Official..no More Rumours........
Dear Colleagues,
عربي
On Sunday, 8 April 2007 the Board of Directors unanimously approved our restructuring plan aimed at securing the future of Gulf Air to the benefit of the economy and the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman.
To make this possible, shareholders have committed to a capital injection into our company to cover past costs as well as financing the restructuring and investments for future development.
The restructuring plan includes far reaching measures to improve the profitability of our company and to stop the significant losses that occur each day.
These measures include the downsizing of the current fleet from 34 to 28 aircraft, creating an all Airbus fleet, and no longer using our own aircraft to fly to some unprofitable destinations.
For the customer, the plan seeks to improve punctuality, reduce the transit time between connecting flights and improve the range of connections.
The organisation of Gulf Air will also be simplified. It will consist of four divisions (see chart). Each of those will be headed by an Executive Vice President:
Finance and Administration: Ismail Karimi
Network: Hashim Mahmood (Acting)
Sales and Marketing Lee Shave
Operations: Bjorn Naef
To get the restructuring under way, management has set up a special task force to coordinate the many projects that are needed. Also, specific actions are being undertaken to address immediate operational issues along our defined priorities: Safety, punctuality, customer service and profitability. Executive management and vice presidents meet every morning to monitor the progress and to look at shortcomings. Next week, further details of the restructuring plan will be presented.
We are aware that the restructuring will have negative implications for many of you. But if Gulf Air is to survive, we need a dramatic cultural and operational shift inside our company. On all levels of the organisation we need a total commitment to eliminate shortcomings, to improve our quality of service and product and, above all, to work as a team. Only then will we be able to achieve our turn-around and secure the future of Gulf Air. It is in our hands, and we can do it!
For the Executive Management
André Dose
President and Chief Executive