Monarch in turbulence
 

It is public that Monarch are requiring investment, and it could be coming in the form of turn-around money.

This is going to mean change, and it's not going to be for the good.

Decades ago I was attempting to find out who actually owned Monarch (companies House in London-that's how we did it in those days) but drew a blank. Assistant suggested that whenever the company needed money, some Gnome in Switzerland coughed up. Is it still the same ?

The gnome's not coughing now.

Galley FM has suggested they have pulled out of a EMA for next summer. Can anyone confirm this?

Careful maxed-out, that could be construed as libel.

Well, I hope you all have bloody good lawyers.

Its a family that lives in Switzerland who has a lot of money and a rather Italian sounding name. Oh, and Monarch has a capital M, which of course stands for Mmmm..onarch!

Watch your back son; you are a marked man.

Sergio Mantegazza:
Sergio Mantegazza - Forbes

Telegraph Article
 

There was a comparable article in the Sunday Times yesterday which was much more upbeat than the DTs scaremongering but it exists behind a paywall.

Are the swiss owners looking at exiting or no longer investing their money in the company going forward? Hence looking for outside investment...

Monarch Airlines looking at dramatic overhaul - eTurboNews.com




LONDON, England - Monarch is looking at a dramatic overhaul of its operations, potentially taking an axe to routes and retreating from bases, as several distressed investors, including Jon Moulton, circle the travel group.

New chairman Sir Roy McNulty and chief executive Andrew Swaffield are scrutinising every part of the company’s operations as part of a sweeping strategic review, which is expected to lead to significant changes in the ownership structure.

The group on Sunday confirmed that it is reviewing “all areas of the business from operations to ownership and financing” after The Sunday Telegraph revealed that a number of distressed and private equity investors, including venture capitalist Jon Moulton’s Better Capital, HIG Europe, Towerbrook and Indigo Capital, are considering injecting cash into the company, which is controlled by the Swiss billionaire Mantegazza family.

Monarch is understood to need as much as £60m of fresh capital, despite the Mantegazzas pumping £120m into the group since 2009.


Dean Street Advisers is leading the search for an external investor but the Mantegazzas have also appointed restructuring specialists from PwC, who are working on a rescue plan in case Monarch is unable to strike a deal to bring in fresh capital.

Monarch said in a statement: “The group confirms it is undergoing a strategic review under the leadership of new non-executive chairman Sir Roy McNulty and chief executive Andrew Swaffield. The review covers all areas of the business from operations to ownership and financing, with the objective of determining the optimum structure to realise the significant opportunity to build on the respected Monarch brand and distinctive offer to its customers in the budget airline market.”

The "Airliner World Readers" forum seem clued up on S15 released programme compared to this year! Look like LBA under threat and reduced MAN operation!

A great British airline, good luck to all!

Calling in 'consultants' of this type is generally the kiss of death for an airline. I've seen it with several.

I hope Monarch can find a way to survive, a good airline overall but they seem to have crew and/or a/c availability problems a lot of the time, affecting their reliability.

Carefull now JB007.

JW411 might get the hump with you too. He might even tell you to watch your back and that you're a marked man!

Monarch have had teams of consultants crawling over the airline for the last 3 years. Maybe that's where the money's gone!!

Some people in higher management with appropriate knowledge and experience saves a lot of £££/$$$/€€€

Usually appropriate insider knowledge is invaluable in such cases.
Saving can be made using knowledge of where saving are possible, not from a balance sheet seen by an accountant.

I can't see Monarch being able to compete with the low cost incumbents. They have neither the economy of scale nor the financial reserves of the two major UK players. I cannot see either of the to major low cost carriers being willing to cede territory or market share to Monarch. It sounds to me like a risky strategy.