I picked up these quotes from the link riakar gave us:
Dubai: Plans to launch commercial service for RAK Airways again seem to be on hold after it missed its latest target launch date of April.
"Before we start flying there is much groundwork still to be done," new CEO Kishu Teckchandani, told Gulf News.
What puzzles me is that with all the staff they have hired over the past year, there is still much groundwork to be done. One of the reasons must be not enough staff with the right experience and background. It should not take three CEOs to set that straight. Or may be it does.
Yesterday, the new chief executive refused to speculate whether the airline would even launch in 2007. "We don't want to make any statements [on a launch date] because we don't want to raise hopes," he said.
Well, giving his employees hopes is probably the best thing he can do at this time of the day. It must be hard, if not impossible, to maintain some sort of enthusiasm in RAK. So what is he going to do? Give them leave of absence until January 2008? That, at least, would reduce the cost side of his project. A cost side which mut be enormous. Fair enough that it takes a bit of money to set up an airline, but keeping the number of employees they have today when they still remain a project without a set launch date, cannot impress the investors.
Teckchandani said RAK Airways was still negotiating air traffic rights with India and Iran, two countries that figure prominently in its planned network.
Correct me if I am wrong, but you do need an AOC for the fleet you are going to operate before you can enter into negotiations over traffic rights? RAK got the AOC back (the old Hamra Air AOC for the Hawker and another multi engine aircraft). Is the 757 on the AOC by now?
Teckchandani also said the airline still needed to procure its second leased aircraft, although it does have the necessary cabin crew and pilots on staff.
If by that quote the CEO says that they need two aircraft to launch, the unavoidable question is why did they not think about that at an earlier stage. Their last launch estimate was for April, and they still need to procure a second aircraft? Project planning cannot be their strong side.
"We are making fine, steady progress, and we hope to begin flying very soon," he said.
But he is giving the employees hope for a future. If it is going to be bright remains to be seen. Or do the staff not buy into a comment like that. If not, I would guess the pilots are the first to look for another crew room.
riakar, (rakair)
I just looked at the RAK Airways web site and there are still two pictures missing on the management page: the VP Flight Operation and VP Training. Obviously the two gentlemen holding these positions are no longer in RAK. So what is the situation. New guys/girls in the pipeline?