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Author Topic: Uber Comes to Trinidad  (Read 1628 times)

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Offline Sando prince

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Uber Comes to Trinidad
« on: January 17, 2017, 08:33:02 AM »

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/bl3Bp6_3Iqw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/bl3Bp6_3Iqw</a>

Offline mukumsplau

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Re: Uber Comes to Trinidad
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2017, 11:13:50 AM »
aint no grammar police but..much more safer?...that hit me hard

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Uber Comes to Trinidad
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2017, 11:34:13 AM »
Wondered whether this day would come. Have my doubts buh lehwe see how it plays out regarding 1. security and 2. the airport.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2017, 11:36:10 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Flex

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Re: Uber Comes to Trinidad
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2017, 01:43:25 AM »
UBER IN THE SKY
By CLINT CHAN TACK (NEWSDAY).


WHILE US-based transport network company Uber’s effort to serve this country’s citizens on the ground has hit the brakes, chairman of the State Enterprises Joint Select Committee (JSC) David Small yesterday expressed alarm that the sky has become the limit for some people who work for State owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to use, “CAL as their own personal Air Uber.” Small raised his concerns about this situation during a public hearing with officials from CAL at Tower D of the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront Centre.

The Independent senator based his concern on information provided by CAL to the committee on the usage of jump seats on its aircraft. A jump seat in aviation refers to an auxiliary seat for individuals — other than normal passengers — who are not operating the aircraft.

These seats, also known as auxiliary crew stations, can be located in cockpits or passenger cabins.

In cockpits, jump seats are provided for individuals who are not operating the aircraft. These might include trainee pilots, off-duty crew members in transition to another airport, government officials or airline staff.

The passenger cabin jump seats are used by the cabin crew, especially during take off and landing.

These jump seats are normally located near emergency exits so that flight attendants can quickly open the exit door in an emergency.

CAL STAFF FLY FREE Small said information provided by CAL showed one individual taking, “100 jump seat flights and this individual is a pilot.” He said there was also information that another individual, “made 30 individual jump seat flights” between January and April 2010. “Is this normal or something that is out of the ordinary,” Small asked.

He described himself and other committee members as regular people who never fly more than 100 times in any year. The senator opined that even travelling 100 times between Trinidad and Tobago is hard to believe. “That means you’re travelling twice a week. So when do you work,” he asked. He continued, “This committee struggles to see a pilot working with Jet Blue or American Airlines doing 100 personal flights per year. I can’t conceive doing 100 flights per year in addition to being a pilot.”

Small said this would mean that in addition to flying their normal routes, some pilots are, “then taking 100 personal flights per year.” He accepted that while airline pilots have certain privileges compared to their co-workers, “that’s not the issue.” Small said the issue here is, “there is a suggestion here that this system is being abused.”

Describing this arrangement as “just too loose,” Small advised CAL officials, “That rule needs to be tightened up.” While this issue does not impact on CAL’s revenue situation, Small said, “I think there is a message for the management staff and the line staff.” Saying this situation can demoralise the airline’s staff, Small said CAL personnel with such privileges should “apply some discretion” in using the facilities available to them.

CAL CONCERNED In response, CAL vice-president (human resources-HR) Hyacinth Guy said, “All employees of CAL get 20 rebated tickets per year.” Guy explained that analysis of the usage of these tickets by employees in 2012 and 2016 showed, “on average, people are using between six and eight of those tickets per year.” She said this is part of the terms and conditions of all employees at all levels in CAL.

However with respect to pilots using the jump seat, Guy told Small, “What you are speaking to there, that is an industry practice where pilots are allowed to use a jump seat. That is not a term and condition of employment.” She added, “By convention, that does not come through what we manage in HR in terms of conditions and employment and there is a different procedure for accepting that.”

CAL chairman Jameer Mohammed told Small that he shared his concerns. Small told him that CAL will receive the JSC’s recommendations about how this matter should be treated with. Small also expressed concern that while the mandatory retirement age in TT is 60 years, pilots in CAL are given the option to continue working for an additional five years. Guy replied that this was part of the collective agreement between CAL and the TT Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA).

RETIRE AT 60 She also said other airlines allow their pilots to continue working after 60 once they are fit and healthy to do so. Guy said in CAL’s case, pilots over 60 years work on contract with the airline.

Small was unconvinced, insisting that at 60 years, the pilots should be thanked for their service with either “a gold watch” or “a golden air plane.” Guy said apart from pilots, there is flexibility on the tenure of CAL’s engineers, as it takes seven years to properly train an aviation engineer. At this stage, D’Abadie/O’Meara MP Ancil Antoine observed CAL had several employees on its payroll who were well past retirement. He said there was a cargo container supervisor who was 78 years old.

Antoine also wondered if it made sense for CAL to retain certain types of non-technical staff such as upholsterers on its payroll.

With specific reference to pilots, Opposition Senator Wade Mark argued that certain people were holding, “a monopoly of jobs” at CAL. Mark said this was troubling given the country’s current economic circumstances and the growing number of people joining the unemployment line.

Guy said many of the people employed at CAL came over from its predecessor airline, BWIA.

She said their significant years of experience combined with their qualifications, was one of the reasons why CAL was able to maintain its high level of aviation safety standards. Guy also said some people employed with CAL work in foreign jurisdictions where there is no retirement limit and removing them on the basis of age could be regarded as discriminatory.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

 

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