Just goes to show that if you no nothing about aviation, but are a CEO, things will catch up with you........
"Tiger Airways names new local boss
ANDREW HEASLEY
March 24, 2010 - 2:18PM
In a surprise development, Tiger Airways has announced a new boss to head its Australian operations to replace its local managing director, Shelley Roberts, who helped set up the discount airline and has steered its rapid growth.
''Shelley has established Tiger Airways Australia as a major national airline, and led it from infancy to profitability,'' Tiger Airways Holdings Group chief executive Tony Davis has announced.
''She intends to take a well deserved break. We would like to thank her and wish her continued success in her future endeavours,'' he said.
Replacing Ms Roberts is Crawford Rix, the managing director of no-frills UK airline ''bmibaby''.
Tiger Airways said the changing of the guard was amicable.
''I’m proud of what we’ve achieved as a company and I’m working with the company to set up the next person in the role as best as I possibly can,'' Ms Roberts said.
Unlike Virgin Blue, which signalled the departure of its long-time chief executive Brett Godfrey months before his departure, Tiger announced the changes simultaneously.
Ms Roberts' handover to Mr Rix is expected to take months.
Spokeswoman Vanessa Regan said it was ''obviously better announce a resignation at the same time as you’ve got a new appointment to go with it, which is why it wasn’t announced previously.''
Tiger Airways chief executive Tony Davis lauded the Australian operations to investors when the company released its latest financial results through the Singapore stock exchange last month.
''Tiger Airways Australia has been profitable for two successive quarters, proving that our Australian business has exited the start-up phase at a faster pace compared to the Singapore business, and is well positioned for growth going forward.''
Mr Davis announced the airline group’s 2009 third-quarter profit of $S14.1 million ($11 million) on February 25.
Mr Rix had brought bmibaby ''to the top position in the UK in terms of reliability and punctuality among low cost carriers,'' Mr Davis said.
These are two areas where Tiger in Australia has struggled.
Tiger came last among the major and regional domestic airlines for punctuality last month, according to latest figures on airline operational performance from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.
In February, Tiger managed only 78.2 per cent of departures on time, and 77.6 per cent of flights arriving on time, significantly under the industry averages of 85.3 and 83.2 per cent respectively.
It also had the equal second-highest rate of cancellations (with Virgin Blue) at 1.1 per cent of flights, above the industry average of 0.9 per cent.
Mr Rix, who is in the UK, was ''relocating to Melbourne with his family over the coming months''.
Mr Davis lauds his airline's ''relentless focus on cost containment''.
Indeed, Tiger Airways Australia’s corporate nerve centre operates from what looks like old army cadet barracks on the grounds of Melbourne Airport, with furniture and office equipment that looks like it was bought from a garage sale.
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