Hamilton, Victoria and I had the honour of representing Air Niugini at his funeral on 12 May 2001.
The PNG Air Pilots union was active during this period to ensure that Air Niugini pilots were given the opportunity to promote to 707 operations after the purchase of that aircraft and to replace Tempair contract pilots. Agreement was made not without a certain degree of heartburn, as all expatriate pilots were dismissed after holding a 3-4 hour stop-work meeting.
After Government intervention, the pilots were reinstated the next day Negotiations continued between the groups with the Pilots assisted by the AFAP Manager Len Coysh, who had been assistant to Bruce Crofts during Crofts AFAP tenure, with Bryan Grey being assisted by Bruce Crofts.
Neither party were prepared to concede ground and after a day or so of intense bargaining, the pilot group retired to the Davara Hotel along Ela Beach to consider their options, with Grey, Crofts and their team met at Grey’s Air Niugini house.
After an hour or so at the Davara Hotel with the pilot representatives imbibing, becoming a little more aggressive in attitude, I was called to the phone to find Bryan Grey inviting the pilot group to his house for a few convivial beers. After consultation with the others, Arthur Johnson, Bill Moroney, Val Lysenko and Bill Spencer, we all went to his house to find him surrounded by his management team including, Bruce Crofts, Paul Bolger Brian Costello, Peter Evans, Peter Watson, Jerry Hudson and others.
The house had a quite large swimming pool and to cut the story short, Peter Sharpe quickly ended up in the pool with skinned knees and elbows, followed by a number of others including Grey and Coysh. Bruce Crofts pleaded that he did not want his attire to get wet and delayed his pool entry until he had stripped to his underwear, leaving his clothes neatly folded at the poolside. Crofts went into the pool followed shortly thereafter by his pile of clothes!
Bolger and Costello quickly got into Bolger’s car, locked doors, windows as they could not drive away due to other parked vehicles blocking their exit, started the engine to run the air-conditioning. Wet socks and other items of attire were stuffed into the exhaust pipe hoping to flush them out by stalling the engine. That idea failed, so Bolger and Costello were left in the car without a cold beer! As a result of that meeting at his house, the heat was removed from both party’s to the extend that after verbal agreements entered into that evening, more positive written agreements were signed the following day. It was a very smart move by Bryan and certainly resolved and removed any further threat of industrial action by pilots.
Eight pilots were selected to undergo training with Qantas and more to follow as demand dictated. A win win situation with both party’s happy.
Brian Grey was a hard but fair and as President of the Pilots Union, I did have considerable contact with him during the operation of the airline, as well as after hours in a social atmosphere at the Yacht Club. Bryan’s departure from Air Niugini was the result of political interference that has plagued each and every GM over the years.
At one stage Grey was having great difficulty in obtaining government approval to buy an additional F28, when all of a sudden the local newspaper Post Courier, carried an article that Air Niugini in association with a maritime Captain King, was seeking permission to introduce a passenger carrying submarine for tourist operations.
Well, the proverbial hit the fan with the resultant furor reverberated around the corridors of parliament with very many angry words criticising Grey for the submarine idea, and emphatically stating that Air Niugini must be involved only in aviation.
Air Niugini got approval for the additional F28.
After leaving Air Niugini in March 1979, Grey returned to Ansett Transport Industries for a while until he and a partner purchased the regional carrier East West airlines that was later sold to Ansett. Bryan Grey was instrumental in starting up what was to be Australia’s third major air carrier, Compass Airlines. As history shows, like UK’s Freddy Laker, Grey was before his time and that the country’s other major carriers were not ready to permit an upstart like Compass entry as a third major domestic airline. But Compass was the thin edge of the wedge that brought change to Australian Aviation forever.
Bryan Grey passed away in Hamilton, Victoria and I had the honour of representing Air Niugini at his funeral on 12 May 2001.
