Official..no More Rumours........
 

Dear Colleagues,





عربي
On Sunday, 8 April 2007 the Board of Directors unanimously approved our restructuring plan aimed at securing the future of Gulf Air to the benefit of the economy and the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman.

To make this possible, shareholders have committed to a capital injection into our company to cover past costs as well as financing the restructuring and investments for future development.

The restructuring plan includes far reaching measures to improve the profitability of our company and to stop the significant losses that occur each day.

These measures include the downsizing of the current fleet from 34 to 28 aircraft, creating an all Airbus fleet, and no longer using our own aircraft to fly to some unprofitable destinations.

For the customer, the plan seeks to improve punctuality, reduce the transit time between connecting flights and improve the range of connections.

The organisation of Gulf Air will also be simplified. It will consist of four divisions (see chart). Each of those will be headed by an Executive Vice President:

Finance and Administration: Ismail Karimi

Network: Hashim Mahmood (Acting)

Sales and Marketing Lee Shave

Operations: Bjorn Naef





To get the restructuring under way, management has set up a special task force to coordinate the many projects that are needed. Also, specific actions are being undertaken to address immediate operational issues along our defined priorities: Safety, punctuality, customer service and profitability. Executive management and vice presidents meet every morning to monitor the progress and to look at shortcomings. Next week, further details of the restructuring plan will be presented.

We are aware that the restructuring will have negative implications for many of you. But if Gulf Air is to survive, we need a dramatic cultural and operational shift inside our company. On all levels of the organisation we need a total commitment to eliminate shortcomings, to improve our quality of service and product and, above all, to work as a team. Only then will we be able to achieve our turn-around and secure the future of Gulf Air. It is in our hands, and we can do it!



For the Executive Management
André Dose
President and Chief Executive

Expect in the next 24-48hrs news of which routes will be dropped - rumour has it that SIN, SYD, CGK, HKG, JNB, DUB and possibly ATH, IST.

BUT GF likely to operate some new destinations that have the potential to be profit making.

First World, Second World, Third World. I am not even going to get into a debate in trying to qualify these very unclear titles. A Google search will reveal plenty of sites with rambling discussions about what these normally titles (often with political-alliance overtones) mean when applied to countries.

From a purely business standpoint, the proverb is that "money talks & B.S. walks."

If Gulf Air was yours, including it's profits and debts, and you could increase profit by deploying the entire fleet on flights to a country like, say, India, or China, you would. There are no shortage of airlines who have lost their shirts in so-called "First World" countries such as the United States or Australia, while markets like India and China are the lands of opportunity for aviation.

As a stakeholder (an employee) of Gulf Air, I really don't care much where we fly to-- sure, I would love to have 3 day nightstops in Dublin or Johannesburg, even better if we could have 5-days in Bangkok, but it doesn't mean much if this is an unsustainable model. Better for the Company to do well even if it means flying to less attractive (from my standpoint) destinations, make more money, pass along the benefits to us in the form of higher salaries & good benefits. Then I will visit these places on my vacation days.

P.S., one place that I would be unwilling to fly to under the current situation is Bagdhad. :=

I really do think these are desperate times for GF. It's market is being erroded on all fronts..Long Haul by EK, EY, QR and even Jet on London to Bombay and Delhi. Intra Gulf by the likes of Arabia and Jazeera and soon carriers like Jet and Kingfisher will be flying to the Gulf. Maybe they should concentrate more on the Saudi market if they can get more access of course.

Just a few questions chaps.

a) Who in heavens name is Bjorn Naef?
b) Has Hammeed Ali been shown the door?
c) Does too much Guinness turn your $hite black?

Any answeres to these vital questions would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Capt Fluffies

I can understand your concern Bombay HF, but for some reason I am not.

For someone like myself as a low-level organism in the heirarchy of the GF food chain, market share doesn't worry me much-- it is inevitable that GF's market share becomes less and less as other airlines in the region increase their fleet size and we do not. What concerns me more is profitability. High market share does not automatically go hand-in-hand with profitability, although it can. I am unconvinced that most of the competition in the region is profitable despite their market share.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...ZZZ_SS500_.jpg

Those airlines that persue market share rather than profitability (read that to also mean sustainability) are in the end only hurting their stakeholders. Over the course of less than 100-years, the history of the airline industry is littered with the wreckage of airlines that miscalculated this and other factors. Similarly, governments and airline unions have largely failed to grasp the worldwide trends in aviation.

Simply opening new, unserved markets will do nothing long term if an airline cannot address it's basic deficiencies (after all, if money is to be made on a new route, others will follow also). Hopefully Mr. Dose will be successful in addressing these deficiencies.

Agreed, but the problem i see is GF seem to be the only airline in this region that care about profitability. The rest seem happy to run at a loss as long as they can bring people to their countries to spend money in their economy ie EK. Maybe Bahrain should just accept the fact that GF will never be commercially viable and if they want an airline it will have to be subsidised by the Government.

Bombay HF

You got it right !!

all the airlines do is bring people to these countries and there they spend

so the country makes money and subsidises the airline

its all in the same family

and in fact its good business because the country makes a profit

Bahrain hasn't even got a beach thats free for all

and its in the Gulf with nice warm waters

so the other Gulf Countries bring people to spend time hence money in their country

GF only transports the labour required to keep these other countries going

S.L.

The question I ask myself, Bombay HF is whether Bahrain can afford it, and even if they do, whether it would be responsible for the Government of Bahrain to throw good money after bad into an unprofitable airline.

I don't know where you are from, but in my home country, people would be quite upset if Government wasted money on prestige projects that did not bring at least $1 return for each $1 spent. In many countries, Governments only subsidize airlines when it truly provides a good return, such as big tourist income, or because the cost of transport would be so high or unavailable that it is necessary to be able to make the country function. Bahrain is one of "poorest" countries in the region in terms of not having the size of petroleum reserves that it's neighbors did, and tourism potential, IMHO, is very limited. Even IF it did, would it be responsible governance to spend the wealth of these resources (all of which have a finite limit-- even in countries like Saudi Arabia or Qatar) on something that will give no meaningful returns-- I mean, should money be squandered on shiny jets for a big unprofitable airline, or would they be better spent on schools, hospitals, and development of emerging alternative industries with better promise? The resource wealth of a nation is also the inheritance of the future generations-- so the responsibilities are even greater-fold.

For that reason, I think it is a responsible approach being taken. Not everything has been tried yet, and IMHO, it is too early for the Bahrainis to "cry uncle" and write-off Gulf Air as a basket case. GF has potential if fixed properly-- plenty of examples of profitable airlines whose business has little to do with bringing pax or cargo to their home countries.

Gulf goes Swiss???
 

I am having a déjà-vu when reading all the new appointments in GF, not at good one, unfortunately:
Seems AD is bringing in all his old chaps that have failed with him in Crossair:
Bjoern Naef: ex- CRX Captain ( RJ?/ Saab340??), ex VP Product and Services after relaunch of Swiss Intl Airlines-->took his hat after 1,5 years having big difficulties in communicating with Cabin Crew Representatives and Unions. Was appointed CEO for Swiss Express a company that never flew( planned outsourcing of regîonal feeders for Swiss Air).
Did a quick Masters in the USA somewhere ( weekend course :ugh: ??) and then had 2 choices: 1 great opportunity in Asia and one not so great in Africa. Guess which one he got??YES, Africa and he seemingly never liked it there. Marhaba in GF!! Recap: fail, fail, fail!!

Lee Shave: VP Sales and Marketing in the final years of Swissair. Was involved in the Sabena- Swissair deal, I believe ex BA guy, had a good reputation. Maybe a lucky shot for GF.

And AD goes on with his bulls***ing by saying "It is in our hands". Could anyone just cut his telephone line to Switzerland, to a guy named Moritz Suter giving him advice of how to screw up companies !!!:} ????

PJ totally agree with you in most of everything you have said. Nobody can point the finger at GF as it is inevitible for them to downsize and the damage has been done a very long time ago. Yes they should have never allowed themselves to reach such a situation but they have and now they have to take drastic corrective actions.They have to start from scratch. They have to take a few steps back in order to move forward. The only major concern is the redunduncies which are to follow.

Swissair?:uhoh:

No offence to the sky chefs but if Gulfair is to close all of these destinations and concentrate on asian routes is there any point to keep them on board?

More to the point, will the Sky Chefs remain on board now that Hogan is gone?

Look out for the EY ad for Sky Chef's and Sky Nannies - you may think I am joking but JH does a very good copy-paste.

Back to GF, next week will be the official announcement on route cuts, but it will be in the papers tomorrow:

JNB/DUB/SIN/SYD/HKG/JKT/CCU

Any indications/news/info on redundencies?

It sadly sounds like a group of people who will very soon find themselves out of their depth. They have very limited experience in the type of oeration that GF is and even less dealing with the Arab way. The new VPO comes from Transafrik which is some turboprop operation and he is listed as having only 15 years experience including as pilot. Holy sh1t batman, to the batpole quick!!!!

This brings up a few interesting points for the Boeing guys in particular.

First, if I understand it there won't be any pilot layoffs due to a general shortage already. That mean all the Boeing pilots are going to have to try and find a sidestick in some plastic tonka toy jet. Is GF going to try and makes us sign bonds for the bus now, cause from my perspective that just ain't happening for me. You can train me or fire me, but no way am i signing another bond at these pay levels. If they won't put me on the bus if i don't sign another bond does that invalidate the current bond that i have left on the boeing? If so that would seem to be a good deal leaving me free to go where i chose unbonded. I suppose the other option would be to leave the current bond in place for it's duration, just switch fleet types, that would make the most sense to me.

Second are they going to adjust the pay package? Seems unlikely to me given the cost cutting measures goin on. If not, do they expect to retain flight deck?, cause no one i know can afford to hang out here at these current pay levels no matter how much they like it here. It'll be an intersting summer, hopefully i can find enough reasons to stay.

As a Boeing pilot be careful what you say right now. According to the official memo from yesterday GF is downsizing from 33 aircraft to 28 and will be an ALL airbus airline. There may be a rush of 76 guys to grab that sidestick so don't be left at the back of the Q.

vpo
 

:ugh: Mr.hameed ali.mr.i want to be President and Chief Executive of gulf air bye bye byyyyyye.

Maybe when Mr. Dose gets rid of the 767's he can find a few dinars to give his employees. I suppose that would be wishfull thinking, like trying to get a day pass to the beach in Varedero while staying in camp Cuba. Either they want to keep you i.e. by a civilized fleet transfer or they want you gone by shoving another training bond in your face.
Just another thought...anybody hear if they are looking for volunteer's to resign and if so would that terminate "the bond"...in shalla
tbaylx...bbq soon

Jack,

I think you're missing my point. Alot of us aren't in a rush to grab the sidestick at these pay levels. There are several airlines hiring all over this region and others at signifcantly better package levels. I like working here, but there is no way i'm signing another bond unless the pay is competitve. So i'm more than happy to stay on the Boeing while its around and then transfer the remainder of the Boeing bond over to the airbus, but i will not sign for another 3 years because they phased out the aircraft i was flying on. If that means I have to leave GF, then so be it.

Gulf Air to cut fleet to 28 and shift to all-Airbus operation
 

David Kaminski-Morrow, London (10Apr07, 09:43 GMT, 159 words)

Middle Eastern carrier Gulf Air is to begin withdrawing Boeing 767 aircraft from its fleet, cutting the fleet size from 34 to 28 aircraft, in a bid to reduce costs.
It will start removing the twin-jets from service in a shift towards establishing an all-Airbus operation. The changes will be accompanied by a strategy to lessen the time aircraft spend on the ground and a reduction in connection time for passengers.
The move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures being imposed by new chief executive Andre Dose who took over the airline at the beginning of April.
“At present Gulf Air is heavily losing money every day,” says Dose. “This has to stop.”
Gulf Air has nine 767-300ERs but earlier this year was forced to ground the jets temporarily for unexpected maintenance checks.
While Gulf Air has previously stated that it plans to replace the 767s, the fleet-reduction programme has not indicated any immediate renewal programme.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

pay rise
 

Hi guys cant you see wats happening.
Gulf air is seeing people leaving so the fleet reduction is the best way out for them.
This way no need for payrise as GF will have extra crew .This will create no problem for gf if crew leave.Less salaries to pay some money from the sold 767 and Walla GF makes profit.
Mr Dose these are old tricks we all know about.
But majority of who stays around will be the unwanted from others.So much for the prime target of Safety.
Gud luck all gud job I ran away already.

sizing down GF
 

Speed Lever was right after all hay !!!

it was announced today phasing out will start in june to all 767 with no end date to the phasing, pilots will be transfered to A320 and A340/A330 1st group will go this month 2FO to A320 and 4CPT to A340 on seniority which a list that has not been seen around yet, i suppose friend and family 1st then the rest of the pilots.

Cheers
W.M.

ps. in other stories the are giving 400 cabin crew the sack too
:confused:

Well...tbaylx and others...ir your not willing to "grab the side stick" for this pay rate....we suggest you and others pursue other options...sure you have many offers with your vast widebody, international jet experience...to each his own...many of us, including the majority of your colleagues from former employer support the steps GF is undertaking to return to viability...just remember your options when you joined GF to begin with...Georgian B-1900 (C-208) pilot.???? If the economics dont work for you...then the options are there...apply for the job..get accepted then play your cards...to each his own..many of us here support the efforts to rebuild GF..but it is a team effort...if you're not part of the team..then let us know...we'll be happy to assist you in exercising your options...:ok:

Geez....can u imagine "Ironbutt" with a side stick???:eek: Never say never!!!!!!:ok:

SYD
 

As Oddy mentioned GF SYD are going through recruitment currently but that said the new CEO could quite easily say to the acting GM its his job to wind things up.
Isn't it strange that the airline can be left in such dire straights - yet JH can move on to yet another high ranking posting....
In football terms its like getting relegated then becoming manager of Manchester Utd as a reward!

GF to become an all Airbus fleet, 34 aircraft down to 28 by getting rid of NINE 767:confused: I was never that good at maths at school.

3 A340's to come on board to push the fleet to 28 after the 9 767's are removed.

Sorry Ironbutt but your example is analgous to the people who claim you cannot be against the war in Iraq and still support the troops - utter bullcrap.
You can be a team player at GF and still take issue with pay (and housing) and conditions.

This is to be confirmed but last I heard they are moving a couple 767 Fo's to the 320 and 'requiring' them to sign bonds once again. Well, I would take exception also. It is unfair. They hired the guy - if they force him let him continue his current bond.

The pay here does not meet the standards elsewhere in the Gulf (or Aisa or Europe..........). SO GF can match or people will leave. THIS IS BUSINESS!!!! In the same way that you support GF plans to be viable there should be no issue with people looking for better pay and conditions elsewhere. GF tries to make a profit and so do we as individuals. That does not make me or others lesser people, non-team players or however many other terms you would like to drag up.

Options - B1900????? Lots of others incluiding 747's in Asia, ME airlines, left seat 737 inb Canada etc etc etc.

Sitting in the left seat I think you have difficulty being objective. I have a family to support - THEY COME FIRST..everytime. The next housing increase and schooling increase freezes me out of being able to afford to live here. So I will leave. Call it what you like but in this 'new' modern world the biz people liek to talk about I'll take my personal business to where it makes sense.

Does anybody else feel that 6 months was a little too long for no permanent PCE to be at the helm of GF?

I recall back last fall some people mused whether GF needs a PCE-- "we're doing OK without one!" Yet when I look around me, it seems that morale has severely diminished in the 6-month period, in-part do to a prolonged lack of sense of direction. Hopefully, things will get better now.

Over the last 10 days I've heard more from the new management about where the company is headed than I did over the last 6 months. I like that, and I hope Mr. Dose's "Hello Gulf Air" weekly e-mail update won't be something that will last only 6 months. I like to read mysteries, not live them. ;)

I am positively surprised about what's going on with GFA.
Drastic situation requires drastic measures.

Although it's easy for me to say, since I don't fly Boeings. But, before laying off pilots, why don't we:

1) finish all the DPI contracts? How many are they? 16?
2) retire all those who captains who were supposed to be retired.
3) ask for volunteers, and offer them to leave without paying the bond.

With the amount of resignations GFA has, I guess in 6 months you don't need to dismiss anybody.

We need a shakedown in all levels and I am waiting for:

1) Mr. T from :mad: housing to go and never return!
2) Staff travel staff to shape up or the door will be shown.



Communication:

AD came and is telling us what's going on. This is great news, open communication. Mr. Dose, I am looking forward for the roadshows that JH used to make. A channel so we can talk to you and you get to know us.

Let's wait and see. the next 6 months will tell a lot.

LNB

Totally Agree
 

As a 5 yr premium pax with GF I strongly second your entry.:D I can say GF is no where near as bad as some airlines I've traveled with though. They can however take more pride in presentation. Quick turnarounds shouldn't come at the cost of a dirty cabin.:=

QR has employed "specialist cleaners" to make sure ac are cleaned to a pristine standard for EVERY flight. I have also been made aware that crew are reprimanded at the end of a flight if toilets are dirty after inspection by ground crew.:ok:

AD take note!

Oddy

I fully agree tht family and personal needs are "top shelf" so if the GF policies or otherwise dont suit someone, then obviously one needs to pursue other avenues...but complaining or making disparaging remarks about the company on the internet does little to solve anything, and shows lack of support for your fellow team mates...positive changes are being made as we speak..and other issues will be addressed in due time...but unfortunately for us, training bonds are a fact of life here in the gulf with ALL carriers and most other places as well....dont like this one here, have a look at Singapore Airlines bond details...find a carrier in the regions you mentioned Trader without a bond...maybe they do exist...but never heard of one myself...good luck:ok:

had to opportinity to travel on QR few times...the airplanes were in fact immaculate:ok:

Ironbutt,

I quite like working for GF, not made any negative remarks at all. AD seems to be making some positive changes and hopefully it will eventually sort out the issues here. I simply don't think its a wise move for me to sign for another 3 year bond at the current pay levels. I signed a bond when i came here and am quite prepared to fulfill it's obligations. If the company wants to fleet transfer, that's fine, but not with a new bond.

If that's the case, then i will take my "vast international wide body experience" as you so eloquently put it elsewhere.

Best move done by AD so far was kicking the VPO out of that position ,cause this was suppose to be done long time ago ,since the 072 crash.As for the fleet reduction ,all i can say who ever thinks that signing another bond is not fair in the event of changing aircraft type.........ANSWER (take it or leave it and stop pit***ng):mad: Let's move on and think positive....:ok:

signing another bond is not fair in the event of changing aircraft type.........ANSWE
 

Well buddy, the problem is not signing another training bond. Pretty shure that most of us (767 F/O's) are very concerned about being transfered to the A-320 instead of the bond. Went this morning to the 767 fleet office and Mrs. Z told me that we all will be transfered to the A-320 as F/O's but the 767 captains will go as Captains on the 330 / 340; how's that mate?
Can tell you have no problem signing a bond for the 340 or 330 but forget about in on the a-320. They'll downgrade us and on top of that want us to sign a bond? That's mental dude and please, don't tell us how hard is your life on that plane, flying 7 sectors a day with very few time away since most of us already lived that long time ago (maybe even before you started learning basic aviation). Put us on the wide body and you'll see how happy we'll be. No hard feelings man ok.