VOLARE in trouble?

[rozshergold]

Does anyone know what's happening with Volare?

[rubik101]

apparently not!

[Roidelstein]

Telling us what you've heard would be a start...

[KingArthur]

Last month's salaries have not been paid yet...

[flystarboy]

there is a rumour that European may be doing some of the long haul flights for Volare.........
Yet t.b.c:suspect:

[Robert Vesco]

It´s old news! Already reported here. (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=142167&perpage=15&pagenumber=6) :(

[Yaw String]

What baffles me are the productivity payments paid to crews during the last 12 months whilst Volare Airlines was running up its 240-300 million Euro debts. To all those pilots thinking about running to My Way, the new airline being started by the ex Volare management in the expert hands of Mr. Vincenzo Soddu, an ex Italian military fighter pilot.just think about that!!!
In a brief recap of the last 3 years...when Mr. Soddu and Volare Airlines aquired Air Europe Italy the first thing they did was sell aircraft and offices to raise capital, then lease back. This inflated the Volare Airlines books. Then, all losses in the Volare Group were dumped on Air Europe. The rest is history but suffice to say that KPMG Forensic, called in by the present management, have found a hole in the accounts amounting to over 60 million euro relating to the past managements habits.
New and old shareholders alike are desperately working to recapitalise the airline and today it has been announced that the region of Lombardia may take an interest in order to save the day.
Good luck to all those good guys and girls in Air Europe/Volare.... the rest of you....off to My Way.

[EAM]

Presently there is a whole of about 40 million, the 300 millions are long therm depts, like most of the airlines have.
Recapitalisation of 60 millions should be done by 10-12. Nov.
Part of the salary to be payed this week.

300 million depts come from the take over of AirEurope.
@yaw string you have the wrong books, losses came from AirEurope due to their expensive A320 operations for the Swissair network and Volare never owned A320, all of them were leased, so they never sold them.
And by the way more than 60% of italian pilots come from military, its normal here (even I dont like it), Soddu was the former CEO of AlpiEagels.
Now he took millions out of Volare to start MyWay, very clever, fom his point of view.

[hobie]

Did I notice a Volare parked adjacent to the Painting hangar in SNN this afternoon ....... B767 or similar size a/c ??? .......

[Yaw String]

Believe that everything owned by Air Europe was sold and leased back after the entry of Volare.
Yes it is true that Air Europe was already in debt due loss making JFK route and the Swissair fiasco!
Nothing against military pilots who are first taught to make snap decisions independently, to save their country,then have the difficult task of integration into the civil scene with the concept of CRM "I think it is the left engine that has failed, what do you think No.2? and you down the back, what do you say?"
I think that it is Mr. Soddu, all by himself, that has caused so much open hostility toward Volare in the past. Quite an achievment for a single man.

[EAM]

"Only" the last salary (august) was missing, its paid to all C/A and some F/Os by now, CPT and SFO received 30%, rest should be paid within next week, who knows.

[pug munter]

No comments from anyone at Volare? If this was Ryanair or Easyjet I guess there would be lots of views. Perhaps some timidity?

Volare - another Parmalatt?

Cheers

Pug

[Matrix737]

I understand that ILFC have recovered their A330's and that some of the other lessors are posied to do the same unless payments are received.

[B737NG]

Truely, the come and go. Little "molto importante" outfits and "Commandante e Direttore" ... nothing else then bleed Air.
I am sorry for all the people who looked with tears in the eyes into the banks statements at the and of the month.

NG

[Big Bus Boy]

I feel for the folks over there in Italy, its a bad situation to find yourself in, the only good point is that there are jobs around, even if they are not all in Europe. I wish them well. As for there A330 well 2 are going to Etihad, one in Dec one in Jan.

[VIKING9]

I think it's about to get nasty at Volare. Watch this space.....:{

[Matrix737]

I believe you are right in relation to the airline and the crisis, I have heard that a number of people are already moving to greener pastures, with the fleet starting to disolve and the lessors circling......how long more?
It is only a matter of time which is sad considering that the industry is broadly facing a period of sustained recovery!
we can only say a prayer!

[Matrix737]

In the current market anyone who is prepared to travel should be ok! enshalla! We will see but I take your point!

[AVIACO]

Yes, Good Luck to you all. At least two of your former A330's are now flying down here in the Gulf for Qatar (A7-AFN and AFO). Why not follow them here? There are positions available.

I believe the Airbuses are on lease through GPA.

[4HolerPoler]

Another aircraft to be repossessed at Orly today. The writing's on the wall.

4HP

[Matrix737]

Many of the aircraft are GATX and Pegasus Aviation I understand. The GPA ones are probably GECAS.

[Curious Pax]

Not a good day all round for them (although as of this morning they were still operating flights).

Repossession flights so far (all to Bordeaux):

I-PEKE A320 from Malpensa
I-PEKF A320 from Orly
I-PEKG A320 from Bucharest
I-PEKH A320 from Barcelona
I-PEKI A320 from Prague
I-PEKL A320 from Bari
EI-CUQ A320 from Catania

[Aliens62]

Have just heard that Volare have suspended operations for the weekend at least.
Good luck to all concerned.

http://www.repubblica.it/news/ired/ultimora/rep_nazionale_n_880321.html

A (rudimentary) English translation:

"No more flights and no more ticketing. Volare group suspended all its activities, as reported by
people near unions. All the aircraft will remain parked at various airports until further decisions from leasing companies."

[VIKING9]

Strange that Alitalia always come out smelling of roses :mad:

[Joyce Tick]

According to ATI - Volare has ceased operations at 17.32 GMT today.

[Ms. Turret (Ozi)]

What a vicious business!

Best wishes to all those dedicated crews affected by this latest loco to go down for the dirt nap.

Ozi.

[pug munter]

Vicious business? Go back over the years of posts on this airline and you will see the many warning posts about the quality of management and the dubiousness of its owners. Staff working for such employers agreed to take the risks of associating with such people.

Volare collapses with huge debts, so lots of cash to pay back wages and forward ticket sales? Somehow I doubt it.

Another name joins the list of corporate scams in Italy. At this rate, people might think that there are no corporate regulators there.

Mind you at least Al Italia is now safe since there is now no replacement for it.

Pug

Associated Press
Indebted Volare Group Grounds Its Flights
11.19.2004, 02:11 PM

Italian low-cost carrier Volare Group, suffering from financial troubles, grounded its flights and suspended ticket sales on Friday, the company said.

The company posted a message on its Web site, www.volareweb.com, informing customers that as of Friday "all flights are canceled and sales suspended." It offered no further details. However, the company reportedly has financial debts estimated around euro250 million (US$326 million).

Volare Group is a holding company that includes both Volare Airlines SpA, which operates in Italy and Europe, and AirEurope SpA, which runs charter flights. Both companies were affected by the freeze.

In a statement, civil aviation body ENAC indicated it would make sure passengers would be reimbursed for canceled flights.

The group employs 1,400 people. Italy's Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni was expected to meet with unions on Saturday to discuss the crisis, the ANSA news agency said.

[beaucaire]

The same management has already the next airline in the starting-blocks -Myair.
One can predict a fast crash,considering the track-record of owners and prices offered !

http://web3.myair.com/docs/cust/it/index.shtml

[Mooncrest]

Volare did a flight from LBA yesterday. As the aircraft (A321) trundled past my office I saw the words "operated by LTE" on the fuselage. Not sure what the connection between the two companies is - anyone care to enlighten me :confused:

Whoever they are, they've been doing Arrecife and Tenerife flights (I think) on Thursday and Friday instead of the traditional Iberworld jobs. Be interesting to see what becomes of these flights if they have gone down the Swanee.

[fmgs]

What you probably saw yesterday, Mooncrest, was an aircraft from Spanish Charter airline Volar, who are an long-established operation that used to operate under the name of LTE. They used to be a susidiary of German operator LTU; I'm not sure if that is still the case.

Volare are a different outfit.

fmgs

[drag required]

Well perhaps i can shed some information concerning ``volar operated by LTE´´ but excuse my English as it is not my mother tongue. LTE was originally set up by LTU and after a long relationship of some 15 years where LTE would exclusively fly with a fleet of 3 757´s for LTU between the Balearics, Canaries and Germany for LTU the intention of LTU was to close it down amidst a series of cutbacks when things went wrong in the DUS based airline. In the end the cheaper option was to sell it to various businessmen of which one was at the time the commercial director of Volare (italy). The 3 757´s where returned to the leasing company and 6 320/1 where leased and painted with a borrowed logo that Volare never used. The airline still operates as LTE in order to avoid the expense of changing the AOC and uses the commercial name of Volar because LTU wouldn’t allow it otherwise. So as it stands right now, Volar (spain) is not related directly to Volare (italy) although I wouldn’t be able to speculate as to where the money to keep it alive came from. I know Volar (spain) owner is involved in the new outfit in Italy My Air, setting it up as a parallel airline. One Volar (Spain) aircraft an A320 that won’t be needed this season is heading to Italy to spend the winter there with the new colours of My Air.:confused:

[foxmoth]

Staff working for such employers agreed to take the risks of associating with such people.

A bit harsh I think, often people take a job because it is the best available to them at that time, it does not mean you agree with your employers way of doing things.
Good luck to all!:oh:

[maddog62]

In Volare they offered a career that in three/four years could take you from the ejection seat of an old Starfighter to the LHS of an Airbus A330.

I-FORD

I think that's one of the few good things they did :cool:

In NATO, if you have 2500 hrs on fast jets, they give you the LHS of an AWACS (B 707) after "only" 300 hrs (less than 6 months), and if you argue that the job is different, I agree..., it's more demanding!

mad

[qwertyuiop]

maddog62.

Are you sure? A always thought the pilots flew the A/C but the capt was down the back. Surely that makes it easier to sit in AWACS left seat.

[captaintrigger]

Volare europes 4th largest low cost carrier has ceased trading. It was a relatively large airline with 24 aircraft ( 21 A320 ). It was the 3rd largest airline in Italy after Ryanair and Alitalia.

It is suggested that the rising price of Oil was to Blame.

Volare carried over 5 Million passengers in the past year from Its Italian Bases.

The web site is www.volareweb.com


Sorry to hear the news Chaps!!!:(

[WindSheer]

Surely the cost of oil wasn't solely to blame.
I have no idea on the recent history of the airline though!


Best wishes to all those that lose their jobs.:(

[giovane]

word is it "may" restart with immediate effect if it receives 60 million Euros promised from the Italian Government this week.

[Tea White None]

Have the Italian Govt got the money to do that what with all the cash they keep pouring into Alitalia?

[AIRLEBANON]

Hello

I remember seeing a Volare Aibus plane at Beirut International Airport about 2 years ago, I am not sure if it actually operated services to Lebanon but I guess it must have at some point, Its such a shame to see another Italian Airline having problems and going bust, to be honest I dont think the Italian goverment can afford to accomodate it with Financial assistant with the big money being poured into alitalia, Lets hope some Rich Business men in Italia or somewhere else offer it a life line it really is a shame, Best of luck to all that will be affected by this Situations.

Kind regards
AIRLEBANON

[Mooncrest]

Thanks fmgs. Must have been looking at something else:O

[Powerjet1]

MOL not wasting anytime!!!


News Release
23.11.04
RYANAIR TO UNVEIL PLANS FOR ITALIAN EXPANSION
IN THE WAKE OF VOLARE’S COLLAPSE






Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 low fares airline, today ( 23rd Nov 04) announced that Ryanair’s Deputy CEO, Michael Cawley, will host a press conference tomorrow, Wednesday 24th November 04 in Milan at 12.00 (cet) to unveil Ryanair’s expansion plans for Italy in the wake of the collapse of Volare.

Press conference details:

Host: Michael Cawley, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Ryanair

Location: Offices of CBO – Communications by Objectives
7 Via P. Paleocapa – 20121 Milan.

Time: 12.00 (cet)

[ATNotts]

Why can't the Italian government understand a basic fact of business life.

Businesses that lose money go bust!!! Successful businesses survive!!

When they (and some other EU governments) eventually understand that, Euroland may start making some economic headway.

[micia]

The business was not losing money.
The company's business plan was good, but when you have the people running it pocket money and leave big holes and then go start another company, of course when the new owners come in and discover there are holes,..........no one wants to fill them.
A judge has started his investigation, and we all hope Soddu will meet his fate, however, I believe he will not be the only one and we are yet to learn many new "crazy connections".

[iceman51]

sorry Micia ...The business was not losing money actually it was losing a lot of money, and then as cherries on the cake they had an eager mgmt ...

Sorry, but this is the gloomy truth

[icemanalgeria]

Lots of nice guys working for Volare, I wish them all the best and hope that a solution can be found to get the airline flying again.

[micia]

no prob. iceman51, but.....................

I was repeating a direct quote of the welfare minister Maroni, that I read from Ansa.
I don't believe the current owners are without guilt, but odd how bad things seem to follow in Soddu's wake.
I am glad the dirty underwear is now being looked at and soon the judge can decide the real truth.
I hope it will all happen fast so the employees can be paid the two months they have missed so far, and maybe at least pay them something, if not, all due.

[egld0624]

Good evening all,

Not to comment - but merely to add the latest on the apparent crisis at Volare.

Kind regards,

EG:ok:



REUTERS –“23Nov2004 RTRS-UPDATE 3-Embezzlement prosecutors to question Volare bosses


MILAN, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Prosecutors probing possible false accounting at Italy's Volare are set to question the grounded airline's managers, including those who left this year to set up rival Myair.com, the chief investigating magistrate said. Volare, which runs Italy's best known no-frills airline, is seeking insolvency status, having last week suspended all flights in a move that shocked its 1,400 employees and left thousands of passengers stranded.

"Over the next few days we'll question all the managers, executives, everyone who formed part of management during the period in question," said Antonio Pizzi, chief investigating magistrate in Busto Arsizio, outside Milan. He told Reuters on Tuesday he had received a report by forensic accountants KPMG, part of a probe into false accounting and embezzlement at Italy's third-largest airline. "We are confiscating all the relevant documents, the accounts of the last 10 years, the company's books, administrative records," he added.

When asked whether the investigation also concerned airline Myair.com, due to start flights in December, Pizzi said: "Not for now. We'll see, we'll wait for what emerges from this probe. We will investigate all possible avenues." Volare, famous for its navy blue planes, has long been struggling under heavy losses and debt, and last week its planes were grounded altogether. Sources close to Volare said it suspended the flights after losing its insurer.

On Monday, financial police raided its offices as part of an investigation into its accounts begun the previous week.

CASH ALARM

Auditors Deloitte & Touche said on Tuesday they had warned the firm of its financial problems as early as 2002. Deloitte audited Volare Group's consolidated accounts in 2002 and 2003.

"In both cases, the audit showed that Volare Group was in a problematic financial situation and that continuing the company's activity and recovering its asset value depended on finding new financial means to implement the board's strategy," Deloitte said in a statement.

Italy's government is now likely to place Volare under extraordinary administration, though the law will need to be adjusted. This form of protection from creditors, used to rescue the operations of insolvent food group Parmalat, allows day-to-day business to continue.

But it is only applicable to companies with at least one billion euros in debt. Volare is estimated to have 200-300 million euros worth of debt. Government sources said ministers would discuss the law at their next meeting, a date for which has not yet been fixed.

Naming an administrator could pave the way for flights to resume at the airline. National civil aviation body Enac, which has criticised Volare for failing to keep passengers informed, said it would decide by Wednesday whether or not to revoke the airline's operating licence altogether.

But Volare's managers said they needed more time. "We are in a liquidity crisis. We are asking for the licence not to be suspended for 2-3 months, while we wait for the situation to unblock," said technical operator Franco Magni. Vice-Chairman Roberto Naldi said the company had "very little" cash but was technically able to resume flights once placed under administration.

Volare, whose brands include the low-cost Volareweb.com and AirEurope, operates international and domestic scheduled flights, as well as chartered flights.

Low-cost carrier Ryanair <RYA.L> issued a statement saying it would present plans on Wednesday for expansion in Italy in the wake of Volare's move to suspend flights.”

Source: REUTERS

[LGWAlan]

and the MOL response:

RYANAIR TO EXPAND ROUTES IN ITALY


AND OFFERS FREE FLIGHTS TO STRANDED VOLARE PASSENGERS


Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 low fares airline today (24th Nov 2004) announced expansion plans in the Italian market to assist the many hundreds of thousands of passengers disrupted as a result of the collapse of Volare on Friday evening last.

Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley unveiled these plans at a press conference in Milan today which comprise:

1. Ryanair announced a new twice daily service from Paris (Beauvais) to Venice (Treviso) which is Ryanair’s 65th international route to and from Italy and means that Ryanair now flies on nine of the eleven international routes previously flown by Volare from Italy to other EU destinations. Ryanair is operating most of these routes with greater frequency and lower fares than those sold by Volare.


Volare Routes Ryanair Routes
Milan - Barcelona Milan (Bergamo)-Barcelona (Girona)
Milan - Paris Milan (Bergamo)-Paris (Beauvais)
Milan - Prague No Service
Milan - Valencia Milan (Bergamo)-Valencia
Rome - Barcelona Rome (Ciampino)-Barcelona (Girona)
Rome - Paris Rome (Ciampino)-Paris (Beauvais)
Rome - Valencia Rome (Ciampino)-Valencia
Venice - Barcelona Venice (Treviso)-Barcelona (Girona)
Venice - Madrid No Service
Venice - Paris Venice (Treviso)-Paris (Beauvais)
Bologna - Paris Venice (Treviso)-Paris (Beauvais)

Ryanair has undertaken to offer free flights* to all passengers, booked to travel Volare, on any one of these routes, during the period from 1st December to 17th March next (excluding the peak Christmas period of 22nd Dec to 4th Jan - when many of Ryanair’s flights are already sold out). Stranded Volare passengers can make a booking on these routes, from today (24th Nov 04) until midnight 2nd Dec 04, subject to availability by accessing Ryanair’s website at www.ryanair.com, and entering a member mode by keying in their Volare web booking confirmation. Passengers will be offered a fare of €0 and will only be obliged to pay Government taxes and airport charges for each of the relevant routes. There are a total of 400,000 seats available on these routes, and all bookings of these free flights will be on a first come first served basis and are subject to seat availability.

*Free flight = € zero fare but the passenger pays any relevant Government taxes and airport charges.

3. Ryanair has invited all of the Italian airports affected by the collapse of Volare to meetings in Milan on Wednesday and Thursday of this week to discuss the possibility of Ryanair offering low fare domestic flights within Italy on those routes that were previously operated by Volare. Ryanair has undertaken that any passengers who have lost out as a result of the Volare collapse on domestic routes would be offered a similar period of free fares on any domestic routes subsequently launched by Ryanair in Italy.

Announcing details of this rescue package for stranded Volare passengers in Milan today, Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley said:

“Even before the collapse of Volare, Ryanair was already Italy’s second largest and lowest fares airline. Our comprehensive network of international routes to and from Italy with the addition of this new Venice-Paris service means that we can offer all international passengers stranded by Volare a flight on a similar international route. Our offer of free flights (subject only to Government taxes and airport charges) will mean that these passengers will have the opportunity of travelling on their chosen route without losing the vast majority of the air fare paid to Volare, and we look forward to reuniting friends and families that may have been stranded by the unfortunate but inevitable demise of Volare”.

“Clearly a lot of Italian airports have lost significant traffic volumes as a result of Volare’s collapse and we have invited all of these airports to meetings in Milan this week to see if we can help them to launch low fare domestic and international routes, to make up for the traffic they have lost as a result of Volare’s collapse. Ryanair already flies to almost all of the airports in Italy previously served by Volare and we expect to announce further route expansion to and from these airports in the not too distant future subject to the successful conclusion of satisfactory agreements with these airports”

“The collapse of Volare last week is the second significant collapse (V-Bird was the first) in the European low fares sector this Winter. Ryanair was the first to predict that there would be a bloodbath this Winter which would result in the collapse of loss making low fare airlines. With intense competition all over Europe and high oil prices, only the strongest low fares airlines will survive Volare will not be the last. Many other airlines talk about low fares, but none can match Ryanair’s low fares, our punctuality or our customer service. We have enjoyed enormous growth in the Italian market over the past three years and we expect that Ryanair’s pro-passenger response to the collapse of Volare will enable us to continue to grow and expand in the Italian market”.

[tarjet fixated]

Today the Italian authorities have suspended Volare's and Air Europe's AOC's for 1 month which they say is the time needed to evaluate if the 2 parent companies can continue operating at all being their financial situation close to deadly critical.
good luck to all of you guys...just couriuos to see if you are gonna get any support from AZ guys who were in an even worst situation a couple of months ago and who were magically saved.

[Yaw String]

And the appropriate place for !(do not name names) ? Alcatraz maybe! Together with the good old boys in ENAC down in Rome who sanction positioning as pax for an undetermined amount of time, taking a MAXIMUM of 8 hours rest, then flying a possible 24 hour duty period in command.. without even that rest...if the company decides that it is an emergency!!!!!!
Speechless

[bugs bunny]

Come on people! I hear so many accusations made to Soddu.
He was the brain and he was managing everything. His staff? the same. They all knew what was going on and played their cards quite well. Managers, after all...
How about the pilots? How about the pilots who knew and let it happen? How about the people who were sponsoring and leading the Pilot Association (ANVA)? How about the pressure they were putting on newcomers to join the internal pilots association and the blackmailing who was about to join the national pilots unions? ANVA was created and operated by the managment to get anything approved anytime. By keeping the national unions out of the way they were able to wash the dirty clothes without anyone from outside seeing the stains... All knew about it and all agreed to keep it that way. And as far as we know, no one does anything for nothing... They all had their chairs, thair titles, their positions, doesn't really matter if they were good enough for it...
Now the bubble burst! Soddu and the close friends go on as planned long time ago with Myair, the whole theam, the people who know how dirty everything is, the people who know how dirty everything has always been (since the beginning, the Alpi Eagles beginning...) but everyone happy to be making a few more Euros stubbing colleagues in the back.
Now what happens with Volare people left without a leader? Now that they realized that Soddu had only been using them and never really cared. Now that the ship is sinking?
Oh my dear! They all ran to sign up with the National unions, the same ones of the Alitalia people... But wasn't everyone in Volare saying that the unions were so bad and they were driving AZ to bankruptcy? Weren't they even thinking at one stage that Volare would have bought AZ eventually to become the #1 airline in Italy? It is very very sad... It is so sad to see how people can change their flag so quickly. It is so sad to see people who contributed to this failure on TV asking for govermnet help, they are all so united now! How sweet! Dignity is unknown word in someone's vocabulary.
There are, no doubt, so many good people in Volare, but sorry, no mercy for the other ones. Shame on you!

[White Kite]

MILAN
Volare Group, an Italian low-cost airline that has not flown since suspending flights late last week, declared insolvency on Tuesday, opening the way for government intervention.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's cabinet is expected to name an extraordinary commissioner for Volare when it meets on Thursday or Friday. The commissioner can be named only after a decree changes legislation introduced less than a year ago to sort out the chaos left by the bankruptcy of the dairy and food giant Parmalat. That legislation, which governs appointments of extraordinary commissioners, currently applies only to companies with more than €1 billion, or $1.31 billion, in debt, far more than Volare is estimated to have.

By declaring insolvency, Volare is protecting itself from creditors' claims while it tries to sort out its finances.

As with Parmalat, the demise of Volare may lead to the courtroom.

Prosecutors have already begun investigating the airline's financial records on suspicion of false accounting and fraudulent bankruptcy, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Volare had a "hole" of €270 million in its accounts, according to an audit done by KPMG, Repubblica said. A Volare spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The collapse of Volare, which means "to fly" in Italian, could be a precursor to financial problems at other European low-cost airlines, and it shows that not just the traditional large airlines are running into financial problems that have been aggravated by the surge in the price of oil. Ray Webster, chief executive of EasyJet, said Tuesday that the number of low-cost airlines in Europe was not sustainable, and Michael O'Leary, chief of Ryanair, recently warned of a "bloodbath" in the sector.

"Ryanair has been very good at the low-cost business, but others in the industry will have problems in the future because the margins are very low and you can only cut costs so much," said Massimiliano Romano of Opus Consulting in Milan. "Competition is getting tougher all the time, and the price of oil keeps going higher."

The insolvency of Volare comes on the heels of financial problems at Alitalia, Italy's flagship carrier.

Alitalia teetered on the edge of bankruptcy for a year before securing a €400-million government-guaranteed loan that has given the flag carrier breathing room to begin implementing a restructuring plan.

After seven years in the air, Volare's problems came to a head Friday when the company could not cover the costs of leasing some of its airplanes, and insurance companies then pulled their coverage of the flights. Almost 1,400 employees risk losing their jobs, though Italy's welfare minister, Roberto Maroni, told La Repubblica that Rome would use "every means" to safeguard their position.

Volare is owned by the Argentine investor Eduardo Eurnekian; the airline's founder, Gino Zoccai; a Milan-based merchant bank; and an investment fund.

The company also runs a charter airline called Air Europe.

By Eric Sylvers International Herald Tribune

[Stripes]

Very tough on those hardworking guys in Volare to lose their jobs due to that kind of management. No fault of theirs - just professionals doing a professional job and that's what you get.

The good news is that there are plenty of A320 and 330 jobs out there I believe. In Singapore alone there are four operators using 320s, Tiger, jetstar Asia, valuair and Silk
air.

Pilots should contact these operators as they are all recruiting at the moment.

Best of luck to you all especially at this time of year.

[Towerman]

What really p***** me off is the state of Italian Law where aircraft that are rightfully owned by Lessors - and in many cases are registered OUTSIDE of Italy - can be restrained from flying out. Why is it one law for the Italians and another for most of the resyt of Europe - Spain excluded.
Why would any right-minded bank or lessor get involved in such countries when they cant readily repossess their assets.

A few years ago when National Jet Italia collapsed amid all sorts of scandal, at least one of the BAe 146 aircraft sat rotting for A YEAR before it was released.

God help the Lessors and Banks if Alitalia were to collapse...

[Yaw String]

Sorry for not heeding the rules Danny!
Anyway, as the Italian Fiscal police have ordered the seizure of all the accounts of Volare Airlines from 1997 we shall soon be able to post the findings of the ongoing investigation.
Seems that Mr X...... and fiends MAY have been using the company as a cash dispenser machine.......Seems that Mr. X.... and fiends MAY have been paying an inflated aircraft leasing fee...to a company with family conections to Mr. X....
Seems that a new company with which Mr. X has publically declared no contact was sharing the same call centre used by Volare Web in order to sell tickets.
Do we smell parasites?
Really....it is all so blatant but until now nothing was being done about it. As for the alleged illegal flying practices as described by many ex Volare pilots!!! Ah, but that would interest ENAC so lets forget that!!!!
Pissed off I am because I thought we belonged to a serious group of professionals in this country but until ENAC get off their fat a---s all is lost and the world laughs.

P.S. White Knight....Quote " The company also runs(ruined) a charter company called Air Europe Spa.

[JOB HUNTER]

I am sory for the people who worked for but Volare is grounded for a very long term

[Gufo]

Hi there, it's my first post out here! Just a quick intro for myself, I'm a Volare FO :ooh:

Don't have a clue about who told you this, JOB HUNTER, but my info about us is that we should resume the activity in quite a short time (maybe 1week); the "commissario" should be appointed in a couple of days.
After that, I agree with you that no one can possibly know what's gonna happen.
As a summary, sounds like we're gonna get back flying quite early. If we'll keep on flying, that will depend on factors we're not able to assess, here.

The good news is, on a longer term, the flights Volare offered will be undertaken by someone, if Volare fails, anyway. Just hope they won't be undertaken by some management who either left another company stranded, using the money for his business, or a management who -falsely, I heard- offered free flights to former VLE pax. That was bad taste. Pathetic :rolleyes:

Take care, people. Write soon!!

[Baron rouge]

GUFO,

Good news if you manage to fly again, but can you tell us how many A/C you still have at VOLARE? having heard that the leasing companies had taken them back

[Lupin]

Hi guys. I know a lot of people would appriciate a failure of Volare (Ryanair management?:* ) but the rumors here would say differently! Let's hope for the moment.

Coming back soon...

Lupin
FO VA Airlines

[Lartington]

I was talking to someone high up in Air Europe Italy, which is part of Volare. He said they haven't been paid for two months. I used to work for AEI and enjoyed the two years before I retired. I have also worked for 11 airlines that have gone bust. My advice to any pilot is to get the hell out asap as soon as there is no pay cheque at the end of the month. I gather some of the AEI pilots have been offered jobs with Blue Panorama and turned them down. Fools

[Robert Vesco]

Towerman: God help the Lessors and Banks if Alitalia were to collapse... That´s why it does not collapse! At least not until they have secured all their assets in Alitalia ´parte due.´

If you want to see the future of Italian aviation, look at Switzerland! Errr, or is it the other way around? ;)

[Gufo]

At this time sounds like VLE has 15 A320s available for use, as soon as the "commissario" renegotiates the leasing contracts. But the A/Cs are there. As far as we know, these 15 haven't been taken back.

As for hopping outta here: it's an option. But right now 200 VLE pilots probably sent CVs around like me. The CV traffic is somewhat jammed, at this time. We really have to wait til flights start again. Then we'll be able to see which pilots will remain in VLE, how many will go away etc.

[iceman51]

Robert Vesco:
That´s why it does not collapse! you are 100% right, 200% if you add ...airports :mad:
(a reasonable estimate of money due by Volare to airports is anything between 80 and 100 mio euros)

In my opinion there are two questions to be answered: how can a company in a such bad financial shape start flying again ?
is the market available to the "new Volare" (if and when it will ever fly) ?
Sorry but the my answers are: never and no.

Therefore, I believe that in this mess and unpleasant situation to be in, the best solution is to let Volare (and some other airline as well :mad: ) go bust, and let others players to step in.

Lartington is 100% right as well:
get the hell out asap as soon as there is no pay cheque at the end of the monthGufo:

There is no way a "commissario" (an extraordinary commissioner) put in charge of the airline by the government can turnaround the company if the business rule number one "businesses that lose money go bust!" is not fully understood. Of course Volare could be placed under extraordinary administration to protect it from creditors and allow the company to resume flights, but a quite different thing will be to make it a profitable airline (have a look to the new Swiss :( ). There is ony one winner in this case: the extraordinary commissioner and his team! :yuk:

[Gufo]

The world is weird, man. Being an administrator is not my job: I won't start doing that now. So stating everybody's destiny that way sounds quite pointless to me.

I will only point out one thing: the VLE case is far away from the Alitalia affair. As far as I know, we were not exactly losing money with the business, the money was TAKEN AWAY. That's the difference; that's why, hopefully, there are some chances we can resume the business. Of course things are not this simple, otherwise, iceman51, you'd be Lufthansa's CEO. No offence intended. I only mean that our vision is too limited to say we're sure about these issues.
Nevertheless I'll wait and see, playing lots of tennis in the meantime :ok:

[Towerman]

Not only are Volare in debt to the airports but there is the small question of 16 millionEuros owed to Eurocontrol.

The aircraft are as far as I am aware all still in Italy despite Lessor attempts to fly them out .........

[Vizcaya]

Spotted one A320 in SXF. (Berlin Schönefeld)

[iceman51]

To run an airline is one of the more demanding and difficult job (this is why I am not LH's CEO :p ), but as in any business the "weather radar" should be always working. Big storms never come by surprise, and today there are so many instruments available to check if your colleague next door or the top management are doing their jobs as required.

Money might have been stolen in Volare, and possibly it was (I have no evidence in this respect, the prosecutors are investigating), but in any event the business model of Volare was not working as it was supposed to do. No more, no less as in (too) many other airlines, actually more pax were flown, more red ink was poured. Furthermore, Volare wanted to be "a one size fits all airline". You cannot be a LCC, a long haul scheduled, and a charter carrier at the same time, even with different companies operating each separately. There is no business case in this respect worldwide. Why it should have worked in Italy?

I believe that Volare's management and the banks involved started a vicious circle and tried to keep it flying creating further losses and problems. The stupidity of the lessors and of the airports is very well known :yuk: and helped a lot as well. Eurocontrol accountig is in practice not existant (otherwise the 16mio euro debt of Volare should be zero :yuk: ). Not to mention the unions, where were these boys, possibly ...nowhere.

One should have been totally deaf not to have been suspicious. Rumuors were around since years by now :suspect: , payments were in arrears since ever, the debt was already rescheduled at least once, and even after that ...not repaid. This information, news, etc. were and are available to everybody (it was not like the case in the Parmalat affair). Actually, in the Volare and Alitalia affairs it was enough to read the daily press.

So, what future for Volare? Grounded for ever, I hope, and the 1,400 jobs working and the 5+mio pax and flying with other airlines.

A final, sour question: who is gonna to pay Volare' debt, fees, taxes, etc. vis-a- vis airports, handling agents, Eurocontrol, etc.? Possibly the other airlines by paying increased fees, charges, rates, etc. Actually, in this respect, considered that it is now standard for a pilot to come up with a bond if he/she wants to fly for the airline xxx or yyy, why airlines should not come up with a bond to cover three months of Eurocontrol's average fees? And, furthermore, if even only one month goes in arrears, they should be banned immediately from the sky until they have paid the outstanding debt (it might be that traffic problems on the ground and in the air will soon disappear :E )