ssh closed

[FULL TOUCH DOWN]

What info due you know it seems on the other forum they are saying ssh has closed there doors as of 5 oclock today has anybody heard any news.

[brushfire21]

I snuck over to the dark side and pinch this little rumour off the forum. Not trying to stir up the rumour mill or anything, but this seemed to have a trace of truth to itt........... If its true my heart goes out to the SSH guys, if its not then my apologies.

:

=======================================

 

forwarded from my ssh company E-mail

 

Author: turbo2316 Date: 2/3/2008 9:09:42 PM

 

 

I know the rumors have been flying and I’ve been told some of you have taken action in anticipation of a company shut down some time today. The Board of Directors has been working diligently with student lenders and the financial institution that carries the majority of Silver State’s debt. The entire lending industry was crippled in October and the impact hit all student lending sources particularly hard; we felt this full force. Silver State Helicopters has done everything possible to weather the storm and will continue to work on a solution that will allow this company to continue to explore options.

 

The Board of Directors has not made a final decision as to Silver State Helicopters. Because the monthly operating expenses, even at the recently streamlined levels, continue to exceed cash flow the Board has elected to suspend all operations effective at 5:00 PM today. All offices are closed effective immediately and all employees are terminated as of 5:00PM today as well. All employees will receive a final payroll check via your normal payment method (check or direct deposit by ADP). I know there are many questions that you will have and I will attempt to answer some of those now:

 

 

1. When will I receive my final paycheck and what will it include? Your paycheck will be processed immediately and sent to you via ADP as it has in the past. You will be paid through close of business today. The company does not have time cards collected already to reflect the most recent days so, as is common practice in these cases, non-salaried employees will be paid assuming a full 40-hour work week.

 

2. What will happen to my 401K? Your 401(k) remains secure with the outside service Company as it always has been.

 

3. If Silver State Helicopters are able to restructure will I be offered re-employment? The Board of Directors will continue to work to find the best possible solution for Silver State Helicopters. If the company can be restructured it would certainly make most sense to allow priority hiring to former employees that apply.

 

4. Should I seek other employment? Yes - Silver State Helicopters can make no promise of re-employment at this time and there should be no hesitation on your part to secure alternative employment.

 

5. Will I be able to retrieve my personal belongings from the office? Yes - You will be notified as to the available times and procedures to recover any personal property from a locked office within the next few days. Please do not take anything from the locations that does not belong to you unless you have written permission to do so as that would constitute theft. Surveillance equipment has been recently installed in most locations to protect assets.

 

6. I have a company vehicle, should I turn that in? Yes - Non-employees are not authorized to drive company vehicles. It is presumed reasonable that all vehicles will be returned to the closest Silver State Location no later than Monday, February 4th. You should co-ordinate all vehicle returns with Lisa Gunther.

 

7. What will happen to students? The students will be notified as soon as a clear direction is confirmed.

 

8. I have company assets at my home or in my possession, what should I do? Contact Steve Shaw or Lisa Gunther and make arrangements to return all items no later than Monday, February 4th.

 

9. What about health insurance? Angi will be processing termination for all employees on Monday. This will trigger COBRA notices and you can contract the carrier directly to preserve your coverage. The company also encourages you to begin your process immediately so that you may collect unemployment insurance.

 

Please accept my most sincere apologies for the stress and sadness this may cause you. I know that many of you consider this company and the employees to be your home and your family. Holly and I have made a decision to fight for every option to help the people of this company put something together so we may again enjoy the success we have shared in the past.

 

Most of you have been comfortable in writing me or calling me I the past and I will continue to keep my door open. Please realize that I am inundated with calls and e-mails right now and it is difficult to return all in a timely manner when there is so much work to do. Regardless of the final outcome over the next few weeks I will be eternally grateful for the friends that I have made and the greatness that we all have shared. There are few people in the world that will ever have the opportunity to share in the experience that we all have over the past eight years. If someone had told me back in 1999 that this company would do all it has done and then face the challenge that it is facing now I would still gladly sign on as an opportunity of a lifetime and an education that can not be bought. Thank you all for the opportunity to work with a great group of people.

 

I can not tell you how hard it is to push “send”.

 

With love and respect for all of you,

 

 

Jerry Airola

[gft]

Wow!

That's not good-

[BOATFIXERGUY]

Holy Cra*!!!!!!!!!

[ChopperJ]

If it's true, it was only a matter of time. It does stink for all the people that will be impacted by this though.

Edited February 4, 2008 by HeloJVB

[Anonymous User]

It is true. SSH is history.

 

Now all you bashers go ahead and rejoice that 600+ everyday people are out of a job...

 

And thousands of students are left out in the rain.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Anonymous User

[adam32]

Yes, it is true. But I don't think they are history forever. They will downsize and open back up there more established bases.

[BOATFIXERGUY]

Hey Brushfire.... How reliable is the information? Just got done watching the upset of the decade, and now this?!

 

Guess the used R44 market is about to crash also. You can't possible dump 100+ aircraft on the market all at once.

[apiaguy]

Good time to start looking for a R44

[brushfire21]

From the darkside comes the following, probably best if you want uptodate info, JH may be the best bet if you can filter thru it. Doesn't really effect me personally (directly, but maybe down the road), but I do feel really bad for the students and employees.

 

=================================

 

SSH

 

Author: Randy Rowles Date: 2/3/2008 9:44:22 PM

 

 

Over the past eight months, the Training Operations division at SSH has done a tremendous job fixing what was broken. The efforts made by my staff to improve a broken training system were difficult, but the direction of the overall training product was positive. It is disheartening that all of these efforts have gone to waste. I myself attempted to realign training efforts to benefit the 2700+ students and hopefully give them a shot at a better training product. These efforts did get many students completed that would not have reached their program graduation otherwise. It is for the dreamers, those that only reached for a better life or career that I am saddened.

All of the rumors of the day are correct. As of 5pm today, SSH has halted all operations. I, like all other employees received an email notifying us of our termination and closing.

 

I have not and will not defend the business practices of this company. I will only defend the training product that has been improved upon since my arrival. These improvements were the result of hard work from the many young people that have strived to be the best they can be.

 

I hope that all pilots within industry stand up and watch this unfold. You will have opportunities to help make change in bad situations. In this one, I chose to act and today I have no regrets for my actions. I have no need to save face because my actions were pure and purposeful. Many have benefited by the actions of my staff and for that I am quite proud.

 

As pilots, pay close attention to the situation this company has put many people in. Is organizing the best plan of action, or should industry make situations such as this more difficult to occur?

 

I hope that all within the helicopter industry not place blame on the CFI's and students of SSH. These are the victims of a broken system they did not create. All know how this situation began, sustained, and eventually died.

 

Take care,

 

Randy Rowles

 

 

DIV>

[C.R.O.]

I read the rumors earlier this weekend, and I was wondering if they were true.

 

I feel sorry for the students and CFI's that got brought into this situation.

[67november]

I could see this coming, been there done that. lost a months worth of wages when the airlines I worked for went bancrupt and got 10 cents on the dollar 3 years later. My simpithy to the students who will lose out of their fund, DON'T expect to get anything much back.

[mechanic]

"IF" this email is true, of which I want to think it is.. The Gov needs to step in and seize all of Jer's and the Corp assets. To liquidate the property and repay all these private loans.

 

I feel its a well thought out plan.. He sells the company to get clear of the recoil. Then the "NEW" contract comes out to strip away large amounts of money thats on account.

 

If the banks are left to EAT all this mess, then this will certainly kill the flight training market. Then what are the current schools/CFI's gonna do for students or student loans? I lost my Key loan because of this kinda crap that some flight schools pulled a few years back. If sallie mae goes away, and it seems that Loan to Learn has gone away too, that only leaves AOPA flight training loans and Pilot Finance. These loans won't cover helicopter training costs.

 

Someone was worried about R44's flooding the market, wait till all those 22's start to hit the market.

 

Going to be a interesting next few months.... Anyone care to speculate what salaries will do in the hour range of 1000-1500 hours TT..

 

Later

[BOATFIXERGUY]

.

 

Going to be a interesting next few months.... Anyone care to speculate what salaries will do in the hour range of 1000-1500 hours TT..

 

Later

 

I don't see it hurting the wages of 1000 and up....maybe young cfi's, but not 1000 hour guys and gals.

 

I do believe that it will do nothing but hurt the financing side of the industry though. How do you ubsorb 2700 loans of $70k and up? And yes the government will step in to sieze property at some point, but how do you sell hundreds of aircraft for even close to market value? You don't.

 

john

[67november]

"IF" this email is true, of which I want to think it is.. The Gov needs to step in and seize all of Jer's and the Corp assets. To liquidate the property and repay all these private loans.

 

I feel its a well thought out plan.. He sells the company to get clear of the recoil. Then the "NEW" contract comes out to strip away large amounts of money thats on account.

 

If the banks are left to EAT all this mess, then this will certainly kill the flight training market. Then what are the current schools/CFI's gonna do for students or student loans? I lost my Key loan because of this kinda crap that some flight schools pulled a few years back. If sallie mae goes away, and it seems that Loan to Learn has gone away too, that only leaves AOPA flight training loans and Pilot Finance. These loans won't cover helicopter training costs.

 

Someone was worried about R44's flooding the market, wait till all those 22's start to hit the market.

 

Going to be a interesting next few months.... Anyone care to speculate what salaries will do in the hour range of 1000-1500 hours TT..

 

Later

 

IF this is true then ole Jerry will only be a title in the process. the bancruptcy judge will be in control of the of the assests and debts alike. SSH will be required to file a reconstruction plan and the judge and his/her panel of advisers will review it and approve or deny it based on the overall picture of the company plan. AS I SAID the students will be the ones hurt the most as they're funds are unsecured and have little recourse.

[svtcobra66]

Does anyone know if this is actually true? I would think a company that large going out of business would at least show up on some news website, or at the very least Aero News Network. JH isn't exactly the source for reliable industry information.

[mechanic]

I don't see it hurting the wages of 1000 and up....maybe young cfi's, but not 1000 hour guys and gals.

 

I do believe that it will do nothing but hurt the financing side of the industry though. How do you ubsorb 2700 loans of $70k and up? And yes the government will step in to sieze property at some point, but how do you sell hundreds of aircraft for even close to market value? You don't.

 

john

 

I was thinking the will be even less student/cfi's coming up making it harder to fill those 1000-1500 hr newbie jobs.

[lelebebbel]

This is really not good. How many CFIs did they have, and what will this do to the job market for new CFIs?

[Anonymous User]

"IF" this email is true, of which I want to think it is.. The Gov needs to step in and seize all of Jer's and the Corp assets. To liquidate the property and repay all these private loans.

 

I feel its a well thought out plan.. He sells the company to get clear of the recoil. Then the "NEW" contract comes out to strip away large amounts of money thats on account.

 

If the banks are left to EAT all this mess, then this will certainly kill the flight training market. Then what are the current schools/CFI's gonna do for students or student loans? I lost my Key loan because of this kinda crap that some flight schools pulled a few years back. If sallie mae goes away, and it seems that Loan to Learn has gone away too, that only leaves AOPA flight training loans and Pilot Finance. These loans won't cover helicopter training costs.

 

Someone was worried about R44's flooding the market, wait till all those 22's start to hit the market.

 

Going to be a interesting next few months.... Anyone care to speculate what salaries will do in the hour range of 1000-1500 hours TT..

 

Later

 

 

IF this is true then ole Jerry will only be a title in the process. the bancruptcy judge will be in control of the of the assests and debts alike. SSH will be required to file a reconstruction plan and the judge and his/her panel of advisers will review it and approve or deny it based on the overall picture of the company plan. AS I SAID the students will be the ones hurt the most as they're funds are unsecured and have little recourse.

 

 

Does anyone know if this is actually true? I would think a company that large going out of business would at least show up on some news website, or at the very least Aero News Network. JH isn't exactly the source for reliable industry information.

 

Do you really think we'd be pulling your leg? Are you really that dense or insensitive? Over 600 people just lost the livelihood. The company email just went out 3 hours ago. Call your local news channel and tell them to cruise by the nearest SSH location and see what they find.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Anonymous User

[mechanic]

Does anyone know if this is actually true? I would think a company that large going out of business would at least show up on some news website, or at the very least Aero News Network. JH isn't exactly the source for reliable industry information.

 

 

This is Sunday. I am sure the Vert Mag e newsletter, HAI, or AINonline will say something about it.. Heck, maybe the AOPA Flight Training e news also.. A school this large will make some waves.

[mechanic]

Do you really think we'd be pulling your leg? Are you really that dense or insensitive? Over 600 people just lost the livelihood. The company email just went out 3 hours ago. Call your local news channel and tell them to cruise by the nearest SSH location and see what they find.

 

"IF" this is true? I am truely sorry for you. You can't be mad at people for not believing everything posted on a forum..

[tjrdotcom]

"IF" this is true? I am truely sorry for you. You can't be mad at people for not believing everything posted on a forum..

My flight instructor just called and said after their last flight they were met by armed guards, who told them to take their headsets and get out....Dallas

[arotrhd]

I don't see it hurting the wages of 1000 and up....maybe young cfi's, but not 1000 hour guys and gals.

 

I do believe that it will do nothing but hurt the financing side of the industry though. How do you ubsorb 2700 loans of $70k and up? And yes the government will step in to sieze property at some point, but how do you sell hundreds of aircraft for even close to market value? You don't.

 

john

 

I don't mean to state the obvious, but even 1000 loans @ $70,000 = $70,000,000. SEVENTY MILLION. Now, what if it's 2k or 2.7k...yeah, the banks are gonna like having repossed helos in their hands in addition to their expanding inventory of foreclosed homes. A rhetorical question, but how did this business "genius" move such a 'stellar' and 'growing' operation into what appears, at a minimum, a situation which requires Chp. 11 protection. Maybe unchecked EGO? To have students (and possibly staff) unknowingly (or knowingly) subsidize this individual's AW-139 wet dream, my fellow rotorheads, is criminal. I'll be interested in seeing how much pitchfork stocks jump up in the next couple of days. Anyone else think Mr. Robinson might be a little pissed?

 

I sympathize for those of you who look like your going to be left with the bill for his party.

 

-WATCH FOR THE WIRES-

[Sparker]

This really sucks for all the people screwed by this.

 

Not to sound cold... but how many of these helos will wind up in good schools at cheap prices? Maybe after a while it could lower the cost of training (for those unaffected immediately), and make up a little of the loss down the road. I am aware that to the people who signed the contract last week and handed over a 70K check it doesn't matter right now....I can't help but wonder...

[apiaguy]

I know this will sound harsh to those recently hosed.....

 

I'm trying to understand how any of this will have any negative effect on the helicopter training business.....

 

Many students will need to find new schools (not that they can still afford it)

Many instructors will now be willing to work for less than they did before (shocking.... but the business owners are laughing)

Lots of helicopters will be procured at less than the going rate although they will then be rented at the "normal" rate.

New students will finally know why SSH was always talked about negatively. And the other flight schools will have less competition.

Everyone will continue to wonder why anyone would give all the money to anyone upfront for flight training.

 

Sounds like a startup company's dream situation.

Edited February 4, 2008 by apiaguy