Keystone

[CFR]

Keystone has been purchased by Wings Over Kississing.
Apparently they bought most if not all the A/C, no word on personnel.

[FighterPilot]

TSN turning point right there

[AWOS]

They'll be taking in a number of the Keystone turbine pilots and maintenance personnel.

[goingnowherefast]

This will be fun to watch...from a safe distance.

My sympathies to all the Keystone employees, Kississing has a habit of cleaning house during such moves. They buy the facilities, some of the air planes and gut the rest. I give it 6 months, and no Keystone personnel will be working there anymore. Keep people around just long enough to get the transition completed.

[letsfly]

Maybe " going nowhere fast" says it all. Don't know to much about either company, but if purchasing a company to keep the maintenance and pilots going I would consider that a good thing. If needing to run a business on a lean track is necessary then do so. if you expect growth in a company through purchases and keep on running them on the same track as before then your destined for failure. This will be good for the Industry in Manitoba.

[goingnowherefast]

It certainly is good for the Manitoba aviation industry, but crashing an airplane every 2-3 years doesn't set a very high standard to improve on.

Trust me, they didn't purchase Keystone to keep the pilots and maintenance going. Look at the history of Kississing purchases. Venture Air and Missinnippi's Thompson base a couple years ago. Took less than 6 months in both cases to remove all the old employees.

My advice to Keystone personnel is to keep your head down, say "yes sir" a lot, and give resumes to just about everybody. After all, your bond is no longer valid

[switchflicker]

"After all, your bond is no longer valid "

How does that work for the pilots who have signed a training bond, and presumably given the company some money for the training?

[cdnpilot77]

"After all, your bond is no longer valid "

How does that work for the pilots who have signed a training bond, and presumably given the company some money for the training?

If company which you entered the agreement with no longer exists, there is no bond holder. However, if you gave money to a shady operator, you deserve to have it vanish, and that it will do! Write it off.

[JBI]

"After all, your bond is no longer valid "

How does that work for the pilots who have signed a training bond, and presumably given the company some money for the training?

If company which you entered the agreement with no longer exists, there is no bond holder. However, if you gave money to a shady operator, you deserve to have it vanish, and that it will do! Write it off.

Ya, technically that may not be correct - it really depends on the wording of the training contract. But, there's also the argument that given the shutdown and change of ownership etc., the employee has been constructively dismissed which would negate the bond.

The real question is, based on what the employees have been told, do you think the new owners would even try to enforce the bond?

Either way, best of luck. Fly safe.

[single_swine_herder]

That bond is a debt and has value even the company may or may not be in business .... same as a gas bill, a phone bill, outstanding charter account, etc

There are companies which specialize in buying and collecting on debts owed to defunct companies and buy up that "bad paper" for maybe 8 cents on the dollar and try to collect the full amount. Some times these debts are bought and sold several times over and it may be years before you are ever contacted by the "We're Scummy Collections Co."

The majority of the collectors for these collection agencies are scum with few signs of intelligent life .... even worse than a Payday Loans company.

[RoBko]

Feel bad for some of the great people there who are just trying to make it in this industry. Emphasis on employees, not employer.

[NotDirty!]

Feel bad for some of the great people there who are just trying to make it in this industry. Emphasis on employees, not employer.

No, don't feel bad for them. They knew what they were getting into when they chose to work there. If they were "just trying to make it in this industry" why did they choose to work for the operator with the worst record in the country? They were trying to get ahead, any way that they could, even if it meant selling their soul to get some multi pic time!

[FOD_Vacuum]

NotDirty!, wanna talk? After all, aren't we all trying to make it in this industry? And yes, I got my 500 MPIC from Keystone. No I didn't sell my soul LOL. And yes, I did get ahead. You jelly? You sound like a fat kid who is cussing out the fit people in a race. I still worked my ass off to safely get those hours, not to mention stand ground against you know who during my employment.

[Illya Kuryakin]

Maybe all the "wonderful" employees, past and present, should have paid a bit more attention to weather. Fuel burn etc., so the company's reputation would be better than Charles Manson's, and you'd still have a company. Pilots who allow themselves to be "pushed" into the kind of performance Keystone became famous for, have no sympathy here.
There is a lesson here folks. Whether you choose to learn from it, or go on ignoring common sense and safety, is entirely up to you.
As for pilots out several thousand dollars.....you were dumb enough to give this maggot operation money???? Good on ya.
Illya