Adriatic seaplane news - update

[9aplus]

...
will lose their jobs due to the wrongdoing of administrational entities.
...

Only wrongdoing is grounding one year to late / Year after Lake LA-4 tragic crash...

Published here ->
http://www.total-croatia-news.com/item/ ... her-notice

[KlausNW]

Croatian Seaplanes: Civil Aviation Authority Had No Reason to Ground ECA - 4 Expert Conclusions

By Paul Bradbury, 18 Oct 2016, 08:10 AM :
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/item/14495-croatian-seaplanes-civil-aviation-authority-had-no-reason-to-ground-eca-4-expert-conclusions

Four separate expert investigations into the grounding of Croatian seaplane operator European Coastal Airlines by the Croatian Civil Aviation Authority come to the same conclusion: the grounding was unjustified and the issues found by CCAA broadly dismissed, according to documents obtained by TCN on October 17, 2016.

The plot is beginning to thicken and there is a smell of fish in the air regarding the story of Europe's first seaplane operation in modern European history.

European Coastal Airlines was grounded by the Croatian Civil Aviation Authority on August 12, following a three-day inspection, with the agency finding 9 Level 1 and 3 Level 2 findings against the airline. Level 1 means that passenger safety is in danger and the plane needs to be grounded. Level 2 means passengers are not at risk, but procedures or documentation at the airports needs amendments. In the case of a Level 2 finding, the airline is given some time to recitify the situation, which usually means producing some missing documentation, while a Level 1 finding requires the aircraft to be immediately grounded. It is my understanding that while a Level 1 finding in any airline would be grounds for an immediate suspension of operations for that aircraft, Level 2 findings are not uncommon in most airlines, who operate in an industry which is highly regulated and bureaucratic.

Much has been written about the ECA seaplanes being dangerous, an assertion which seemed to be justified by the CCAA finding of no less than nine Level 1 findings during the three-day inspection.

But it is interesting to see what the aviation experts think...

Below, the summary of four expert opinions, two of which are signed and stamped by certified court experts in the field of aircraft accidents and air traffic. Expert opinions which paint a rather different picture...

More documents and argument on the news website...

[KlausNW]

The more I read about the grounding the more it is sounding like vendettas and emotions. Business people and 'bean counters' can be very cold to their employees. Many times they even view and treat their customers as cattle with credit cards.

Hopefully they learn from their insensitive ways and treat all people like humans. The airline industry in U.S. is suffering from the same cold insensitive attitudes. Southwest airlines even exposes themselves as cattle cars in the sky so, it's easier to tolerate their hustle and bustle atmosphere. You get what you pay for. Many other airlines advertise that they give a premium service then treat you no different then Southwest at 20 percent higher price.

Croatian Seaplane CEO on Grounding, Lawsuits, Refunds and 2017

By Paul Bradbury, 18 Oct 2016, 14:39 PM :
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/item/14503-croatian-seaplane-ceo-on-grounding-lawsuits-refunds-and-2017

[KlausNW]

European Coastal Airlines to Resume Seaplane Operations in Croatia in 2017

Read story here: http://www.croatiaweek.com/european-coastal-airlines-to-resume-seaplane-operations-in-croatia-in-2017/

12/12/2016

Seaplane operators European Coastal Airlines (ECA), who halted all operations in Croatia two months ago, have announced that they will be back connecting Croatian islands with the mainland in 2017.

ECA Managing Director Klaus Dieter Martin issued a press release in October saying that all domestic and international flights were cancelled until further notice after shareholders saw no other alternative following the grounding of their planes by Croatian authorities.

Back in August this year one of Croatia’s leading portals, Index.hr, published an article questioning the safety and maintenance of the seaplanes.

The portal, quoting a former ECA employer, said that maintenance procedures that should be routinely carried out were done in a sloppy manner and only just enough to satisfy requirements.

Despite ECA insisting their planes met all requirements, they remained grounded during the busy summer period resulting in a loss of millions of euros.

Martin said in October that until the administrational situation had been cleared giving them the opportunity to operate in a safe and trustworthy marketplace, ECA would not operate in Croatia. (read the full press release here)

Today ECA confirmed the appointment of Zdravko Delic, who will take up the role of Accountable Manager, overseeing day to day operations of the business.

ECA told Poslovni.hr that they will again be flying in 2017 and will introduce a number of new flights also. ECA connected 15 locations in Croatia before they suspended operations.

“All destinations will again be in operation in 2017, and ECA will add more connections such as Mali Losinj – Trst and Mali Losinj – Ancona”, Martin said.

ECA will continue to use their existing fleet of 4 Twin Otters, whilst adding to their fleet with three extra planes next year.

ECA flew to Split, Pula, Vela Luka, Lastovo, Jelsa, Novalja, Rab, Dubrovnik, Korcula, Zadar, Rijeka, Lumbarda, Hvar, Mali Losinj, Vis and Zagreb in Croatia, and Ancona and Pescara Airport in Italy.

[jjbaker]

The never ending story of seaplanes in Croatia...

[KlausNW]

There's nothing like a good drama....

....'As The Prop Turns'

Hopefully the new manager is knowledgeable and successful. I still not sure were they're going to find pilots and mechanics.

[jjbaker]

Never has been and never will be a shortage of pilots, willing to live the dream. Its no different in Europe.

[KlausNW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxz2hhSXuY

[9aplus]

Happy New seaplane year to whole Adriatic, Ionian and Black sea
https://ec.europa.eu/eipp/desktop/en/pr ... ct-53.html

New year & nice prospects, even ECA Goose within scheduled EU Ops (good joke, but it is "Living the dram" way)

[KlausNW]

Just to keep the record straight.
I have no connection to ECA or even know anyone connected, I'm just reporting the drama because it shows up in my feed reader.

.... and it's Seaplane drama and everyone likes a story

ECA Files for Pre-Bankruptcy. But...
Paul Bradbury
8-11 minutes

Will they? Won't they? The chances of the first scheduled seaplane operator in Croatia taking to the skies this summer looks a little more remote on May 5, 2017, as European Coastal Airlines initiates the pre-bankruptcy process. However...

It was the tourism project which had (and has) the potential to set Croatia apart from the rest in the Mediterranean.

An integrated network of seaplane connections along the Croatian coast and islands, slashing connection times and truly delivering the quality transfer service to do justice to the top tourism destination Croatia claims to be.

First the bad news...

After 17 years of trying - including two years of operating - it would appear that the European Coastal Airlines story is heading for a sad end. Finally launched in August 2014, with the first scheduled seaplane flight in modern European aviation history from Resnik near Split Airport to downtown Jelsa, it would appear that the ECA Twin Otters will fly no more over Croatia's coastal skies - at least in their current ownership.

It was a project full of potential, which took its passengers to hitherto improbable angles and views of Croatia. That inaugural flight to Jelsa took in two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a low flyover of Zlatni Rat near Bol, and a summer's worth of spectacular memories. Memories which were repeated en route to Korcula, Mali Losinj, Rab, Pula, Lastovo, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, and even internationally to Ancona and Pescara.

It was a project which sadly - at least in its first phase - did not succeed.

After a decision to ground the planes by the Croatian Civil Aviation Authority in August 2016 at the height of the season, the airline never recovered from an estimated loss in seven figures from the more than 5,000 cancelled tickets as a result of the grounding. Although one plane did briefly take to the skies once more, ECA's CEO Klaus Dieter Martin then announced that he would suspend operations until "the administrational situation has been cleared and giving us the opportunity to operate in a safe and trustworthy marketplace."

Fast forward a few months and the anticipation of a new season with seaplanes, and it would appear that ECA will not reappear, at least in its current format. A legal directive from the Croatian courts has announced that ECA has iniitiated pre-bankruptcy proceedings, surely the beginning of the end of the company's aspirations in Croatia.

There are of course creditors waiting to be paid, passengers waiting to be refunded. In the public interest, we publish below a tanslation of the court document in full.

A very sad day for an innovative and ground breaking project, but is it the end of the seaplane story? Not quite...

Stay tuned for more details, for my information is that talks are ongoing, and an announcement of The Croatian Seaplane Story: The Sequel is on the way, a totally separate company and business philosophy. More news - and we will only publish official concrete news, as there has been so much speculation - as we get it.

[RKittine]

I am sure there will be more as every time the end looked near some new story came along. It is one of the most prolific threads on the site and interesting reading as well as good warnings to all. Thanks for continuing posting the information.

Bob

[KlausNW]

I'm working for a small charter company flying around Seattle. The challenges we are going through are bad enough and we have a little bit of a young low time pilot pool. I just can't even imagine the challenge of hiring ATP pilots to fly Twin Otters in Europe. What benefit package could be offered to keep a pilot under 65 years old around? The pilots over 65 don't want to fly 8 hours during a 14 hour duty day 6 days a week. If you hire a pilot young enough to do the job, he's not very smart. The airlines are offering a career with lifetime benefits.

[9aplus]

In mean time ex ECA fleet moored in CH Bern...

https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=59BF05AD

[Rajay]

Here's the latest bit of news on this story, courtesy of my friend Mike Ingram, president of Victoria Air Maintenance in BC, who posted it on Facebook and who also was involved with the maintenance on the ECA aircraft, the Goose I know in particular, because I provided him with McKinnon STC data for use to conform the mods during re-certification of the aircraft. He was one of the "Canadian engineers" mentioned in the story.

http://www.total-croatia-news.com/business/21691-european-coastal-airlines-leaving-croatia-and-filing-lawsuit-for-22-5-million-euros

[RKittine]

Rayjay, Did you mean to post a link in this thread? I will be back down to Chapel Hill this month. Maybe we can finally meet up.

Cheers, Bob

[Rajay]

Yep! Fixed it....

[9aplus]

Here's the latest bit of news on this story, courtesy of my friend Mike Ingram, president of Victoria Air Maintenance in BC, who posted it on Facebook and who also was involved with the maintenance on the ECA aircraft, the Goose I know in particular, because I provided him with McKinnon STC data for use to conform the mods during re-certification of the aircraft. He was one of the "Canadian engineers" mentioned in the story.

http://www.total-croatia-news.com/business/21691-european-coastal-airlines-leaving-croatia-and-filing-lawsuit-for-22-5-million-euros

He is paid for works on Goose ?

[jjbaker]

Very important to note that there has been very little substantive information on this whole shebang. Ever. Whatever has come out of TCN has been carrying a certain handwriting - at least this time someone has done some work to inquire with the regulatory agency in Croatia to get some sort of counter-statement.

Information.JPG (49.02 KiB) Viewed 6014 times

A ginormous iceberg beneath the surface here, some pretty strong claims against CCAA.
I tend to be interested in the news part of it for Seaplanemagazine.com - we have written positively about ECA in the past and were hoping they would keep flying.

...

[9aplus]

For sure Adriatic area can welcome any serious seaplane operator,
but chances for that are poor.
Main mistake/obstacle is that ECA was AOC and water aerodromes operator.
So all goes down the drain with ECA....

[KlausNW]

ECA is just another victim of the pilot and mechanic shortage. When a company is forced to hire people that attack them from the inside and out they don't stand a chance.

I'm working for a start-up right now and everyone working for the company goes the extra mile to help get the company running. If we have just one employee who decides we are not a high enough standard and doesn't do the extra beyond the pay check we're done.

[9aplus]

ECA is just another victim of the pilot and mechanic shortage.

Not true for the ECA case.
Pilots and mechanic especially, were last in ECA food chain.
Work conditions poor. No proper hangar for maintenance, no stock of spares, poor tool stack, etc...
On the other hands "marketing department" was full of nice girls ;)

[jjbaker]

The office full of nice looking marketing girls didn't pull the cart, though.

[KlausNW]

Not true for the ECA case.
Pilots and mechanic especially, were last in ECA food chain.
Work conditions poor. No proper hangar for maintenance, no stock of spares, poor tool stack, etc...
On the other hands "marketing department" was full of nice girls ;)

A company consist of hard working people with determination for success. If the employees would have come together they could have made the conditions better. As for spare parts and large tool inventory, that's why it's called a "start-up" Kenmore Air Harbor is 60 years old and have great inventory. They started with nothing but a good attitude.

Back to my original statement, "Pilot and Mechanic shortage". You are making my point through this whole thread. If I owned the company I would fire every employee as soon as they become negative and before they attack me. If there is no replacement then you're stuck with disgruntled employees.

[9aplus]

Than why Nordic Seaplanes are up and running?
Even on amphibian Twin Otter.... (low profit margin)

[KlausNW]

Than why Nordic Seaplanes are up and running?
Even on amphibian Twin Otter.... (low profit margin)

A company consist of hard working people determined to be successful. Like I mentioned I'm working for a start-up now and we have a lot of late nights and difficult conditions.

The head person of European Coastal Airlines, Managing Director Klaus Dieter Martin, just could not get his people too: "Endeavour to Persevere"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRX6hSGeZs4