No Esteban and the entire Fraga family was kicked out of VZ, he HATES Hugo Chavez, Chavez took his company and now owes the Fraga family $22 Billion dollars .
Esteban sneeks back into VZ all the time. I use to pick him up in TNCC he’d get off a Commander from VZ and on to the -35 or the G-III.
Esteban is a cool dude- his brother Louis’s pilot is the dude that ripped me off, he was in charge of paying out the money and “lost some receipts”
What ever I honesty don’t care it’s not that much money and half is owed to my FO.
I did hate paying EVERYTHING in cash- I’d go to the office and pick up $10k for a trip. it was crazy walking around in South America with that kind of scratch on me.
BUT Banyon HATED me- I was just the pilot- It’s funny going in there now and having my d*** s**** by the staff now that I work for Sky Limo…
Large amounts of cash are the norm when operating in many parts of the world. Credit may be difficult or impossible to arrange, and cash is needed for “emergencies”. Like when El Jefe needs a little pocket money.
Care to elaborate on where you’ve had this experience? If solely within the continental US you’ve missed the point of the discussion.
Back in the day it was not uncommon to carry several $100K in the safe aboard ship to pay “incidental” port and handling charges that would often arise in places such as Lagos, Mumbai, Ras Tanura, Ciudad Bolivar and other scenic stops.
Nowadays the ships carry more, as do the pilots flying in these countries.
Not sure where ships came into the equation, and if we are discussing international trips over 15 years ago, then I can see the need to carry cash. Most of my dealing are outside of the US, that being said, I would feel 100% safer carrying around 20-50k around the US. Leaving the US ~ No Sir ~ ! IMO if your boss is telling you to carry 100k plus on international trips to avoid paying 3-4k to a service provider he is putting the crew in danger!
Granted, but there are owners who believe that it’s part of the crews’ responsibilities to “handle” these matters when they arise and not bother the owner with “details”.
There are many places where a few judiciously placed C notes will ensure that when the garda/policia/troops arrive to surround your aircraft the guns will remain pointing outward. Is this something that should be handled by an agent? Certainly. Are there owners who begrudge the agent’s fee? Absolutely, and will often go to ridiculous extremes to prove they can get by without one.
I did a trip to BOG a few months ago. The owner had a meeting that took 4 hours.
The FBO charged me $1440 for handing and I didn’t even buy fuel.
4 hours on the ramp and customs fees. THATS INSANE. It wasn’t my money but I argued with the handler for 20min over the price.