SOBELAIR BANKRUPT ?

[B.Navez]

Latest rumors from belgian news: within hours, Belgian charter carrier Sobelair, ex-affiliate to the Sabena Group, should be declared bankrupt within hours since its intended buyer, the German tour operator Preussag is retracting, and the Management Buy Out option "has not been accepted" (?) Apparently, Preussag retract due to a lack of cooperation from personnel in accepting salary discussions.. .Any comments, or rather precisions, are welcome.

Oops, they (the germans) did it again.... lol

[76-er]

I just keep thinking about that famous sentence from Biff Tannen: "There's something very familiar about this...."

[Hold at Saffa]

Lets face it!. .There's never been profit to be made in Belgium.. . [quote]Preussag retract due to a lack of cooperation from personnel in accepting salary discussions.. . <hr></blockquote>. ......merely the spoils of corruption...... . . .So long as BeCA still draw breath, it's all over.

[Flying_Tuur]

According to 'De Standaard', SLR and TUI are starting talks again...

My opinion however is that TUI will do the same thing as Thomas Cook did with CityBird: let SLR go bankrupt, and build a new company on the ashes of SLR, without old CLA and debts...

[B.Navez]

Indeed, just heard on the morning news they started discussing options again.. .H.a.S, impossible to make profit in Belgium? I doubt there could be a single piece of thruth in this, when I see how much flights the foreign carriers have added to Bru now Sabena is gone. And, as far as the charter market is concerned, it is there. The only thing that kill the charter carriers are the tour operators who rule this market and put a lot of pressure on them to reduce cost, and, they have to try to make it no matter what because if they dont, then some other junkies will try to, and steal the place. But now, it seems that we will have a charter company directly ruled by the tour operator, with "Thomas Cook Airline Belgium"... Take the camera when you pass by the field, you might take the spot of the year this summer!!

[Dutchie]

I think the point he is making is that there is no way an airline can make money with Belgium pilots... The other airlines with more flexible staff like FR and VEX show clearly that one can make money in Belgium. The problem for the Belgium aviation world is the fact that 'Europe' (=competition) came faster than they anticipated i.e. competition with other countries and that hurt the Belgium world big time.

[Flying_Tuur]

Oh God, Dutchie tries to talk again.... .For your info, most of Belgian pilots are very flexible, VEX flies with mostly Belgian pilots and Ryanair is NOT a Belgian company. The reason why Ryanair makes money is another discussion which was started too many times already (money from the Walloon government etc..).. .Personally I guess you are a Dutch unemployed 'low time' pilot who can't find a job, mainly because of a lot of Belgian highly qualified people who get the places you were hoping to get.... .As for SLR, I heard a third offer has been made by someone, no details on the radionews... Let's hope the best for our collegues !!

[Belgian Sadness]

Hold at Saffa:

As a Swiss, you should know that Swissair at least partially to blame for the SN disaster.

Even though the Swissair pilots flew a bit more hours than SN pilots they were payed WAY BETTER.

Good for them, but before blaming others, first look at yourself...

. .Greetz

[MMestdagh]

Just blame the gove. for troubles, they shouldn't have been pumping money in a company like that, but changes should have been made many years ago... .Belgian pilots are getting more flexible out of this situation, mainly those who worked for former SN (hopefully), there are a lot of low-time'rs who are willing to work just to have something to scratch their but.

Cheers

[Belgian Beauty]

Dutchie has obviously got nothing better to do than spout off completly useless opinions on a subject he clearly knows nothing about

[LUM]

Well said BB!

[LUM]

Here is the latest:. .The personnel of Sobelair rejected massively, Thursday, the social plan suggested by the German group Preussag. The social plan of Preussag, the giant of tourism which has in particular JetAir, was considered to be "unacceptable" by the trade unions. According to them, it was an offer "to take or leave", which was contradicted by Christian Van Buggenhout, one of the curators of the company. Preussag is opened with the negotiations, it affirmed. Lastly, the trade unions and the curator confirmed the existence of a 3rd candidate. "It would be about Deutsche Structured Finance (DSF)", specified Inge Vervotte (CSC). No official would still have been quoted. Sobelair, subsidiary charter of Sabena, currently employs some 400 workers.

[L2000]

&lt;SUMMARY&gt; From Belgium Teletekst:. .-It was reported that 95% of the staff rejected the plan of Preussag/TUI.. .-Preussag/TUI has revoked its offer.. .-Sobelair staff&management may offer a proposal to take over the company themselves.. .&lt;/SUMMARY&gt;

It all looks tricky to me. I am sure that Preussag was hoping to getway cheap (95% reject???). Then again I would expect their offer to beat unemployment. Stakes are high--what's new in aviation.

Lucien

[typo corrected]

[ 21 February 2002: Message edited by: CH3CH2OH ]</p>