Canadian eyes top Gulf Air job
By MARK SUMMERS
A CANADIAN aviation expert has launched a bid to become the president and chief executive of Gulf Air, pledging to make Bahrain's national carrier "the people's airline".
James Hultquist-Morrissey, executive co-chairman of Toronto-based private equity company Globe Span Capital Corp, has a plan dubbed Project Akbar, which he says will turn the ailing carrier profitable and ready to be listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange as a public company within four years.
Mr Hultquist-Morrissey has begun assembling a team of aviation experts, including low-cost airline expert and former American Airlines manager Michael Rodyniuk, and has submitted a comprehensive presentation of his proposals to members of the Gulf Air board.
"We have been working on a recovery plan for Gulf Air that would keep employees employed but would also streamline the business, eventually providing for the expansion of the airline and incorporating more job training for Bahrainis so that eventually when I had finished the job, the management would be trained to the point where I could hand over it to a Bahraini," he said.
"I will make sure the public knows what we are doing. It is the public's airline and you have got to be responsible to the people," he added.
In a private presentation submitted to the Gulf Air board, the Oxford graduate promises to utilise an experienced team "to return Gulf Air to a premium airline brand which will be recognised worldwide for innovation and profitability".
Perhaps the most striking proposal in his plan is for Gulf Air's long-haul flights to continue to operate under the airline's brand, but for all short-haul flights (2,000 nautical miles or less from Bahrain)
to be served by a new "low-fare, high value" brand named Akbar.
"Increasing the utilisation of Gulf Air's current assets coupled with overhauling the airline's schedule, pricing, inventory and revenue management systems, the Globe Span Airline Recovery Group will help grow Gulf Air into a commercial success in key international markets while at the same time stimulating traffic through creating a new market segment of low cost and low fares with Akbar," the plan reads.
One of the first things Mr Hultquist-Morrissey and his team would do if given the opportunity would be to increase the utilisation of the current Gulf Air fleet.
He said that members of his executive team were previously involved in a three-month efficiency drive and identified savings of 100 million Canadian dollars at Canada-based carrier WestJet.
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Gulf Air has been on my radar for about three or four years," said Mr Hultquist-Morrissey.
"Last autumn, I became interested and watched it a little bit, and when they hired Dose I continued watching and when I looked at their plan I thought it was a bit of a house of cards.
"I decided to throw my hat in the ring, just after his departure.
"I have spent time in the region, have flown with all the major airlines and none of them has a longer history than Gulf Air.
"There is no need for Gulf Air to feel it is getting a kick in the teeth right now.
"The company in its hey-day was the airline to beat. They have a great first class service - their biggest problem was that they were never developed properly in some markets and we have done an analysis of where they should be going."
Mr Hultquist-Morrissey said job training would be a "big factor" if he was in charge, and said the airline could generate income from spin-offs such as making its simulator centre a training hub for pilots from other airlines. "What we would do is work on the profile of the airline and bring it back to its grander days," he said.
Training
"The brand is solid, it just needs to be put out there in a much more aggressive manner."
The next step, he says, is up to the current board of directors at Gulf Air. "We are waiting for an invite. We have put our team on standby. Myself and my number two would come over - we would present a plan to the organisation, and then allow them to start implementing it.
"I would say to them 'look at our experience, look at our programme, look at where our team has been and what they have been involved in."
Gulf Air said that it welcomed all candidates who feel they can make a contribution to the airline to get in touch.
"We are happy to accept all applications, and candidates can e-mail our chairman or our board of directors and take it on from there," said the airline's spokesman Hisham Abu Fateh. "The search for the new chief executive is ongoing, and nothing has been decided yet."