Will WESTEX survive?

stevewilson · Post by **stevewilson** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:47 pm

Haven't heard much about this lately: is there anybody in the know about whether or not Westex is going to be able to hang on to their medevac contract? There must be a few operators licking their chops watching this!

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 7:07 pm

Well, 1 lear is being returned - but all parts have been cut off. They are not allowed to aquire any right now, so that lear is in pieces. Rumor in the hanger has it that the other will go as well and the government will reissue the jet portion of the contract. Someone has said that they already know who is gearing up for it. That is all speculation of employees at this point.

D.O. was supposed to be in court yesterday trying to get the company back and things were laying low untill that was settled.

The hoe is being sold (or returned). Two metros are parked indefinatly because of maintenance problems. One F-27 has been retired and is minus an engine. Rumor is it will be sold for parts. Another F-27 is near the end of it's life as well. Problem with the F-27's is an AD on the engines and of course there is no money for them.

Sounds kinda iffy right now.

chowda · Post by **chowda** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 10:19 pm

DO apparently was'nt victorious in his court battle earlier this week. No one seems to know if thats it, or whats next.
The AD thing is true, the Lear being sent back also is. I have not heard anyone mention the rest of the stuff BB lists. But who knows.

stevewilson · Post by **stevewilson** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 10:23 pm

Go ahead the juicy gossip on the Lear operator..........

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:02 am

I don't know who (or if) the new jet operator is. As I said it was speculation of some of the employees.

Due to the fact that they are supposed to have 1 jet available at all times - what happens when your only jet is down? They have a KA 350 for backup - but the government wants and needs a jet, meaning they can't fofill that part of the contract. There was talk of getting a 35 but there is no compatibility of parts or test equipment.

It was 1 or 2 of the employees that said they knew of a company gearing up for it - but I don't know if they were serious or not. Maybe Westex will continue on with the 1 machine.

motherfokker · Post by **motherfokker** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:26 am

ahh f@#ck!!! time to move

chowda · Post by **chowda** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:34 am

As of this morning, BCAS suspended flight ops with Westex. Last night was also the end of the Canada Post run over the rocks.
There is apparently a general meeting for employees somtime this afternoon to let them know what's going on

.
Does'nt look real promising.

Disco Stu · Post by **Disco Stu** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:30 am

Was Canadian Global Air Ambulance doing the jet work for them?

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:46 pm

No. They were doing their own jet work.

complexintentions · Post by **complexintentions** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:55 pm

CGAA is doing the jet stuff on a 30 day contract, because the bankers who were running the show told the BC Ambulance Westex was about to declare bankruptcy. (Maybe the paramedics should ask their crews how many duty hours they've pulled in the last little while. Those clapped-out 35's run all over the world.) This in spite of the fact is ISN'T!! Nice work D.T.

D.O. has regained control of the company as of 10am this morning, with bridge financing and more to follow. Such is the motivation when you are the founder of a company and not just a bank intent on stripping a company of it's assets and liquidating.

As soon as the scramble to communicate to the various customers, that Westex is still solvent thank you very much, is over, life will go on.

Summary: Westex still alive, sorry to disappoint.

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:17 pm

Oh goodie!

D.O. got it back so he can run it into the ground again. Just so this can happen all over again in a year.

Nothin like having an some unstability in the industry.

Swamp Donkey · Post by **Swamp Donkey** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:26 pm

What's happening to the Canada Post run?

complexintentions · Post by **complexintentions** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:48 pm

Never thought I'd be defending D.O., ever. But in the eight years he ran WES it never came ascslose to bankruptcy as it just did with Mercantile Bank at the reins.

Food for thought. But then, trusting a bank is sort of like trusting the proverbial wolf in the henhouse...

[edit for sp]

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:21 pm

Actually they have come close a few times. Employee checks even bounced. What happened with the bank was only the inevidable anyway. D.O. had it too far gone - the bank only tried to salvage what was left.

What is happening on monday? I heard something along the lines of D.O. has untill monday to figure out how to salvage Westex. As when his people went through the figures they found that they were $6 million in the hole and they now have to see if it's viable to even attempt to revive the company.

Any clarifications?

gonefishin' · Post by **gonefishin'** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 4:17 pm

Back in court 10am Monday... we'll see if the cash is on the table then...
Stay tuned.

complexintentions · Post by **complexintentions** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 4:37 pm

Believe me I'm no D.O fan. But the original purpose of the meeting yesterday was to to inform everyone of their joblessness, full stop. Thanks to the efforts of you-know-who, everyone is still working. Payday today, I'm told cheques didn't bounce. (Direct deposit actually, but it's in there.)

Whether or not the jobs continue beyond Monday is anyone's guess. The work is there (medevac and cargo) and in fact only increasing so the job capacity is also, whether Westex flies it or not.

The wait until Monday is to allow due diligence by the (new? old?) beancounters. Barring any huge surprises it should go ahead.

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:05 pm

Thanks for clarifying complex. Guess we'll wait and see.

Wrench MD · Post by **Wrench MD** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:35 am

DO and WestEx will survive, the banks F***ed us up royally, only in it for the money

They had no idea how to run a airline

The president resigned on Thurs, and the VPO walked on Fri.

DO is back in command of the ship, and we will cruise onward!

I honor DO for not being a quitter
Do you know what Satans family business is ? Banking
fart

jamesdoe · Post by **jamesdoe** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 2:11 am

Just to correct complex's comments. To blame the bank for the problems at Westex is quite honestly, uninformed. Most of the problems on both an operation and financial level have been the result of poor decisions from the manangement team (D.O and M.B). For years they have been pissing away millions of dollars despite reccomendations from those who actually know and understand an airline operation. Just ask the overhaul shops who have been grateful to recieve a dozen or so garrets whose life ended far too soon and was entirely preventable. I won't even go into the lear fiasco which was the worst import job in the history of aviation.

The bank came in to try and salvage what was left and although i wouldn't trust them as far as i could throw them to hold them fully accountable for D.O's and M.B's decision making ability ( or lack of) is unjust, the company has been walking a tightrope for years and the question of whether or not they'd survive is the wrong question to ask. When will they go under is the real question. With D.O. and team back at the helm the future looks pretty bleak unless they're prepared to listen and learn about the business they manage and quite frankly from past experience, they didn't before, why would they now?

Kinda sad really

jamesdoe · Post by **jamesdoe** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 2:18 am

Sorry complex, the above statement was intended for Captain Metro.

I do agree with DO's persistence and loyalty to his employees but his inability to learn from his mistakes has reached idiotic levels. He is his own worst enemy and i fear that will never change.

Let's hope i'm wrong.

U/S · Post by **U/S** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 9:56 am

I bet B.L. and M.F from Alta could help them out, restructuring, dealing with Transport, crew morale etc... If they want the number there is a big ad in Wings detailing their extensive experience with these issues.

gonefishin' · Post by **gonefishin'** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:11 am

James D., well put, you should offer your consulting services to them.

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:16 am

James D,

I could not have said that better myself. That is exactly the point I was trying to get across a few posts ago. Well said.

D.O. is a nice guy but he is a salesman - NOT a business man. Many bad mistakes before and can't learn from them. In fact, he is such a good salesman he could sell icebergs to eskimos! (Which is not nessecarily a bad thing)

If what I hear is true - it would be in the best intrest of everyone to close down for a week, give the employees a break, and open up under a new name and bring everyone back under a new company.

Swamp Donkey · Post by **Swamp Donkey** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:34 am

How will Westex keep contracts to keep the cash flow going though?

With Borek doing the Vancouver medivacs and North Caribou doing the medivacs out of PG, and other companies covering the cargo runs. How can customers (BCAS for one) trust them again?

I know there's a contract for the medivac, which is probably responsible for the majority of the cash flow, but if the name is changed the contract will have to go up for bid again. If that happens, even DO's great sales skills will not be enough!

chief · Post by **chief** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:48 am

There are 2 types of companies that always underbid so they can say they have a contract: those that have gone under and those that will. Ya gotta shake your head.