US Airways Airbus A320 Flight 1549 pilot's view

Mother F***** Boss and dreams

There was a asshole boss whom we had to work under. He was an old fashioned school teacher type of boss. I don't want to mention what position he was holding because in the firstplace he did not even deserved to be our superior. Ho got his promotion by default.

We buggers were more cultured people having served dignitaries and accompany VIPs and we knew the finer side of dealing with our subordinates. That MF boss was mainly confined to box in the office all the umpteens years that he did not know what is outside of his box (office la stupid..hehehe).

He had this bad and rude habit of shouting at his subordinates and chided them,me included.Well well I don't wanna talk about him cos he makes me sick even now as I talk about him in my blog....aiya better tok abt something else hor.....hehehe.

The other nite I dreamt of "soaring" in the sky but not ina SIA's plane. It was another airline I was with. I was the chief purser (equivalent of IFS in SQ la ah gong gong...hehehe). Then I saw all those stewardesses in our cabin NAKED serving the paseengers. I can't believed what I saw and started to rub my eyes. I knew I was somewhere but not in reality realm.

One of the stewardesses then called me saying "hey boh tong don't just stand there and look at us, help us ok?" "Touch my tits and see whether they are firmed or not cos our company insist that all gals must have big firmed boobs.." I proceeded to gently feel her breasts and they felt warm and spongy. I told her she passed the co's test and all of a sudden she took me by my hand and led me to the Suite that was "beyond first class"...u know like the one on SQ A380. She pinnd me down on the bed and started to strip her uniform. Now I remember her uniform looked like the ones SQ gals wear. But it was different bcos the designer was a China man by the name of How Lian. Mind, I was so confused bcos I don't know where I was.....u know like in most dreams...

The next thing I realised when I wanted to strip myself and have that stewardess, I was in a cafe in London. It was strange because I have not been to London for the last 2 years. I was with a lady passenger of mine. She was a blond with blue eyes, about 30 years old and she was rubbing my thigh under our table. I felt sexually aroused and I ......

Those who left Singapore.

Those who left Singapore for greener pasture in places like Australia,Canada,USA and others aren't all happy.
Cabin crew get to travel widely and would use their sentiments and feelings for the countries they night stop as a measurement for their immigration. They forget that stopping and having a short experience in a place for a few days is different from living there.
Many made the wrong judgement and concluded that places like Australia,Canada etc would be the places they would spend the rest of their lives comfortably.
Take for an example, an ex IFS called Kong (not his real name)who left SIN for Canada and then some years later made a U turn and wanted to come back to live in SIN. Before that,Kong boasted about lives in Canada. He often made fun of SIN and praised Canada as a place to live and retire comfortably.
Little did Kong know that Canada was like a mirage. After living there for a few years,he found that life was tough.The weather was unkind.He used to stay in SIA provided hotels and did not realised the discomfort of the cold blistering weather outside during the winter months. Staying in a hotel is different from your own house.You can't afford to have the whole house heated 24/7 during the cold months. So it could be miserable to live in an unheated house.
Jobs are hard to come by in Canada especially if you are an Asian. There are subtle discrimination everywhere and suddenly you would find the Caucasian passengers whom you faithfully served on your flights aren't friendly with you anymore,at least on the streets of Canada or Australia or USA.
To make things worst,Kong's wife left him for a Caucasian man.
Broken hearted and without a job and little savings,Kong tried to return to SIN. Bad news though cos Kong had revoked his SIN passport and now is not allowed to apply for citizenship here.

Another case was an IFS who left for Ozland.He and his stewardess wife bought a big house. They thought they could lived happily ever after but they were wrong. They fought like cats and dogs and today he is 6 feet underground.

Of course, there are a few who are happy living overseas. A few made their fortune there but I can count the numbers on my fingers.

Stylistics of cabin crew

Whenever I listen to the Stylistics it remind of a senior crew in SQ. Why was he nick named Stylistics? It's because his voice is high-pitched like the singers above in YouTube.
Let's call him V..ok? V was an ex crony of Eddy's,belonging to the old guard.He broke rank with Eddy many years back. They were in the union together,"fighting" for the crew. They were best of pals way back in the 1980s but something went terribly wrong and became bitter enemies.
V was a gutsy guy who would bet big bucks on horses. He loved roulette and horses more than anything else.He was not interested in the stewardesses,although he married one. V had won and lost huge sums of money in those 2 vices but overall he was a sucker. All gamblers are suckers anyway.
Today,one can still see V at STC ( Not SIA Training Center but S'pore Turf Club)"enjoying" himself,albeit placing small bets of a few $$ at a time.He has since retired from SIA.
Good luck V!!!

To be honest Alan and Eddy are .....

To be honest Alan and Eddy are my friends. I've always enjoyed their company when I was with SIA especially during our stops in London.
Remember the time spent in London's Lad Brooke, placing small bets on dogs and horses? Remember the 20 to 1 or even bigger odds we strike when betting on the 4 legged, Alan? Remember the number of cigarettes we puffed watching the races? The adrenaline rush etc....??

As for you Eddy,remember the "no.8 and it's neighbors" bets on roulette? The table clearance,so to speak... after making a few thousand pounds how we cashed in at the Gloucester casino and "chea teh" (drink tea)and puffed Malboro like no tomorrow at Queensway Chinese restaurants etc..

Remember Crystal at International Plaza a couple of years back?

Ha ha ha...now Alan and Eddy know my identity,rite?

You two are still my friends no matter what people say about you.

We love you SIA!

Who does not huh (love SIA)? Make less money the last quarter and yet paying its shareholders a 20 cent dividend for every share held PLUS 738 SATS share (free)for every 1,000 share held!

Wanna know what? This ex-employer of mine has a damn big heart.
May God bless SIA!!!

Longer service, far better rewards for SIA cabin crew

By Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent

SINGAPORE Airlines used to pay cabin crew a gratuity of $15,000 upon completion of five years of service.

This has now been cut to $10,000, but a bigger gratuity awaits those who stay on: Junior crew who stay 10 years, for example, will now collect $35,000 - $5,000 more than before.

SIA has more than 7,000 cabin crew and although the number who leave before or after five years is not very high, it wants to retain experienced staff.

Spokesman Stephen Forshaw told The Straits Times of this move to encourage loyalty: 'We train and create good crew, so we want to encourage more to stay on.'

Tweaks to the gratuity payouts are among work and other conditions in a new collective agreement sealed last month between the airline and its largest union, the SIA Staff Union (Siasu), which represents cabin crew and other rank-and-file staff.

The deal, like the one SIA management also sealed with its pilots recently, will be for three years. They bring to an end this latest round of troubled labour relations for the airline.

A key change in the new pact for cabin crew: Higher retirement benefits for stewards who joined before 2004. That was the year SIA decided that all male and female cabin crew would be hired on a five-year contract basis. Before that, stewards received appointment letters and could stay until retirement, while stewardesses were hired on five-year contracts.

Under the new compensation package for stewards who joined before 2004, everyone - with the exception of very senior crew - will receive a higher payout when they leave. The ceiling is $115,000.

Depending on rank and age, the increase ranges from 7 per cent to over 100 per cent, with the main beneficiaries being those aged between 45 and 50. The idea is to give them a headstart in starting a second career, said Siasu president Alan Tan.

Mr Forshaw explained that the changes give newer staff reason to stay on, while providing renewal opportunities to those who feel they have peaked and reached as high a level as they can go.

An SIA stewardess with 14 years of experience, who did not want to be named, does not appear to think these changes will work.

'The higher gratuity payments may encourage some to stay on, but the truth is, this is not an easy job and lethargy sets in after a few years.

'We get many graduates who come in, fly for three to five years and then move on to other professions.'

But she conceded that the looming economic recession could make people think twice before quitting.

SIA has already been hit. In the three months to the end of September, profits were down 36.2 per cent to $323.8 million, compared to the second quarter of the last financial year.

Last month, SIA filled 77.5 per cent of seats on average, a drop of 0.8 percentage point over the same month last year. It was the 10th straight month of decline.

Some poor-performing routes have been dropped, and SIA is expecting minimal growth next year; it is in talks with the union to use smaller crews on flights with few passengers.

Officially, there has been no talk of cost-cutting steps. Siasu general-secretary Mohamed Hussain Kassim said: 'If it comes to that, we will sit and discuss it rationally. But the management must be upfront and sincere.

'If the company is in trouble, we as a union will work with management to deal with the issues. The priority is to retain jobs and retrenchment must be a last resort.'

Berks mismanaged fish eatery in Perth.

Lam the owner of a fast food (seafood) chain trusted Berks a former chief steward who was retrenched by SQ to run his eatery in Perth.

Berks was an easy going type of character who was fond of women,wine and songs but not work. SQ retrenched him in 2003 because of his high mc and work attitude. Finding life difficult in S'pore,he and his family immigrated to Perth.

Lam  a former cce with SQ was a friend of Berks and wifey,who was an ex stewardess. Lam was kind to Berks and offered him to run the seafood eatery for him.

Being what he was,Berks screwed up the business and eventually had to shut down the entire business. 

At one point,Berks threatened to sue Lam for "breaking" his contract to hire Berks as his manger for life...what kind of crap was that!

Today,one may be able to spot Berks at Floreat,a small shopping complex in suburban Perth,cleaning  foodcourt tables.In short,Berks is a cleaner at the foodcourt.

Can SIA weather the storm?

Shukor Yusof, an aviation analyst with Standard and Poor's, said he was surprised by the extent of the profit plunge and said SIA may have to review its orders for the double-decker Airbus A380 and cut staff  

Click here for full story

SIA giving SATS to shareholders

Alamak SIA's profit for last quarter down by 91% to S$42 million and still give 20cts per share dividends plus free SATS share to it shareholders. For every 1,000 sia share you have, sia will give you 738 SATS share which is about $1.50 per share...hey not bad for a company that is making much less now.

Cancer changed his life!

Johnny,an inflight supervisor with SIA was an arrogant man. He was a cronny of Eddie Chew,the ex president of SIASU (SIA Staff Union)an IFS too. Johhny wasn't a tall fellow and was considered lucky to be employed as a steward way back in the early 1970s.
While serving the union as a shop steward,Johnny would snub and made fun at the management staff as well as belittled his opponents. Nothing strange though cos Eddie and his cronnies were mostly like that.(80% and more of the cabin crew couldn't stand them and eventually voted Eddie and co. out of the union leadership last year).
Doraisamy,the predecessor of MP Kho and Eddie was no different too. Dorai was booted out by MP Kho,a humble bumble inefficient general secretary for only one term and Eddie in turn kicked MP out and ruled for almost 20 years.
In those years of Eddie's leadership, many of his cronnies were arrogant and grossly inefficient. Johnny was one of them.

One day, about 18 yrs ago, Johnny was diagnosed with severe colon cancer. The oncologists gave him a few months to live. 3/4 of his colon was removed through surgery.

Fearing he would die and the prospect of going to hell,Johnny prayed desperately to god and promised to repent. God heard his cry and healed him.

After being discharged from the hospital,Johnny went back flying.He also mellowed and repented and became a counsellor to those who had cancer. Johnny was an effective counsellor and many of those cancer patients/crew were comforted by him.

I wonder why Johnny isn't counselling Dorai whom I understand is now suffering from cancer? I understand Dorai spends his now limited time at Ceylon's Sports Club drowning his sorrows with his favourite Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky.