Jacqui Wilkes And Me

I knew about some of what Christian had. Sheep and beef processing plants dotted across Australia. Milk processing plants jointly owned with some Kiwi crowd. Sugar processing in Fiji and Queensland.

But coal mining in the Powder River basin in Wyoming? Off-shore oil exploration in the Philippines and Canada. Bloody space research company in Brazil. Opal mines, rare earth mining, and mineral exploration in places ending in 'stan' or 'bia' that I'd never heard of.

The last company binder was titled CourierwideCMS. Never heard of it. I quickly flicked through it, raised eyebrows at Mallory who was trying hard not to laugh, "My grandfather owns a fucking airline."

She didn't hold back, her face coming alive, she placed her hand trying to stifle the smile and laugh, "Sorry. Sorry, Marcus. It was the realization appearing on your face as you took in what it was you were looking at. That wtf moment... Sorry, that's less than professional."

"Sod professional Mallory. You know the old joke about airlines right? She shook her head and looked at me questioningly, "No... Okay so the question is, 'How do you make a millionaire?' The answer is, 'Take a billionaire and make him buy an airline.' I didn't know from her expression whether Mallory liked my rendering or not. Okay, sorry Mallory. So. To continue, why does cms own a frigging airline?"

"It's four aircraft, well five if you count the gulfstream but that spends more time wet-leased to other companies, but if you want to get a tonne and a half of mining gear from a Geelong manufacturer to a mining site, say in British Columbia in two days. Marcus, how are you gonna do it? Booster rocket parts from British Aerospace to Buenos Aires. And it's our companies plus offline subsidiaries, and partner affiliates and some foreigners when we've room that all use the service, for a price. The company is way over-subscribed and under-resourced.

Of the four seven-three's only ones a combi, the rest are freight and the odd seats if needed but in my opinion, we need one more of each or one a bit bigger. Seven-six, or a triple-seven would be nice but that'll never happen.

Christians digging his toes in, saying twenty-eighteen isn't the year to be frivolous and I guess he's right. Just given the increasing demand eventually, we'll have to grow or it'll end up being more of an expensive liability.

I showed him two seven-threes coming off dry lease with United Airlines. Five years old, they were interim 'til they got their airbuses. The lessor would convert to whatever the buyer wanted. They were a steal at the price. When I showed Christian he threw a blind fit. I thought I was sacked and gone. I felt really bad, it was just before his first stroke. It could be a major entity all by itself but instead it languishes a bit."

Mallory was waiting for a response but I ignored anything to do with Christian's little dramas, "You've got a real passion for that company Mallory, where's the story?"

"My first love is flying, I've got my ppl, and I'd love to do my cpl but I wouldn't have a use for it now. Really. Especially not with this job. I've asked Tom about going to Courierwide. Christian won't sign off on it. Even a lesser desk job would do. I just miss being around flying. And aircraft. And it comes from my family. My Dad's with Qantas, long haul to Europe, my mum was a 'hostie' when they met and Matt, my kid brother is second officer with Cathay Pacific. Guess I'm the black sheep of the family."

I looked at the clock, "We are done for the day. Could we pick up on the rest tomorrow morning if I'm not cutting into your time? A silent nod and smile in agreement. Thank you for today, I appreciate it. Good evening."

She gave a quick nod, turned, and walked away, "Um, Mallory." She turned back, "Thanks for your story. From personal experience when it comes to things you figure are out of reach, you never know. The right opportunities can come along." Bigger smile, this time she left.

I went home with lots on my mind but I knew what I had to do.

_ _ _

I called Jacqui. Our conversation went about as good as I'd expected, not good at all. She burst into tears and never stopped. I fucking hated this shit right now. We'd both done everything right. She had been patient, and faithful and kept herself upbeat and focused on her goals.

I'd worked on myself, these days I pinched myself to make sure I was me. I could deal a lot better with the world.

The last twelve months despite separating I was learning how to adapt to different and challenging. No matter what, at the end of February she was coming home. If I managed to get out to the US all well and good but she was going to get flights booked in. Jacqui asked not to give up on us. Easy to promise.

_ _ _

I had a discussion with Mallory's boss, office manager Tom Williams about Mallory's assistant. She'd been learning Mallory's job for a year and a half and was more than capable. The roadblock was Christian. He wanted Mallory to stay in her present position because she was very good in that role. Never mind that two of the same seniority as Mallory had been promoted to managerial positions within the wider company.

I asked Tom to speak freely as to how he felt about Mallory's circumstances and he said in his opinion only, it was grossly unfair, "If I was put in her position I would have left here long ago." I'd get back to him and could he please point me in the direction of the company liaison for CourierwideCMS?

Evan Donaldson. Evan, I'd bumped into a few times, a happy-go-lucky type of guy and now that I thought about it he had introduced himself as air logistics liaison. I just didn't know what it meant at the time.

I got straight to the point and asked him what positions were open and available at the airline. The answer I got wasn't the one I expected at all, "Ah, just a minute Marcus, let me see..." he said without looking at anything in particular squinting his eyes, holding his hand up by his face and pinching thumb and forefinger together. Comedian. "Ummm... all of them."

I couldn't have heard that right, "There are positions available in all ground trades, aircrew, and management. Always was. Always will be. Wanna know why? Thought so. It's because Courierwide is treated as a training ground and stepping stone to something better unless you fly the G650 then it's a cushy ride all the way mate. The workers don't hang around when better comes up. It's happening right now. Aircrew, groundcrew, and some management. Recruitment agencies this month. It'll be Foreigns next month, BA, Pac Blue. Qantas any time they like. Same old same old."

Okay, I asked what management positions were open. He sat, played with his computer, and looked, "Let me see... Sales... Parts and Logistics... Logistics, Office Training, and Administration. Bluerk! Nobody wants that."

Next question, what's the best job out of the lot, "Ah, oh that's easy. Hands down, Operations manager. Even deputy. Why? Looking for a new job? I 'bags' your job if you are." He gave me a sly smile. Don't know what that meant.

He'd never mentioned those positions before, "Nope never mentioned them because they come under aircrew, aircraft and flight operations management, not business management. You gotta be able to walk and talk the lingo mate. It's the crux of the business. It revolves around putting the right planes in the right place at the right time. Do that right, you make money. Don't and you end with a puzzlefuck like they've got over there now."

"Are you saying they haven't got a flight operations team? Or a manager?"

"Yeah, neither, one of the off-duty pilots and the ground maintenance manager when he can afford the time, and when there's nobody it's the pilots flying that try to coordinate things."

"You are shitting me. How the fuck does that work. Is that even fucking legal? Do the authorities know what's going on? Geesus... they're gonna get shut down... ('Fuck!!') FUCK!"

"It's the civil aviation safety authority. Casa for short."

"Yeah, alright bloody casa. Do casa know?" The stony silence and the dull expression from Evan told me everything I needed to know, "Alright... How's about financially?"

"Ahh, mostly not"

"What the fuck does that mean Evan? Mostly not! What the fuck are they running on? Thin fucking air? Who in the fucks is the fucking CEO... the CFO. Where the fuck is the general manager?"

" You really don't know, do you Marcus?" I didn't say anything because I'd just asked the bloody question!

"Christian fired the CEO over twelve months ago. He's kinda appointed himself to the position, not that he's even interested. He sees the whole deal as a bunch of tools to get the bigger job done, and flouts rules because he hates dealing with government bureaucracy. Any bureaucracy really. The CFO is our corporate accountancy group."

"And the general manager is... You."

"What the fuck did you just say!" Evan looked at me with a 'C'mon mate, you heard me the first time' smile. "When in the fuck did that happen. And why the fuck am I just hearing this now. Are you telling me if this all turned to shit I was gonna wear the shit. Did it not occur to any of you to... No... Never mind."

Evan looked guilty, "I was snooping and found out by mistake from corporate, they threatened and censured. They've kept it quiet, go take a closer look at management positions in the folder on Courierwide, most don't work there anymore. Nobody here knows whats going on. Christian told them that if you were his grandson you'd be smart enough to work it out. Never mind that the business goes to hell in a bloody handcart in the meantime."

"FUCK!! That fucking old cah..." I watched the horrified expressions staring back at me, "Cunt! FUCK!"

Evan was looking at me sideways, "I'm guessing things are maybe gonna change in the airline bizzo then boss." Yeah, a fucking comedian.

Ignoring Evan I walked. People magically cleared a path. I got to outside the meeting room. Mallory looked up, saw me, and placed a smile on her face, she looked at me again and the smile disappeared twice as quickly.

I watched, she had the same swallowing problem from last night. ('Don't freak her out. It's not her fault'). I changed and stared in her general direction for a few...

Turning around, I found faces staring back at me. Time passed... Nobody seemed in a hurry to move... Or work...

Two faces.

I only needed to find two faces... Mallory's assistant. I pointed at her, "You! What's your name?"

"Charlotte... My name is Charlotte."

"Charlotte. Haven't been introduced. Pleased to meet you. You now do what Mallory used to do... Congratulations."

"Thank you ah... Mr... Marcus."

I tried a smile. It didn't feel like one but I persevered, "You're welcome Charlotte. Tom, where are you?"

"Right here, Marcus."

"Tom, Mallory doesn't work here for you anymore mate, she resigned. You'll have her notice shortly."

"That's fine Marcus, can I ask why she's, umm resigned?"

"Yeah sure Tom... Bit of a back story though, you'll like it. Turns out Christian made me the general manager of Courierwide cms. I'm a bloody builder's laborer. He put a bloody laborer in charge of a fucking airline... There's a recipe for disaster right there wouldn't you say Tom? Well, you know what, fuck him. I guess I'm just gonna have to show him. He forgot to tell me about it, mind you. But there it is... I hope he doesn't come to regret it... I guess we'll find out in due course...

Ah... Anyway, Mallorys accepted a job with me."

I don't watch or try to read peoples faces or anticipate what they're thinking beyond a few seconds, so not to appear rude or make them feel uncomfortable. Until now. They didn't appear uncomfortable. I recognised anticipation. Curiosity, even patience. All waiting for that last droplet of information, "Mallory is Courierwide cms aircraft and flight operations manager."

I heard a yelp and a crash. Something fell on the floor behind me. There was an awful long silence and I have no idea who started the clapping but by the end, I'd put money on the fact that this office had never seen a huge vote of confidence and congratulations for one of its own like Mallory Grey got that day.

She appeared and stood next to me. When I looked at her and smiled she was shaking like the proverbial leaf. She tried to wipe the tears away with the back of her hands. It didn't matter anyway, there was a mad rush as her friends and fellow workers enveloped her in hugs and cuddles.

Tom had a wide smile as he came up his hand out. I took it immediately, "Marcus, she will do you proud. She is such a good girl. Can I ask how you knew?"

I told him about Mallory's story. The way she talked with passion about flying. Her family. Her desire, "Tom, my last words to her last night were about not giving up on your dreams, you never know when an opportunity will turn up and here we are less than twenty-four hours later."

"And you never knew you had the general manager position?"

"Evan told me that five minutes ago. Corporate accounting hid it. Umm, could I borrow him for a few days? I think he'll be good with pointers and bullet points with figuring out where we're going."

We watched as Mallory was still getting hugs and kisses. I was pretty sure some of the guys were getting a second go, "I got to ask how you're gonna get on when Christian finds out?"

"I'm gonna ask him why he thought it was a good thing not to tell me about making me GM."

"He'll be grumpy over Mallory when he finds out. I'm not looking forward to that."

"Don't worry about that. I'll deal with the old man and it's gonna be one-sided conversations. Besides that, I'm more worried about her. I'm hoping she doesn't own a bloody handgun. She'll probably use it on me when she finds out what a clusterfuck Courierwide is." We both laughed but I think mine had a touch of fear attached. About the clusterfuck not the handgun.

Mallory and Charlotte disappeared for a good half an hour and returned with a big bottle of expensive looking whiskey in a fancy box and an envelope with what I suspected was her resignation letter.

It was a proper ceremony as her friends watched her present both items to Tom, shook his hand and Charlottes, she hugged both. She turned and came and stood with me quietly leaning towards me, "Marcus, we should leave now, all my stuff is in a box in the foyer. We are off to our new home and I can hardly stand the wait."

I'd bought Jacqui's Captiva luckily, the general manager and flight operations manager turning up to work in an old Holden one-tonner may look a bit sketchy. It was a quiet trip but I could see questions bubbling out of her head. "Can you give me some details about my role? You said aircraft and flight operations manager."

"A bit. Evan gave me some insight into some of it while you did your resignation. I'm sure I heard her give a little giggle. So I guess the aircraft manager's side, as far as the fleet is concerned, they're yours. Evan said ground maintenance doesn't come under you, and they sign the planes off but you're responsible for aircraft and crews that fly them and I also need it known you are corporate CMS as well, so you have the final say.

From the bit you told me last night, I'd like you to audit all the aircraft and make sure they are what they're meant to be. They've been flouting casa regulations. That stops when we get there. Flight ops has everyone except maybe the toilet cleaner involved. Is it lacking in a way to manage the whole thing efficiently? Haven't a clue where to start. I'll do and help as much as I can. The rest we'll play by ear for a while.

We need to know how we can stop bleeding personnel, your guys too. If it's something we can fix easily, let's do it. We need to know if basing the fleet here is a good idea. Seems to me W.A. is closer to Asia and Europe and Queensland is closer to the Pacific and the Americas. How much is it costing flying them back here and parking? Or should we just base them overseas where they do the most work? And maybe by the end of twenty-nineteen, you should revisit fleet increase, upgrades, or renewal."

"Marcus, can I ask what you were laughing about with Tom? I was just curious really."

I laughed, "I was curious about whether you owned a handgun."

"Really! Why?"

"There was a good chance you'd use it on me when you find out what a clusterfuck you've walked into."

"Not a chance Marcus. I've got my dream job. I'm not going anywhere."

"That's what I'm banking on Mallory."

_ _ _

Evan Donaldson had already made his presence known when we arrived at the doors of the non-descript hangar that was headquarters for CourierwideCMS. He was chatting to an older guy who introduced himself as Lachy Foster. Evan told us Lachy was manager of ground crew and maintenance, "Yeah, Evans right, but he's just been catching me up with what happened this morning so I got to wondering whether with you being the new broom sweeping clean that I might be out of a job this arvo."

"For fucks sake Evan! What the fuck didya tell him. Lachy, from what I've learned this fucking outfit bleeds people. Unless you don't want to stay, I'm not about wanting to see us lose anyone else. This is Mallory Grey, she's the new aircraft and flight operations manager. We've talked about the plans we want to put in place. If you've time we four and all other managers around need to sit down and work out how we set about implementation.

Mallory, Evan, Lachy, and myself, the one other manager left and two senior aircrew members, between all of us we pieced together what was going on. The company had seen a modest increase in freight tonnage every fiscal year until last year, then the gain was significant. Five point seven percent increase in tonnage. The earnings didn't reflect the increased trade.

Okay, maybe overheads played a part, I think we all said fuel, but there hadn't been a significant price increase in anything to reflect that.

I looked at them all, "What's that leave then?"

Evan spoke, "Price structuring. I've done these sums before, and I've queried it but corporate finance refuses to tell me what the customers pay citing business confidentiality but I believe that a lot of jobs are underpriced. Corporate only gives earnings per flight. No breakdown. They're not doing anything illegal, they're just a bunch of over-cautious pricks. As much as Christian doesn't care about rules and laws, corporate are anal over the whole deal, and they're just not in any mindset to see the place make a profit or grow on their watch which I don't understand."

Mallory spoke, "Okay. How do we fix that and get some go forward."

Everybody looked at me, "I guess I go talk to at least two people."

_ _ _

"You stole Mallory off me, Boy!"

"You made me GM of a company and never told me. I'm nowhere near getting my pound of flesh from you yet. I'm here with a list of demands that you're going to sign off on. Mallory is where she is needed so no arguments."

"OR WHAT boy!"

"OR... I walk away from everything. And you. With my middle finger raised. Your choice."

Looking out the window from his bed, "Show me your list."

Financial control, all decision-making and hands-off from both my grandfather and corporate and a release of held funds and profit for operation and business. Relinquish the CEO position and allow me to appoint both a CEO and CFO when I have suitable candidates, "Marcus. Boy. Give me an hour then come back. Hand me my cell."

I did as he asked and walked away. Everything I asked for I had a feeling I'd get if what he had said was right. If I was the grandson he thought I was. I'd deal with getting less if that happened.