Can you explain what exactly happened?
Thanks in advance

What goes around comes around. The Latvian state is asking back 530 millions. Since last Friday things are heating up. President of Latvia himself took a position

In local media they seem doomed
Also saying that prosecutors are involved, hundreds of millions of taxpayers money were lost

Hello,

How is the overall mood in Air Baltic?
Are most pilots happy about the work/ life balance ?

How are the rosters at the moment and are you out of base most of the month?
Is there any yearly salary review ( inflation correction)?
Do you have split duties and night flights.

Thanks for your feedback

In bankruptcy mood.
Latvians are aggressive for their tax money loss, justice and politicians got involved, it won't end up well

Dont forget Latvian state is owner of the Airbaltic. What is the benefit of state if they let them bankrupt and their 530 million debt? A bit economics 101 will help.

This makes it more complicated. Opposition parties are making a legal case and now they are saying the money that need to be returned to tax payers are 571 millions. If the current government writes them off they will loose the next elections for sure. I remember Latvians complaining they pay with their taxes the brand new A220 and they are flying with the carpatair old F100 cause ab was leasing their planes. They won't mind if slots will be taken by the low cost airlines.
Opposition is attacking for both airbaltic and baltic rail and Latvians who are hit hard by inflation and taxes are following them.
Not only economic but also political and judicial issue, the President of Latvia stated that communications with AB have failed

Why should they go bankrupt ? The government owns 97% of the shares. They have plans for an IPO on the stockmarket to raise 300 million euros.
Lufthansa wants to invest in BT as well.
BT operations are profitable, so I don’t see a bankruptcy any time soon.

My question was how it really is to work for them.
Is it worth it?
Do you believe the roster will improve in 2025?

Thanks

Cause they have to return 571 millions to the Latvian State that they don't have. Latvian politicians went to the prosecutor office today to make a legal case. Latvian government do not intent to write that debt off cause they will loose the elections if they do so. It's a package of airbaltic, baltic rail and citadele bank that Latvians are after for taxpayers money. Hot potato for the government, excellent opportunity for the opposition.
If any company can't pay and the debt is not written off, then bankrupts. As simple as that
Lufthansa is not interested to invest. There are some rumors that Lithuanians are interested to save them.
I don't think that there will be airbaltic in 2025, but that's up to the prosecutor, I don't know how fast is the justice system in Latvia. Politicians handled airbaltic debt to the Latvian justice

Hope the companies that will take their slots, to treat the pilots better

Thanks for explaining the current situation.

So I understand that most pilots are not happy in BT and you wouldn’t recommend going there?

Could you explain why the treatment of pilots is so bad?

If you wanna relocate to Riga, wait a bit to see who will take aB slots. Where did you find the information for Lufthansa to invest in aB? As far as I know they are not interested at all. The info for the Lithuanian investor seems to be in the imagination sphere as well.
It's a waste of time to wonder for aB T&C, they are in the verge of collapse. Latvians got bloodthirsty for their taxmoney loss, government won't write them off

www.lsm.lv

article about AB and potential investors.

There isn't any article that says ''Lufthansa wants to invest''
Only some wishful thinking by the author of the article saying that it would be nice if Lufthansa would get involved. Not news just thoughts
I don't think that will find any investor unless the state writes off the 570 millions

If they write off 570 millions, they will need to escape on a helicopter to Russia

Rumors say that they are abandoning IPO plan, cause of the developing circumstances

If this is true, the Latvians have managed to sabotage the country's only strategic company because of their legendary economic incompetence

It is. They will do nothing for now, waiting for a ''strategic investor'' to save aB

That is just funny. If you believe what you are saying, you are not living in reality. There is no benefit to anyone in the country to bankrupt Air Baltic. Neither to economy nor to politicians. You are just spreading false information. Prosecutor has nothing to do with bankruptcy but only legal consequences.

Bankruptcies usually don't benefit anyone, you genius. And won't be the first public business which goes bankrupt
Why do you think they canceled the IPO plan? IMO, everybody knows that most probably they will bankrupt so IPO would be a failure. If you have another explanation, I would like to hear it.
Right now, they are lacking 134 millions. And also have 570 millions on debt to state. First half of 2024 had losses, who is gonna cover these losses?
The state? Even if they want to write them off and have early elections after that, they need the approval of European Commission to give away half a billion to an airline. Not to mention that everyone in Latvia feels robed. Their health care system is 20 million behind in funding and can't find these money. And will be happy to continue funding aB which already took 570 millions from taxes?
It was a lady on Latvian TV yesterday who was saying that they need airBaltic cause you can travel direct from Riga to Naples without stopping in Rome. She couldn't find anything better to say. If you think that for reasons like this one, will give away more money you are wrong.

uberfly
Soviet Union is over. State won't fund businesses with losses infinitely
State business has losses
Needs more money
State can't give more money
They are looking for investors
No sane investor puts money on business with half a billion on debt
Business can't pay
Bankruptcy
Welcome to 21st century

airBaltic will not go bankrupt. These 570 million stories reflect the general public's lack of understanding of modern economics.

Firstly, the losses in the first half of 2024 are not real, they are accounting losses, and I'll let you have a look at airBaltic's balance sheets. If I remember correctly: 40 million for engine depreciation and 40 million for investment (probably a new simulator). It's not money, it's a book value. The operations themselves are generating profits, which is already very positive. They are investing massively in their growth at the moment, which is affecting the financial results. This is perfectly normal for any company at this stage. Then comes the reduction in costs and long-term profitability.


Secondly, the Latvian state has benefited enormously from airBaltic's expansion in recent years. We're talking about 400 million in taxes generated by the company alone over this same period. Indirect income (tourism, high value-added jobs, development of the airport and postal services) must far exceed the 570 million in total investment.

All the more so as the IPO was intended to enable the Latvian government to withdraw from the company and put a price on it. It is easy to imagine that such a company could be valued at several hundred million euros. So to sum up, the Latvian government's ‘losses’ were already quite negligible in basic terms, or even in profit thanks to all the business generated, but on top of that they could have recouped several hundred million euros in cash by selling their share...

Thirdly, airBaltic's financial strategy is fairly straightforward for anyone with a modicum of economic knowledge.

They have recently issued debt at a huge rate, allowing them to pay off the debts from the Covid period (which airbaltic is not responsible for, like the idiotic closure of the borders with Russia, by the way) in the short term. This loan is not viable in the long term with such rates. So the strategy was probably to go public to raise funds to pay off this debt quickly and finance future expansion in neighbouring countries. An intelligent strategy, provided that the government is not incompetent in these matters. By preventing the IPO, airBaltic will go bankrupt.

And in that case, the state will have nothing to do but bail out the company by paying off its debts (remember, airBaltic's operations are profitable, the company's problem is its debt). Otherwise, the company will disappear and the consequences for Latvia of the disappearance of such a large company will be catastrophic for the country. Everyone understands this except Latvians, who apparently still live under the Soviet Union mentality.

To conclude, the Latvians are killing a strategic company that contributes directly to 2% of their country's GDP, and perhaps 5% indirectly, because no one is capable of understanding that the economy is no longer Soviet and that the State is an economic agent that has its income in the form of taxes. I imagine that the buzz and the next elections are more important than the economic health of a country that has become a ghost country since the Covid.

They're probably going to prevent the IPO, which will plummet BT's finances (even though the state benefits greatly from the economic activity generated) and will surely bankrupt it. It's going to be a long-term drain on public finances. For no other reason than stupidity, let's remind ourselves one last time. Then, once airBaltic is in an unsustainable situation, we'll be rewarded with speeches from politicians explaining to the public that it's all airBaltic's fault. In short, the classic story of a public company. It's nothing new.

I'm telling you this without bias, I don't intend to stay with this company for long. Whether airBaltic goes bankrupt or not is of no importance to me. It's not my public finances, it's not my country, it's not my national airline. Latvians want to make a mess of the only company that brings any economic activity whatsoever, where prices have become insane and totally disconnected from the reality of the wealth produced in this country? Well, not my problem.

AB is going bankrupt and nothing can stop that now. Its not even a real airline but a cover-up for a shady money laundering scheme that sucked on Latvian tit for so long we feel scammed. They are spending funds for crappy jets that are inherently unprofitable and unreliable and sometimes I even think they do it on purpose to steal more money from Latvia.
Riga is not the tourist magnet it used to be, who in good mind will buy beer for 6 euro when it used to be 50 cents in 2010?

It's not only the Latvians that can prevent the write off of state money. This need to pass through the European Commission and we are talking for more than half a billion on tax money. Turkish Airlines is a strategic airline but Erdogan can pour as much tax money as he likes, no one will question him and he is not under EU regulations. Can't use tax money to boost a European airline, it's unethical and probably illegal.
Latvians and tourists would prefer more flights from RIX with the low cost airlines. Riga is a destination for budget tourists, expensive tickets like aB provides is more harm than good for tourism

Better pay, better roster and bring a lot of tourists. Let them take RIX

The president of Latvian Republic yesterday said that the state can't support airBaltic for ever

He just announced the end of airBaltic.
Can't survive without pumping more tax money, no investor will fund them with the complicated debt to state. Complicated because it is against EU regulations to write it of and also needs approval from Latvian parliament.
On October their parliament will discuss next year's budget, let's see what they will vote for aB

Don't worry, Lufthansa will snap it up for a bargain price.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...d&cmpId=google

The article says info comes from anonymous sources and is not verified by Lufthansa nor airBaltic. Pretty much like the articles that Lufthansa is buying Air Europa and TAP
Lufthansa would have to pay the 570 millions debt to state to make aB clear of complications with European Commission and Latvian State
But only 325 millions were needed to buy 41% of ITA which had profits of 70 millions before LH investment and not losses like airBaltic. Also ITA has much more popular destinations, more than double the fleet with larger capacity aircrafts including widebodies.
These anonymous sources seem to express their wishful thinking rather the reality

Regarding Air Baltic and Lufthansa one should not forget that they have just extended their wet lease agreement with LH Group for another 3 years, (temporary) crew bases at LH bases such as VIE, MUC and BRU were announced. Looking at Air Baltics Summer OPS at DUS for Eurowings I could imagine that might become the 4th base. Lufthansa City has orders for Airbus A220-300 and it shows what LH thinks is the right sized aircraft for their feeder flights and it helps them to get rid of older A319s from their fleet while maintaining the same network and capacity, plus an in-house flexible ACMI operator for the whole group could be a good solution. I can see Air Baltic becoming part of LH Group and given their small own network I don't think the EU would block the transaction.

The issue is not the size of aB network, but the size of the debt to the Latvian state.
European Commission will not accept to write off 570 millions of State loan, not that their MPs willing to write it off. The only way for Lufthansa to buy aB is to pay off that 570 millions debt for start, which is highly unlikely. Lufthansa wet leases from multiple sources including aB for many years now, nothing new

There was once an airline that flew 38 A320 for Eurowings, and another 15 or so for Austrian, and could have been bought for next to nothing once they had a problem. Lufthansa rather let them go under and picked up the aircraft from the lessors, hired pilots just like any other with the normal application process. Another Airline that was partly run by Martin Gauss before as well.

Hello,

Could an active AB pilot tell me how many days you are at home and how is the work/ life balance.
Is there a bidding system based on seniority?
Do you think the roster will improve next year?

Next summer 22 aircraft will be leased out to Lufthansa group.
Are they short on staff?

I would like to get some information before making any decision.

thanks

Hello
You can come to the Kiwi Bar in old Riga to take some first hand information. It's the favorite spot of AB pilots. You posted an article that was only on Latvian version of LSM and I assume you are a Latvian, if you live in Riga you will have an actual conversation in Kiwi. AB is leasing to Lufthansa for many years now
Regarding next year guesses, most probably won't be an AB next year, your President said that State can't support AB for ever

I am not Latvian . I ‘ve got a job offer and I would like to get some information about the job.
that’s all. Can nobody answer my questions?

No need to stress. Malev went bust when EU ordered Hungary to recover 130 millions from Malev
Airbaltic's debt to Latvia is 570 millions

Today https://www.delfi.lv/ wrote that this imaginary ''strategic investor'' might come after the IPO...
From the same media outlet, today the Latvian general prosecutor officially opened a case for the tax money that were pumped to aB

Hi people,

I'm new to this forum and quite interested in the aB situation, since I'm thinking about their pilot academy. Hence I read through this thread, I feel like the employer it self might not be doing so good in every aspect. Specially the situation with the IPO and the government loan seem a bit worrying...

If someone is interested in giving genuine insight about working there I would like to hear it.

The benefits they seem to be giving to CO-pilots signing up as of 01.01.2025 don't seem that bad from my newbie point of view:
-Base salary of 4500€/month, 4900€ the next year and 5300€ the next and 6000€ as a SFO + productivity and "duty trip compensation"
-Roster with min. 11days of in 2blocks of 4days off
-20 paid vacation days a year
-Unlimited home leave tickets
-a few different insuraces etc.

What are your toughts about this, is it that bad tough?

I was thinking Air Baltic Academy too but all these with debts, looking for investors, IPO etc made me think that I will loose my money and my time
I had a conversation yesterday with a pilot friend who came back in Finland without a job after a year with Air Baltic because it wasn't as expected. No Tampere base, no fast command. Salary after taxes around 3k Told me that things are bad, and everyone is trying to leave before the bankruptcy. That's why they reduced from 1000 hours to 300 hours for first officers