East Coast Airways

[~Hollywood~]

Delayed till Nov 22nd last I heard

[Widow]

Controversy not behind launch delay, says East Coast Airways
By Staff, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Cape Breton Post, November 2, 2010

[MARITIME REGION] — East Coast Airways is reporting that the scheduled takeoff of its new regional airline service has been delayed over a paperwork issue, not because of the recent controversy surrounding the company’s president.

Planes under the direction East Coast Airways were supposed to begin transporting passengers in and out of five Maritime communities on Monday.

“The person that was supposed to be dealing with our paperwork was called out of the office and unable to sign the paperwork that we needed,” said Sarah MacKinnon, director of public relations and media and sales director for the airline. “We still have a charter license but running a scheduled route under that is a bit of a grey area, so (president of operations Jason Hasson) said ‘I’m just going to play it on the safe side.’”

Full article here . . .

[ehbuddy]

I did not realize that T.C. were that short staffed in the Western Region......

The office must be pretty empty these days............

[Tim]

when was the paperwork submitted i wonder

[~Hollywood~]

Is it too late to get a pool going for the start date????

Oct 1st

[av8tor_assrope]

I say they start Jan 1st and go tits up Jan 7th

[ehbuddy]

No matter how good your game plan is if you cannot execute the plays then the team loses.

With the Christmas rush just around the corner I would bet most people will book on an established carrier. This will indeed have a big impact on expected revenues of this Upstart. The sad part is.........old Jay will just vanish, Integra will be left to pay the bills and the employee's will be standing around wondering what the hell just happened.....

[AlphaSierra]

No matter how good your game plan is if you cannot execute the plays then the team loses.

With the Christmas rush just around the corner I would bet most people will book on an established carrier. This will indeed have a big impact on expected revenues of this Upstart. The sad part is.........old Jay will just vanish, Integra will be left to pay the bills and the employee's will be standing around wondering what the hell just happened.....

+1.

This place gives me the creeps.

If you read the articles linked above, the reporters checked the story from both sides, East Coast Airways, and Transport Canada. East Coast says it is Transport delays, but Transport is saying otherwise. Somebody is not telling the truth. Based on information revealed over the past couple of weeks, I know who I believe. And its sad.

I just hope the pilots there are getting their paychecks, and that TC regulatory issues are being complied with. If I was TC, I would take a long, hard look at this place before I let them carry any passengers. East Coast basically appeared from nothing, and I'm not sure what type of structure they have backing themselves up. They don't even have an office at YHZ, although heard something about them moving into the common use space at the very end of the terminal. There are too many things about East Coast that just don't add up.

[AlphaSierra]

These are the two comments from the CB Post article. Couldn't say it any better than that:

Bruce

…..and the dog ate my homework.


not a hovercraft

now CTV reports all he said last night is a lie. I hope noone local ante’d up money to this guy. Wow does this stink more every day
Nov 2/2010

[raven54]

So what's the latest and greatest?

[toelessjoe]

Aparrently things are rolling along as planned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Viva la revolution!

[EPR]

D'oh!

[Big Pistons Forever]

Rumour is that these guys want you to buy your training with upfront money . DON't DO IT !

[~Hollywood~]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Sad thing is that I watched half of it....

It's like a bad car accident, I want to stop staring but just can't

[down north]

You would figure they would have their stuff together before selling tickets online, setting a launch date which has now passed, then setting a second launch date which is less than one week away...

I found this on the website:

Notice

Integra Air Inc. dba East Coast Airways are working together with all regulatory officials involved in our operations to ensure that all necessary documentation and approvals are complete and in proper order before proceeding with further ticket sales.

At this time we are accommodating our currently booked customers through alternate means of air travel. Anyone who has booked seats on our aircraft has been offered several options of alternate flight arrangements including utilization of corporate charter aircraft, re-bookings at a later date, and travel arrangements with other air carriers.

Each and every one of our passengers will be properly accommodated and satisfied to the fullest extent.

There has been a tentative rescheduling of the Transport Canada review, and we will continue to diligently work on moving this schedule forward with minimal delays.

Our team is committed to providing you with prompt, friendly service to ensure you enjoy your flight. Before you fly, you may have questions about our services or our policies. Please select one of the menu items to the left to view information related to that subject.

If you are unable to find the information you are looking for on our website, please call our customer service centre at 902-405-3518.

[Fox 3]

Seems like the classic case of putting the cart before the horse. It's too bad Integra is attached to all this bad press, hopefully it stays out east and doesn't have any negative effect on them.

[Tim]

Rumour is that these guys want you to buy your training with upfront money . DON't DO IT !

That wasn't the case when groundschool was offered. Has that changed?

Either way, this is a shitshow. It's gonna be hard for the public to feel any confidence in ECA with all these delays.

[~Hollywood~]

Well there you have it, Wednesday Nov 24th is the first flight apparently....goooood luck

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9018773.html

SYDNEY — The newest regional carrier in the Maritimes has begun taking reservations on its website.

East Coast Airways' first flight will leave Sydney for Halifax on Wednesday morning.

The airline will offer flights to and from Halifax from Sydney, Yarmouth, Saint John and Charlottetown.

The carrier will service the Maritimes with about 20 flights a day using five 19-passenger BAE Jetstream 31 turboprop airplanes.

The number of daily flights is to increase in the spring to 36 or 38.

[Fox 3]

20 flights per day? really? that seems like a lot. I also have a hard time believing they will have 5 Jetstreams seeing as there are only a max of 4 available from the place they are getting them from. This place has BIG plans that's for sure, it will be interesting to see if they can pull it off, just hope no one gets burned moving their life out east for the big gold rush.

[glass1/2full]

Big Piston Forever +1

Don’t do it.

I cant believe this shit, a start up company that claims low fairs on the back of pilots because they didn’t have enough business sense to budget for initial crew training, nor where they up front with their new hires about paying up front.
Let it crash and burn.

[EastcoastOpsMgr]

As you all know, we are looking for a few pilots, guys I have over 70 resumes to go through, being a bit of a treehugger, please try to keep it to one page, burning off 6 pages offends my frugal sensibilities, as well as makes a cut in my toner budget, read "resume redux" in the sticky section. As most of your emails come thru my crackberry, I want the pertinent stuff first. then if still interested I will print it. I am trying to get back to everybody who sends a resume, either to thank them for their interest, get clarification, or just to let them know they are being considered. Despite what has been said above, we do not have a PTF scheme, and "right now" there is no bond, just your word.

[EastcoastOpsMgr]

Also please have your resume in either word, pdf, or open office as these are the most common formats. I have been unable to open several files.

BTW 1/2 empty the word is "fares"

"fares"
the price of conveyance or passage in a bus, train, airplane, or other vehicle.

"fairs"
an exhibition, usually competitive, of farm products, livestock, etc., often combined in the U.S. with entertainment and held annually by a county or state.

[down north]

Sad fact is these days there are young guys willing to pay for jobs. Take eagle jet international for example.

I am sure East Coast Airways will not have any problems finding young pilots willing to work for a very low salary.
I would seem to think that there are many folks out there who would love to return to the east coast, even if it calls for a pay cut.

I cannot get my head around paying a bond up front and really hope this is not happening at East Coast.
With one of the business partners being chased by credit lawyers and collections agencies, I would not pay a single cent towards an upfront bond or even sign a promissory note type bond.

I was really hoping pay up front bonds are a thing of the past, can someone confirm this is not happening with East Coast Airways?

The new trend for low timers in Europe seems to be you pay for your type rating we offer you a job. I also hope this fad stays on that side of the Atlantic.

I wish these guys luck and hope they pay their crews fairly...
It has been a while since we have seen an east coast sched airline run successfully.

[ehbuddy]

Soooo...........how have the initial loads been thus far?

[AlphaSierra]

Soooo...........how have the initial loads been thus far?

Not very good. But that is because they haven't been flying (see article, pasted below)

My advice to all East Coast Airlines job seekers is to hold off until the company gets certified and gets an operational track record. Give them 4-6 months of flying to see if the planes are full and if they are making $$$. Then consider applying there. Although technically new, East Coast Air is the type of place that we've all seen before. The kind of operator that shows up in town, makes all sorts of fancy promises, barely gets off the ground, and goes bust about three weeks later, leaving a slew of unpaid bills and employee wages.

Anybody who takes a job there, pays money to take a job there, or quits a perfectly good job in order to go there should think twice about the logic of their decision. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY UPFRONT FOR TRAINING. I know a guy there, I'm curious as to how they're doing and what the pilots and gate agents and ramp staff are saying. Feel bad for him, but it is a hard Maritime economy.

Alpha


East Coast Airways grounded pending review
Halifax carrier had hoped to be flying Nov. 1
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Fri, Nov 26 - 4:53 AM

East Coast Airways still hasn’t been cleared for takeoff.

The Halifax carrier, a division of Alberta-based Integra Air, was scheduled to begin flying between Halifax, Yarmouth, Sydney, Saint John and Charlottetown on Nov. 1.

But Integra has yet to receive the necessary approval from Transport Canada to take wing under the East Coast Airways banner in Atlantic Canada.

Transport Canada spokeswoman Amber Wonko said the federal department received documents from Integra on Nov. 19 that are required to amend its air operator certificate.

"Transport Canada is now in the process of conducting a review and on-site inspections to ensure operational and support services are in place and in compliance with Canadian aviation regulations," she said by email from Winnipeg on Thursday.

Wonko said Integra Air was advised that it should allow 30 to 60 days for Transport Canada to review and approve its certificate amendment request.

"Should any of the upcoming inspections identify deficiencies or non-compliance with safety regulations, the company must conduct corrective action before the amendment to (its) air operator certificate can be approved."

The Canadian Press reported this week that the airline was taking online reservations and its first flight was to have left Sydney for Halifax on Wednesday.

But Sydney airport officials said Thursday that never happened.

Jay Hasson, East Coast Airways’ operations president, couldn’t be reached Thursday.

But he told the Cape Breton Post the inaugural flight announcement was a mistake and flights from Sydney would begin Thursday.

That didn’t happen either, airport officials said.

Integra Air president Brent Gateman, who was in Halifax on Thursday, according to his Lethbridge, Alta., office, couldn’t be reached for comment.

David Rankin, executive director of the Yarmouth International Airport Corp., was also unavailable.

Yarmouth, hit by the loss of the Cat ferry to Maine, is looking forward to renewed air connections to Halifax, which ended last year after a Montreal carrier pulled out.

( berskine@herald.ca)