A disaster waiting for a place to happen! Not a very nice thing to say and possibly flippant, but nevertheless true. Unfortunately I did not catch it soon enough, and retained the dubious distinction of being their Flight Operation Manager for six months. We're in Denmark and the year is 1998. After retiring from active duty with Widerøe's of Norway in 1994, I divorced my wife through 26 years and set out to explore the world on my own. 

As story 18 tells, I had applied for a position as a Danish Civil Aviation Authority Inspector, and was called in for an interview with the head of the section for inspections. In the process of being screened for the position, the manager did ask me if it wouldn't be more convenient for me personally, to work in Billund (BLL), which was only ten minutes from home. I couldn't disagree and he continued saying that they did have an operator there that could make good use of my experience. If I wanted to, he could give the manager there a call and see if he was interested. Little did I know what the next six months would bring.

After a long time I received a somewhat disinterested call from the company solicitor mr.Torben Stenius, asking if I was interested in the position, and that I ought to be aware of the fact that they did have another candidate. I told him politely that when and if they reached a decision, to call me back if they  were still interested. They did call back, but not before almost two months had elapsed, then asking me to meet the managing director mr. Per Arpe on the following Saturday at their office in the terminal at Billund.

I met both mr. Arpe and his wife. A pleasant enough meeting, but giving little or no insight into what kind of operation I was in touch with . He did however telle me that they were about to pull through a tough patch, and was in fact in a Chapter 11 situation for another month or so. He asked me what I would require in the way of salary and benefits, which I stated and the meeting concluded with an interim agreement that I would get the job, but would be told
when I could start.

The message came only a few days later, and I commenced work on the 1st of September 1998. Little did I know that thios was not going to be one of the more memorable episodes in my life, and as things turned out it lasted
only six months. In a meeting in the danish civil aviation authority (SLV), in Copenhagen with the head of flight operations and his assistant and Per Arpe and myself, I decided to call it quits, got up said thank you and walked out. I was not going to sit through a meeting where my managing direvtor and head of ops at SLV where making stupid jokes and trying to build a cohort and make decisions concerning operations without keeping me in the loop.

Again it was a clear example of how unfit Per Arpe was relative to running a business. He was completely unable to follow procedures, adhere to the organisational structure, use approved command lines, communicate within the organisation, build and develop his staff, in short he wouldn't even be able to organise a piss'up in a brewery! His method and strategy was nepotism to an extent that would make Cesar rage with envy! I was utterly disgusted as
I drove across both Zealand and Jutland towards home.

But, although things came to an abrupt hault for me at NewAir, I do have some good memories to. And I met a
lot of nice people, whom deserved a better fate than having to work for the Arpes. Captain Jan Jensen for example.
A kind and gentle guy, fond of the ladies and with a beatifull wife and son. Per Arpe can count himself lucky having him onboard, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to carry on the way he did. Jan was sitting in the cockpit of an
F-27 over in Dublin, about to taxi out for takeoff, probably in an aircraft that shouldn't have been moved, but then again that was Jan. Always ready to please. His mobile rang and he was brutally told by Arpe that he was as of
this moment Operations Manager, and if he even attempted to protest, he could taxi back to the tarmac, park the aircraft and get on the first flight home or anywhere else if he wished. He would no longer have a job. And naturally kind Jan agreed, and flew home with the undercarriage down! I mean his kindness went to the extreme! Anyone would be sold out being next to Jan. he was so soft!

Several other pilots with NewAir at the time where great guys, and is presently seving their tenure with a host of other airlines in various places thorughout the world. Some of the stewardesses employed at the time is still in the business, whilst others have moved on to other professions.

NewAir was an abomination in modern aviation. Good riddance!