A Step Backwards to Move Ahead?

The Portuguese media abounds with pundits and analysts on all things Catholic and none of them were betting on the Argentine cardinal for the top spot. So its better not to chew over in detail all their arguments and commentaries - I am after all an unbeliever.

But the idea that they have now appointed the man who should have been chosen 6 years ago rather than D. Ratzinger is interesting. It's a shame he's now older and inevitably less energetic than he would have been. So will Pope Francis make any difference or is he just another compromise candidate to pander to the establishment? Only time will tell...

General Overkill

No that's not the name of a fictional gaming character. Saturday saw a meeting of high-ranking officers in Lisbon to discuss the future of the armed forces under the economic austerity programme. Nothing unusual about that in these troubled times. Until we discover that 50 generals attended! How can a peripheral country like Portugal justify having 50 generals?

I have doubts about the usefulness of having an army at all and the navy and air force should be reinvented to deal primarily with search and rescue and patrolling the coastline against drug and other smugglers. But that's not the point.

The armed forces are a significant burden on the country's finances and have actually been little affected by the cuts so far. It has always been a job for life (which admittedly has served my adopted family well). And I won't even go into the waste of money and resources that is rife among staff which consider themselves badly paid nor into the inoperative machines and equipment bought by successive governments with no proper consideration of the ongoing operating and maintenance costs.


Of course, those at the meeting may be serving and retired generals as we can't really stop them getting involved after retirement on their comfortable pensions. It later turned out that they were generals and admirals. I hope they resolved to help the belt-tightening exercise, but somehow I think not.

Aviation Herald under legal threat

I have been a fan of Aviation Herald for some time. It provides informed in-depth information on aviation incidents worldwide and is considered an authoritative reference for news services.

The site is now under threat due to negative comments made by its readers about a single airline, which everyone is presuming to be Ryanair, since the legal threat follows this report:

"Incident: Ryanair B738 at Memmingen on Sep 23rd 2012, descended below minimum safe height

By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Dec 3rd 2012 17:52Z, last updated Wednesday, Dec 5th 2012 12:33Z 
A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-DAC performing flight FR-3214 from Manchester,EN (UK) to Memmingen (Germany) with 135 passengers and 6 crew, was on a visual approach to Memmingen's runway 24 turning onto but overshooting the extended runway centerline at high vertical descent rate. While attempting to align on the extended runway centerline, the aircraft still descending at high rate of descent, the aircraft descended below required minimum height of 1000 feet AGL about 4nm ahead of the runway threshold. Following an EGPWS warning "CAUTION TERRAIN!" the crew levelled off reaching a minimum height of 450 feet AGL and began to climb the aircraft, climbing through 460 feet AGL the crew received a "TERRAIN! TERRAIN! PULL UP! PULL UP!" EGPWS alert and initiated a go-around. The aircraft landed safely on their second approach.

In their monthly bulletin Germany's BFU rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation reporting the minimum safety height was 1000 feet AGL however the aircraft descended to 450 feet AGL before beginning to climb again, in response to the "Terrain! Pull Up!" warning the crew initiated a go-around, all of the sequence happening within seconds. The BFU used information off the Quick Access Recorder, radar data by DFS (German Air Traffic Control provider) and crew testimony for their report.

Ryanair reported on Dec 4th 2012, that the crew did not receive a "Caution Terrain" message, never levelled off but initiated the go-around prior to the "Terrain! Pull up!" EGPWS warning. There is no minimum height applicable to this type of approach. The incident was reported to the relevant Authorities less than 12 hours after the event, all data have been provided. In a subsequent phone call on Dec 4th 2012 Ryanair's chief pilot stated that the crew initiated the go-around prior to the "Caution Terrain" (confirming the Caution Terrain message disputed by Ryanair's press officer in e-mail before) and "Terrain! Pull Up!" message, that followed the Caution Terrain message almost instantly, and voiced concern that the sequence of events as portrayed by the BFU report create the impression the crew ignored warnings, something which is not at all tolerated within the company, rather than the crew preemptying the warnings.

Later Dec 4th Ryanair issued an official press release reading: "Ryanair flight FR3214 (Manchester - Memmingen) on 23 Sept last was on its final approach to the runway in Memmingen when they encountered unexpectedly high tail-winds. The crew decided to initiate a go-around procedure in-line with Ryanair operating policy. After they had already commenced the go-around the aircraft warning systems sounded and the crew completed their go-around, landing normally a short time later. This incident was reported to the IAA on 24 Sept, and is the subject of an ongoing investigation."

On Dec 5th Ryanair's press office sent an e-mail and phoned The Aviation Herald to the effect that they never disputed the "CAUTION TERRAIN" message actually claiming the first e-mail sent to The Aviation Herald on Dec 4th had been drafted by Ryanair's Chief Pilot and signed off at the top ranks of the airline. This e-mail demanded apologies by The Aviation Herald as well as removal of the story altogether. At the end of that conversation on Dec 5th it was decided upon request by Stephen McNamara that the initial e-mail should be published in full:

Dear Simon

I refer to your summary analysis of the BFU bulletin published in Aviation Herald today . The AH analysis contains a number of inaccurate claims relating to the incident that occurred on 23rd Sept at FFM .

1. There was no required 'minimum height' of 1000' applicable to this approach

2. The crew did not receive a 'CAUTION TERRAIN' warning before the go around was commenced .

3. The crew did not level off at any stage during the approach.

4. The crew initiated the Go Around before the 'Terrain Terrain PULL UP' warning and not after the warning, as claimed in the bulletin.

Ryanair reported this incident to the Regulatory Authorities less than 12 hours after a report was filed by the crew . We have provided the BFU (via AAIU ) with all of the data for this flight . We ask that the article be removed from the Aviation Herald website and an apology be issued by the AH for implying that the crew did anything wrong when recovering from this unstable approach incident.

This article is being picked up internationally and is inaccurate.

Please give this your urgent attention and call me to discuss.

Regards
Stephen
Stephen McNamara
Head of Communications
Ryanair Head Office
Dublin Airport"

This is, in my opinion, a case of unacceptable strong-arm tactics by an unscrupulous business against a highly-professional organisation.

It is well known that Ryanair and its CEO go out of their way to get any sort of publicity, after all "there is no such thing as bad publicity". So why are they surprised that so many people seem to hate them? Not forgetting that the internet is the ideal medium for spreading negative sentiment about any product or service.

Up to what point can the website be held responsible for its readers' comments and opinions? Surely it is not responsible for censoring comments made by third parties!

I hope that this matter gets the publicity it deserves and Ryanair is inundated with complaints. I have never flown Ryanair, never will.

Business Support

Over the last couple of years I have been involved in a number of companies, from diversified economic groups with hundreds of employees through quoted start-ups to owner-operated small businesses. The accounting function in these companies can be classified in one of three ways:

• business support function, providing timely, relevant information to managers to help them run the business;
• irrelevant back-office legal necessity with no management reporting;
• obstacle to business development, distracting management from strategic matters due to mis-handling and misinterpretation of information.

Unfortunately, none of the companies could boast systems that produced business support information, at least on a timely basis. Most companies fall into the second category. As for the third category, I am quite embarrassed as an accountant that accounting issues can be so complex and devoid of business relevance that this business support function can end up distracting management from strategic issues.

More worrying still, none of the companies had any cash-flow information built into their financial reporting. Now some years into the recession, companies still have not grasped that cash is king.

Who is to blame for this accounting disfunction? In the first place, management, many of whom have no formal training and have to rely on their accounting function.

In the second place, the finance directors and accountants who often see themselves as a necessary evil rather than a function that can add value. Too often I hear them say, "Nobody asked us for any management information." To me, such a statement is grounds for dismissal. Even when the accounting is outsourced, the service provider should send management information, even if the client does not ask for it. That's what I do for my clients - no complaints yet...

Taking Bad News

As a financial consultant, I am usually taken on by people who have managed to get themselves into a mess, for a variety of reasons. Obviously their objective is for me to sort out the mess so that they can get on with their work and often their life.
So far so good.... At least they, or one of their friends, have identified that they need help.
The problem, which is common to all of the ways that they may have got into that mess, is that to sort it out they have to admit that a bad decision was taken. In fact, the need for my services usually arises because they have failed to face up to this in the past.
It is human nature not to want to face up to our mistakes. But that is the road to ruin for an enterprise. So my assignments tend to terminate when difficult decisions are not taken because management are not prepared to admit their errors.
If the denied mistake is a game-changer, my assignment will be over very quickly. In others, we have managed to sort out many problems before reaching the uncrossable bridge. But what I find completely unacceptable is to be told by management, once presented with the least prejudicial solution, that the problem will be swept under the carpet. It is always better to take a decision, even a wrong decision, than not to take a decision at all. One can only question the integrity of such managers; technical competence is already ruled out.
Thankfully there is no shortage of potential clients. Making mistakes is a key part of business risk taking. I expect to be busy for quite some time.

Self-employment

As I said in a post over a year ago, the problem with being self-employed is that we can work 24/7. There is no right to time off.

And so it has been, for the last 18 months. Loads of flights, various clients competing for my time, different problems and management styles in an economic climate that has gone from bad to nightmare. So much to blog about and so little time.

How the world has changed: the economy, the people, the net. Well I'm back today, taking stock. I hope that I will have time to make a few posts before being snowed under once more with other peoples' problems...

Jobs for the Boys

Another free lunch for Pedro Santana Lopes. It makes me sick!

Palácio Sottomayor

It's chilly in Lisbon this morning, quite appropriate for the day when the power-hungry members of the opposition will bring down the Governament, for entirely selfish reasons.

Strangely the huge flag in my previous post is not flying today.

So here's a photo of something else, an office complex that renovated a splendid palace, now occupied by Barclays, PwC and a hotel.

Tourism Begins at Home

It's a long time since I've been able to wander around the city where I work.

So this may become a photoblog for a while, since current events have become dominated by players who don't deserve the attention they demand.

No apologies for the quality of the photos, I am posting from my phone.

Bravo Mr Sócrates

A great performance in his press conference, providing plausible explanations for his behaviour, pointing his finger at those who put political expediency above the national interest and defying the opposition to come forward with alternative proposals. A spirited, even agressive performance, of the kind that is sadly missing in Portuguese politics.

The reactions from the opposition parties are lame, picking at minor details to try to discredit the whole, politics of the lowest level.

I never thought I'd say it, because the guy gives me the creeps, but "Bravo!"