More layoffs

[rigpiggy]

Heard yet another round of layoffs at north cariboo, anybody have any hard numbers

[cdnpilot77]

I was told another 20 on Friday.

[leftoftrack]

boy management looked like geniuses at $110 oil. Anyone know if there is more pay cuts with these lay-offs?

[MUSKEG]

Left- what I read into your post is that management is incompetent now that oil is at 57. NCA is the oldest continuously run charter operation in Canada. I'm sure a think or two has been learned in previous downturns. Layoffs are inevitable so don't postpone them on the hope that things will pick up. Had a beer with upper management of a large oil company. His department had 500 employees last fall. Now there are 94 and his prediction was that the severity of this was far from over. It takes guts and experience to navigate a company through tough times. We all hope things get better but really we know they can't right now.

[leftoftrack]

Left- what I read into your post is that management is incompetent now that oil is at 57. NCA is the oldest continuously run charter operation in Canada. I'm sure a think or two has been learned in previous downturns. Layoffs are inevitable so don't postpone them on the hope that things will pick up. Had a beer with upper management of a large oil company. His department had 500 employees last fall. Now there are 94 and his prediction was that the severity of this was far from over. It takes guts and experience to navigate a company through tough times. We all hope things get better but really we know they can't right now.

And you see Sunwest with monthly posts about how many people they have laid off, or Flair. Senior management telling the shell auditor to pound sand in DEC and losing the 1900 flying to Sunwest must be one of those gutsy moves that your referencing. HBC is the longest running business in Canada, it doesn't mean its a particularly well run business. The employees that are suffering today are the same ones who saw no benefit to WAWCON while times were good.

NCA management's gutsy bold strategy. Lord, I swear, if you could bring back oil to $110/barrel again I promise I won't piss it all away this time

[iflyforpie]

Sounds like good management to me. Keeping everyone and having the whole company go under is an example of bad management.

The smart pilots knew the realities of resource-based jobs and had an exit strategy lined up. The dumb ones thought the happy times would go on forever and lived accordingly.

[leftoftrack]

Sounds like good management to me. Keeping everyone and having the whole company go under is an example of bad management.

The smart pilots knew the realities of resource-based jobs and had an exit strategy lined up. The dumb ones thought the happy times would go on forever and lived accordingly.

And here I thought Diversity in a highly volatile environment such as the oil patch was the solution, instead it is apparently hire people bond the shit out of them don't sign long term agreements don't diversify out of the patch and then discard the people that you bonded the shit out of as necessary. I love your style of management how are your RRSP's and TFSA doing?

[awitzke]

Sounds like good management to me. Keeping everyone and having the whole company go under is an example of bad management.

The smart pilots knew the realities of resource-based jobs and had an exit strategy lined up. The dumb ones thought the happy times would go on forever and lived accordingly.

I agree, same goes for the guys on the ground in oil and gas. Years and years of spending all their money on toys, and now I'm sure many of them are kicking themselves wishing they had put some money away for a rainy day.

I'm waiting to see how long it takes for the foreclosures to start popping up in large number in FtMac.

[cncpc]

Left- what I read into your post is that management is incompetent now that oil is at 57. NCA is the oldest continuously run charter operation in Canada. I'm sure a think or two has been learned in previous downturns. Layoffs are inevitable so don't postpone them on the hope that things will pick up. Had a beer with upper management of a large oil company. His department had 500 employees last fall. Now there are 94 and his prediction was that the severity of this was far from over. It takes guts and experience to navigate a company through tough times. We all hope things get better but really we know they can't right now.

Not disputing the general idea you put forward, but being the oldest continuously run is not necessary an indication of much for the future.

For you old timers, can anyone explain the origins of NCA? Is it something that grew out of Ralph Hermanson's Cariboo Air Services in Williams Lake and Kelowna, the place where Ian Ross started out? Or does it come from that Cariboo Chilcotin Air that used to run Islanders beside Sharp Wings in WL?

[ehbuddy]

gas is still $1.15 per litre so someone is making money here............

[dazednconfused]

How is Sunwest doing? I assumed they are in the same boat as NCA, but it sounds like this is not the case. Are companies in SK and MB feeling any impact?

[SeanMountainous]

Damn you OPEC...

[Johnny#5]

gas is still $1.15 per litre so someone is making money here............

Exactly! I hate seeing these guys/gals laid off with pump price at 1.15 - they raise profit margins at pumps cause they're not making money elsewhere. Like banks that are raising fees when interest rates are low.

[flaps78]

cncpc - I am not sure of the origin of NCA but Evon Donn owned NCA in Feb.1971. The operation was based in Fort St John, BC and Evon was the only pilot. NCA had the most easterly hanagar at the Fort St John airport and operated a Beech 18. I believe they owned another aircraft as well but my memory fails me as to the type.

Regards,

flaps78

[Chuck Finley]

Watch the price at the pump slingshot to 2.00$+ when oil goes back to ~100$/barrel.

[leftoftrack]

Watch the price at the pump slingshot to 2.00$+ when oil goes back to ~100$/barrel.

It's not going back to $100/barrel, saudi will not give up market, Iran will add 1 million barrels/day soon, and discoveries like this http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32229203 make oil sands plays difficult to justify.

[J31]

For you old timers, can anyone explain the origins of NCA? Is it something that grew out of Ralph Hermanson's Cariboo Air Services in Williams Lake and Kelowna, the place where Ian Ross started out? Or does it come from that Cariboo Chilcotin Air that used to run Islanders beside Sharp Wings in WL?

North Cariboo Air Service started in May 1957 with one Aeronca Sedan at Charley Lake, Fort St. John. Young Mike Thomas was a one man show with two silent partners.

[General Brock]

Heard Sunwest started laying off
Rumour is that more and more companies are to follow.

[Oxi]

They had tried to hold on as long as possible

[Flypilot]

Integra laid a few off

[JungleMonkey]

I've been through a few of the downturns now. I gave up flying full time awhile ago and work in the oil and gas business now. (I also paid off my toys some time ago and have even divested myself of a few). The last car payment is on the 10th.
My advice is to get out of the country and look abroad. North America is hurting and I suspect it will get worse before it gets better. About the only flying sector that MIGHT do ok is the tourist flying, thanks to the low Canadian dollar. A lot of those Americans made a pile of money and now want to go fishing in their retirement years. It's just a guess.
But the Asian countries are still hiring pilots and others. Green Dragon in China is developing a 1600 well CBM field and looking to hire expats. I saw a bunch of ads for pilots in SEA as well.
It's not bad everywhere.

[CALGARYFLYER1]

Yes, you are correct in saying it's not bad everywhere. You would do best to steer clear of Europe and Canada for the foreseeable future. Southeast Asia seems to be lucrative along with jobs in Africa where pay is not going to be brilliant but the experience will last a lifetime.
I flew Down in South America a few years back and loved the experience.

[sportingrifle]

This is unrelated to NC, but I read an interesting stat last night. "The amount of solar energy produced in the world has roughly doubled every 2 years in the last 20!" If this trend continues (and storage battery technology is going to give it a big boost) then the speculation is that demand for oil will dramatically drop - and never recover. And the oil that is used will be the cheapest to extract available. Seems farfetched but 20 years ago so was the internet, private spacecraft, and smartphones. Just saying might be something to think about before committing to a screaming good deal on a house in Ft. Mac, signing a very long term bond, etc.

[JMACK]

Solar will not replace oil any time soon.

Most pilots face 1-3 furloughs in their career unless they are very lucky. Pink slips are no fun!

Hang in there the tide will turn.

JP Morgan thinks so!

http://business.financialpost.com/inves ... =b6ae-7c78


J.P. Morgan initiated coverage of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. this week with an overweight rating, saying the company has the “best in class” free cash flow story in the oil sands.

“Canadian Natural Resources has a high-quality asset base, with a growing exposure to the Canadian oil sands and top-tier production growth potential,” J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note to clients.

CNRL shares are already up five per cent so far this year, but J.P. Morgan said the company has a total return potential of 18 per cent over the next 12 months. Its price target is currently $43 a share.

The analysts note that investors may have to be patient with CNRL, as free cash flow could be negative over the next year if Brent oil prices remain below US$70 a barrel. But within a year, they expect that free cash flow will inflect, rewarding investors.

J.P. Morgan also notes that CNRL has among the best dividend potential of all the oil-sands companies, and high single-digit dividend hikes are possible once free cash flow inflects.

CNRL’s stock was trading down 0.4 per cent, or 15 cents, to $37.79 just before noon on Thursday.

[Johnny#5]

That's actually some half decent news.