BigDUSA

No nonsense on my part. Five CEO gone in two years. Going going and soon to be gone are 10,000 employees. Factories to be sold or closed. Simply brilliant.

I look at the price first. Location second and then I look for a place that's clean. Rooms serviced daily. Clean sheets every two days and laundry service that's priced right with quick turn around. If there's a problem with say the AC or TV, etc how quickly does the owner get it repaired or do you get a lot of excuses. One has to remember the price point one is paying and not to expect a 4 star facility at $14USD per night. As far as the size of the large room, I haven't measured it but it looks to be about 30' long and at least 10'-13' wide.

Sky-Top has three sizes of rooms. The large is about 40 sq mtr and goes for 700-750 per night. I always stay in the large room. The others are smaller and cheaper but I don't know the size. Cheapest goes for 450. www.skytopcenterpattaya.com Yensabai Condo has even bigger rooms maybe 45-50 sq mtr. Check for current pricing www.pattayarentaroom.com FWIW, I liked the rooms there and I think they are excellent value for the money.

I'm sure the 10,000 workers who are getting sacked are quite enthused about how EADS is doing.

I have to make a correction. My wife's mother died a few months ago and her aunt died recently and yes she is executor of her will.

I've stayed at the Flipper Lodge and had my credit card cloned there. Other then that it's a good hotel. I've stayed at the Eastiny on soi 8 and liked it better then the Flipper.

"Airbus has gone through five CEOs in the last two years, and is now in the midst of a restructuring plan that would cut 10,000 jobs over four years and sell off plants France, Germany and Britain. Airbus recently said it would create a holding company and keep three of the German plants." If I were you and I'm glad I'm not, I'd reread the article and check out the above paragraph taken directly from the article.

I don't need to follow stock prices as I'm no longer invested in the market. Any questions on the facts of that article email the AP writer.

By EMMA VANDORE, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 24, 3:01 PM ET PARIS - Airbus is conducting a "major review" of its delivery schedule for the A380 superjumbo, the company's chief executive said Tuesday, a plane that has been plagued by delays. Speaking at a company site in the United Arab Emirates, CEO Thomas Enders acknowledged that the goal of delivering four A380s per month by 2010 won't be easy. The review is "standard practice" at this stage in the plane's development, he said. "We're currently conducting a major review" of the program, Enders said at the opening of an Airbus material and logistics center in Dubai, headquarters of A380 customer Emirates Airlines. His comments were relayed by Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath. The spokesman withdrew earlier comments saying Airbus is "confident more than ever" about the program that he had attributed to Enders. Airbus has previously said it is committed to handing over 13 A380s in 2008, 25 in 2009, and 45 in 2010. "The A380 is in the critical phase of steep production ramp-up," Schaffrath said. Airbus is reviewing whether workers and suppliers are ready for the change from individual plane production to full industrialization, and whether the delivery schedule can be maintained, Schaffrath said. The planemaker has already been hit with penalties for late delivery of the A380, which combined with spiraling development costs wiped billions from Airbus profits. Airbus has delivered the first four of six superjumbos destined for Singapore Airlines. The European planemaker will have to redesign cabins and electrical layouts for Emirates Airlines and Qantas. Enders said in October that increasing A380 production is Airbus' greatest challenge for the coming years. The workload of making one A380 is equivalent to eight of the single-aisle A320, Airbus' most popular jet. Airbus has gone through five CEOs in the last two years, and is now in the midst of a restructuring plan that would cut 10,000 jobs over four years and sell off plants France, Germany and Britain. Airbus recently said it would create a holding company and keep three of the German plants. Workers at three of Airbus' four French factories went on strike Tuesday for the second time in a week, demanding equal treatment for French and German employees. Thousands staged a demonstration in front of an administrative site near Toulouse. Also Tuesday, Airbus announced that Tunisair has ordered 16 new jetliners from the European planemaker. Airbus said in a statement that the "letter of acceptance" from the Tunisian carrier covers the purchase of 10 single-aisle A320s, three wide-body A330s and three of the revamped, long-range A350 XWBs. Airbus did not provide a value for the deal. Based on list prices, the deal would be worth about $1.94 billion (1.24 billion euros) — though airlines often negotiate substantial discounts. Shares of EADS, Airbus' parent company, fell 1.4 percent to 15.47 euros ($24.19). Looks like July 24, 2008 to me. Still 5 CEO in 2 years.

PARIS - Airbus is conducting a "major review" of its delivery schedule for the A380 superjumbo, the company's chief executive said Tuesday, a plane that has been plagued by delays. Speaking at a company site in the United Arab Emirates, CEO Thomas Enders acknowledged that the goal of delivering four A380s per month by 2010 won't be easy. The review is "standard practice" at this stage in the plane's development, he said. "We're currently conducting a major review" of the program, Enders said at the opening of an Airbus material and logistics center in Dubai, headquarters of A380 customer Emirates Airlines. His comments were relayed by Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath. The spokesman withdrew earlier comments saying Airbus is "confident more than ever" about the program that he had attributed to Enders. Airbus has previously said it is committed to handing over 13 A380s in 2008, 25 in 2009, and 45 in 2010. "The A380 is in the critical phase of steep production ramp-up," Schaffrath said. Airbus is reviewing whether workers and suppliers are ready for the change from individual plane production to full industrialization, and whether the delivery schedule can be maintained, Schaffrath said. The planemaker has already been hit with penalties for late delivery of the A380, which combined with spiraling development costs wiped billions from Airbus profits. Airbus has delivered the first four of six superjumbos destined for Singapore Airlines. The European planemaker will have to redesign cabins and electrical layouts for Emirates Airlines and Qantas. Enders said in October that increasing A380 production is Airbus' greatest challenge for the coming years. The workload of making one A380 is equivalent to eight of the single-aisle A320, Airbus' most popular jet. Airbus has gone through five CEOs in the last two years, and is now in the midst of a restructuring plan that would cut 10,000 jobs over four years and sell off plants France, Germany and Britain. Airbus recently said it would create a holding company and keep three of the German plants. Workers at three of Airbus' four French factories went on strike Tuesday for the second time in a week, demanding equal treatment for French and German employees. Thousands staged a demonstration in front of an administrative site near Toulouse. Also Tuesday, Airbus announced that Tunisair has ordered 16 new jetliners from the European planemaker. Airbus said in a statement that the "letter of acceptance" from the Tunisian carrier covers the purchase of 10 single-aisle A320s, three wide-body A330s and three of the revamped, long-range A350 XWBs. Airbus did not provide a value for the deal. Based on list prices, the deal would be worth about $1.94 billion (1.24 billion euros) — though airlines often negotiate substantial discounts. Shares of EADS, Airbus' parent company, fell 1.4 percent to 15.47 euros ($24.19). Only 5 CEO have been sacked in the last 2 years.

I know about a small guest house for sale on 2nd Road near soi 6. It has eight rooms that were renovated within the last two years. It's been in business for about six or seven years and has a well established repeat business. Lot of time left on the current lease. The owners name is Peter and you can contact him at: www.skytopcenterpattaya.com

Boeing KC-767 Tanker Cost Advantage Grows As Fuel Prices Soar Conklin and de Decker, an independent aviation research company, recently recalculated fuel price costs for the Boeing 767-200ER and the Airbus A330-200. As the U.S. military expresses concern over escalating fuel costs stressing defense budgets, Boeing reports that the U.S. Air Force could pay as much as $44 billion more in fuel bills over 40 years to operate a fleet of 179 Airbus A330-200 aerial refueling tankers, compared with a similar number of tankers based on the Boeing 767-200ER. This assessment is based on a Conklin and de Decker Aviation Information study, funded by Boeing, that calculated the Air Force's cost with oil at $130 per barrel, $150 per barrel and $200 per barrel. Oil prices hit a record high last week above $147 a barrel, and many analysts expect prices to continue climbing. Escalating fuel costs are a critical military concern. As the largest consumer of fuel in the Department of Defense (DOD), the Air Force, for example, spends an additional $600 million annually for each $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil, spending approximately $6.6 billion on aviation fuel costs in 2006 alone. "Boeing's primary focus and objective, as always, is on our customers' operational needs -- and affordable life cycle cost is a key component to any aircraft acquisition," said Dave Bowman, vice president and general manager of Boeing Tanker Programs. "This is even more evident today as our Air Force customer seeks the most affordable and capable solution." Conklin and de Decker, an independent aviation research company, recently recalculated fuel price costs for the Boeing 767-200ER and the Airbus A330-200, popular commercial twin-aisle aircraft that are being converted to military aerial refueling tankers. The larger, heavier A330 is less fuel-efficient than the 767-200ER and, as a result, consumes 24 percent more fuel per trip than the 767-200ER. The study also factored in estimated costs of refining, transportation, storage, handling and fueling the aircraft. The Air Force's Request for Proposals (RFP) called for a highly capable, medium-sized, low-risk and low-cost refueling tanker to replace its aging fleet of KC-135 tankers. However, on Feb. 29, the Air Force selected Northrop Grumman-EADS to build 179 next-generation tankers based on the A330. The DOD called for a recompetition after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) urged the Air Force to reexamine 10 of 15 significant issues in Boeing's protest of the contract award. Among the sustained issues, the GAO concluded that fuel costs needed reevaluation. The report stated that "even a small increase in the amount of fuel that is burned per hour by a particular aircraft would have a dramatic impact on the overall fuel costs." The Air Force is now preparing a new RFP for an expedited competition.

I'm booked with UA out of Philly and fly to SFO, NRT, BKK. I try and avoid Chicago and usually I'm able to upgrade to first class on the PHL-SFO leg of the trip. I paid around $1150USD return.

How many days a year are the bars required to be closed?

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday reopened a bitter $35 billion aerial tanker contest after the selection process that picked Northrop Grumman Corp and EADS over Boeing Co was found to be flawed. The contest will now be overseen by John Young, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, not the Air Force, and Gates hoped a decision could be reached by December since the current process had already "gone on far too long." "The GAO sustained eight of the slightly more than 100 issues protested with this contract. We will address all of these in the new solicitation, and we will request revised proposals from industry," Gates told reporters. The Air Force contract award in February for 179 new aerial refueling tankers prompted an immediate protest by Boeing and vows of congressional intervention by its backers in Congress. Last month, the Government Accountability Office said it found "significant errors" in the Air Force selection process, and urged the service to redo the competition. The Air Force had been given until mid-August to announce its plans, but Gates rushed forward with a decision to reopen the competition -- given the advanced age of the current KC-135 tanker fleet -- which is used to refuel warplanes in mid-air. Boeing had been expected to win in February with its tanker based on the 767 airliner but the Air Force opted for the larger Northrop entry based on the A330 airliner that is built by EADS's Airbus unit, the European archrival to Boeing. Young said he hoped to issue a new draft request for proposals in late July or early August that would address the issues raised by the GAO and give bidders time to submit fresh bids, possibly with even lower cost estimates. He said the goal was to award a new contract by December, but he would not allow a hurried reexamination of the contract. "We will not expedite steps in the process. We have to do this methodically, fairly and without bias in any way," he said. Young is a strong proponent of building prototypes before picking winners in defense acquisitions, but in this case, he said the Pentagon would still pick a single winning bidder. Having both companies build tankers for the U.S. military would result in higher development, testing, training and maintenance costs, Young said, noting that competition between the two teams had already helped drive down prices. "We do not have the resources" to develop and maintain two separate tanker fleets," Young, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, told reporters. Young said federal procurement law barred any evaluation of the rival bids' potential impact on preserving the U.S. defense-industrial base, an issue of concern to Boeing backers. Nor were there plans to consider a U.S.-European aircraft subsidy dispute now before the World Trade Organization. In addition to putting Young in charge, the Pentagon will also appoint a new source selection advisory committee to do the detailed analysis of the competing bids. Defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said continuing congressional concerns, a possible World Trade Organization ruling in July on the Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute, and the sheer complexity of the tanker competition made it unlikely a decision could be reached by December. Jim McAleese, a Virginia-based defense consultant, praised Young's willingness to assume responsibility for the controversial program, and predicted he would do everything in his power to finish work on it before the end of the year. Young acknowledged that he had backed the Air Force's handling of the tanker competition before the GAO decision was released, but said his office's independent review had begun only in December, shortly before the contract award. Another independent review would be done this time around, he said. George Behan, spokesman for Washington Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks, a strong Boeing supporter, said lawmakers still had many questions about how the process would unfold. "The question is, are they willing to concede that we may get to a different outcome and then accept that outcome," he said. Sen. Maria Cantwell, another Washington state Democrat, told Reuters: "What we want to make sure is that the rebid is not just a redo with a rubber stamp 'approved' on it. We want to make sure that ... we don't have another misstep." The 15-year contract is the first of three acquisition phases. The Air Force has said replacing its KC-135 tankers, built by Boeing but now averaging over 47 years of age, as its number-one purchase priority. The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, said in upholding Boeing's protest last month that the company would have had a "substantial chance" of being selected if not for flaws in the evaluation process. Amid a broadly lower stock market Boeing shares were up 0.2 percent to $66.05 in afternoon trading, while Northrop shares were off 0.8 percent at $65.65.

When are you returning? During low season almost all the hotel will offer deep discounts.

IMHO you can live in Pattaya on your budget. I've been told if you move north to Udon Thani you can live even more cheaply. At 67 don't wait for tomorrow.

Title to my car says 2009 Pontiac Vibe and BTW it would help IF you knew what your talking about before you post. Goggle 2009 Pontiac Vibe and get back to me.

Where do I sign UP. Cheap Charley lub's a discount almost as much as I lub BG. I've been to the Blues Factory a few times and always enjoyed my stay.

The German former chief executive of Airbus, Gustav Humbert, was charged Wednesday with insider trading at the planemaker's parent company EADS, a legal source said. Humbert, 58, was released on bail of 350,000 euros (555,000 dollars) after having been charged by Judges Xaviere Simeoni and Cecile Pendaries, the source said. He had been questioned in custody since Monday. Former EADS chief executive Noel Forgeard and the company's former general manager, Jean-Paul Gut, have already been charged in the probe although both have denied any wrongdoing. The French financial market regulator, AMF, in April said in a report that Humbert had sold 160,000 shares in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company in November 2005, earning 1.685 million euros. The German, who took over Airbus in June 2005 and resigned in July 2006, is suspected of having benefited from privileged information on the financial picture at Airbus. Humbert's lawyer, Nicolas Morvilliers, insisted that such suspicions were "unfounded" and said his client would make use of subsequent legal proceedings to defend himself. In total 17 French and German members and former members of EADS and its main subsidiary, Airbus, are suspected of insider trading by the French regulator. These include the present head of Airbus, German Thomas Enders, the French head of a space engineering subsidiary EADS Astrium, Francois Auque, and another Airbus manager, Fabrice Bregier, formerly chief executive of Eurocopter. Forgeard, 61, who stepped down in July 2006, was released on May 30 after posting bail of one million euros. He made 4.3 million euros with the sale of 360,000 EADS shares, held in stock options. Gut, 46, who left EADS in June of last year, allegedly sold 1.7 million euros in shares just months before Airbus revealed production delays with the A380 superjumbo. He was charged with insider trading in mid-June and released on bail of 400,000 euros. If convicted, both men face up to two years in jail and a fine of up to 10 times the amount gained through the alleged insider trading. The announcement in June 2006 of a six-month production delay on the new A380, the world's largest airliner, threw EADS and its aircraft unit into crisis. The EADS share price fell 26 percent on the stock market and Airbus launched a restructuring programme to shed 10,000 jobs. Despite its problems, EADS reported a robust return to profit in May. But it also acknowledged new delays, the fourth in two years, in A380 deliveries. It announced a first quarter net profit of 285 million euros, exceeding analyst forecasts. Singapore Airlines put the first A380, able to carry some 850 passengers, into commercial service in October.

Boeing Co., already facing a delay of at least 14 months on its new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, said it will know ``soon'' whether a supplier's damage to the fourth of six test planes will have an effect on the full program. The midbody fuselage section built by Global Aeronautica LLC, a venture with Finmeccanica SpA's Alenia North America, was damaged ``by an Alenia employee not following proper work procedures'' in Charleston, South Carolina, Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Leach said in an interview last night. ``We resolved it, but we have to look at the schedule and what that means'' for the fourth plane as well as the program's timetable, Leach said. The part hasn't yet been shipped to Everett, Washington, where Boeing is doing the final-assembly work, she said, adding that ``when we get the section, we'll know better about the overall impact.'' Boeing, based in Chicago, has lost 32 percent of its market value in a year in part as it pushed back deliveries of the 787 three times because of vendor delays, parts shortages and changes to the wing section. June brought the biggest monthly decline in Boeing shares since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001. Boeing declined earlier today before rising for the first time in eight trading days. The shares gained 29 cents to $66.01 at 10:50 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. 787 Schedule Boeing said last month the 787 was holding to its revised schedule after tests of the power systems were completed June 20. The 787 is due to take its initial flight in the fourth quarter, with delivery to the first customer in next year's third quarter. The fourth plane ``is an important part of the test flight process'' because of its intended role with the engine testing and the incident may stretch the flight tests out by a month, Bank of America analyst Harry Nourse wrote in a note today. The plane needs ``a large number of cycles and flight hours'' to gain U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval, he wrote. ``We will know more soon'' about any effect on the timetable, Boeing's Leach said. The 787 is the first commercial aircraft to be made mostly of carbon-composite material, requiring a different manufacturing process than traditional aluminum planes. Boeing commissioned suppliers in the U.S., Japan and Italy to make completed sections that are then shipped to Everett to be snapped together and have the wings and wheels attached. Boeing's Leach declined to describe the damage. An aviation- industry Web site that has previously reported on 787 delays, Flightglobal.com's Flightblogger, said that incorrect fasteners were used in some holes, damaging the composite structure.

I haven't stayed at Bert's but I've gone through the rooms and they are good value for the money. I eat breakfast every day there and occasionally lunch and dinner and he does serve good pub grub at a reasonable price.