Singapore is smater - note that their investment in Australia is 100% Singapore owned. Do you think they would have run Tiger with say Australians owning the controlling interest
You mean so smart that the previous SIA management just allowed the Brit management they hired in Tiger to run amok in Australia, not doing anything whatsoever to control them, until the grounding disaster blew up in their faces?
Tiger Airways to raise $126m to buy aircraft, strengthen balance sheet | The Australian
TIGER Airways plans to raise $S158.6 million ($126m) in a rights issue to fund aircraft purchases and strengthen its balance sheet as the budget carrier recovers from loss of business in Australia, where it was grounded for six weeks on safety concerns.
The airline plans to offer one rights share for every two shares held by its investors, totalling 273.4 million new shares at S58 cents apiece, it said in a statement last night.
Tiger's shareholders -- Singapore Airlines and Temasek Holdings, which collectively own 40.2 per cent of the carrier -- will subscribe to the rights issue. They have also committed to underwrite 90 per cent of the sale, according to the statement.
From what I heard, Crawford Rix and his gang had zero idea on what to do in Australia especially with CASA and when the very last CASA notice came, he just put it in his drawer because he was too afraid to show it to his board and senior management in Singapore. SIA found out about the grounding from the evening news. Alas this reflects rather poorly on SIA unfortunately, as it does on Crawford Rix.
SIA has messed up twice in the relatively benign operating environment of Australia. The first mistake cost them $400 mil in 2001, and the second one cost them $130 mil last week. In 2001, Qantas lobbied like crazy to the federal govt to keep SIA out of ANZ-AN. Qantas also lobbied like crazy to keep SIA out of SYD-LAX - just like MAS will do in Malaysia, CX in will do in HKG and all the Chinese airlines will do in China if they were confronted by such foreign competition.
In return, Singapore has gifted Qantas a sham set-up in Jetstar Asia, and all the valuable rights ex SIN which the QF Group now has access to, despite SIA's displeasure. No other country one earth would be as kind (or one would say dumb) as Singapore.
SIA have also gotten into trouble with potential acquisitions in India, China and Taiwan, which always seemed to have been approved, then in the last minute local interests always overturned the decisions, always unexpectedly.
QF has always used its influence with politicians and members of the establishment to get exactly what it wants in Australia. It may be a bit more colourful in emerging Asia, but the basic principles are the same - powerful and established local companies everywhere will do everything within their influence to protect their home turf.
This is why I have repeatedly said that if Alan Joyce and Co are going to march into Asia and do what SIA has failed repeatedly to do, then SIA should hire AJ as its next CEO to replace the current one when his term ends in 4-5 years.