The Guvnor
24th Aug 2001, 13:41
From atwonline.com:
Sabena pilots yesterday afternoon were seeking support from three unions to call a
strike. Pilots' organization BeCA is furious at the attempts of CEO Christoph Mueller
to seek renegotiation of an agreement regarding pilots' career planning, seniority (the CSL) and a transport contract with Virgin Express, which ends in 2005. Virgin Express operates services to London Heathrow, Barcelona and Madrid for Sabena. According to BeCA,it is unacceptable that nearly 200 pilots will lose their jobs under Mueller's
reorganization plan while a third party operates flights for Sabena. Cancellation of the Virgin Express contract would be costly (€400 million), which Sabena currently cannot afford.
In other Belgian news...
City Bird could be acquired by Thomas Cook, according to the management of the Belgian entity of the British tour operator. "It would be untrue to say we have no interest in City Bird," said Wim Desmet, chief executive of Thomas Cook Belgium. "Vertical integration is a reality in most parts of our group while Brussels is an important airport in our operations." City Bird, in receivership since early July, has until Sept. 26 to present a restructuring plan to the Brussels Commercial Court. More than 200 of 665 jobs will have to go at the airline, which last week started the collective redundancy procedure.
Meanwhile, it appears the other Belgian charter carrier, Sobelair, soon could change
owners. According to suggestions in the Belgian press, German travel group Preussag, which yesterday announced a rebranding of all its European travel entities to TUI, is to purchase the 72.42% Sobelair stake held by Sabena.
Sabena pilots yesterday afternoon were seeking support from three unions to call a
strike. Pilots' organization BeCA is furious at the attempts of CEO Christoph Mueller
to seek renegotiation of an agreement regarding pilots' career planning, seniority (the CSL) and a transport contract with Virgin Express, which ends in 2005. Virgin Express operates services to London Heathrow, Barcelona and Madrid for Sabena. According to BeCA,it is unacceptable that nearly 200 pilots will lose their jobs under Mueller's
reorganization plan while a third party operates flights for Sabena. Cancellation of the Virgin Express contract would be costly (€400 million), which Sabena currently cannot afford.
In other Belgian news...
City Bird could be acquired by Thomas Cook, according to the management of the Belgian entity of the British tour operator. "It would be untrue to say we have no interest in City Bird," said Wim Desmet, chief executive of Thomas Cook Belgium. "Vertical integration is a reality in most parts of our group while Brussels is an important airport in our operations." City Bird, in receivership since early July, has until Sept. 26 to present a restructuring plan to the Brussels Commercial Court. More than 200 of 665 jobs will have to go at the airline, which last week started the collective redundancy procedure.
Meanwhile, it appears the other Belgian charter carrier, Sobelair, soon could change
owners. According to suggestions in the Belgian press, German travel group Preussag, which yesterday announced a rebranding of all its European travel entities to TUI, is to purchase the 72.42% Sobelair stake held by Sabena.