According to Al Wasat newspaper , on Thursday (Frontpage) quoting GF CEO Samer Al Majali "I have tendered my resignation in February , but the government of Bahrain has not responded to it."
This is the first official confirmation of Al Majali's resignation which refutes the official GF repeated insistence that their CEO has not resigned.
Interestingly enough . Al Majali said that he has no information about the so-called Management re-structuring nor about routes re-structures!
Insiders claim that the government is in real dilemma with the frustrated Al Majali's resignation. The Jordanian has openly blamed the government policies for the crises situation of the airline. The closing of high yield profitable routes , sacking of senior staff , political interference in the company including appointment of personnel not competent for the jobs , have all lead Al majali to give up and finally submit his reignation. The current no 2 in GF , Maher Al Mussalam ( one of the people that the CEO is complaining about) is not considered to be fit to lead the company even on temporary basis. However , the ex-military man has lots of clout in the hierarchy and could get the job despite his poor performance and military style management.
The Parliament is insisting on a clean up of GF specially the Middle and Higher management. There is also a lot of concern by several MP's that contracts are awarded without going through the proper procedures. Although GF is supposed to be under the authority of the government Tender Board , it is believed that many contracts with service providers ( like local landlords) have failed to meet the government strict criteria , yet somehow the contracts were awarded regardless.
Some MP's have been critical of GF Early retirement schemes and called for scrapping such a scheme immidiately. The Salfi group of MP are demanding a drastic reduction of Expatriates.
Neither the Minster of Finance nor the Transport Minister have a clear plan on how would the aid package demanded ( 660 Million BD) ensure the survival of the Airline leading the MP's to suspect that this financial support request would not be the last one from the Airline management.
Unconfirmed news: State of Qatar has dismissed any interest in buying Gulf Air.