Gulf Air is to cut its fleet and streamline its organisation as part of a new restructuring plan designed to help reduce losses over the next few years.
President and chief executive André Dosé said the board of directors has approved a plan which will involve some tough new measures, including cost cutting across the entire company, streamlining the structure of the organisation and making network operations more efficient.
“ To turn our operations around we need a real cultural shift inside our organisation,” he said.
“At present Gulf Air is heavily losing money every day. This has to stop. The shareholders have guaranteed a capital injection to cover past costs, fund the restructuring process and invest in future operational improvements. But they expect us to make sure that this money is wisely spent and that it will help secure a sustainable basis for a strong Gulf Air.”
The airline is to reduce its fleet from 34 to 28 aircraft with one single manufacturer (Airbus). Network operations will be improved by reducing ground-time of the aircraft and limiting connection times for passengers.
Its new organisational structure will comprise four divisions, each headed by an executive vice president: sales and marketing Lee Shave, pperations Bjorn Naef, finance and administration Ismail Karimi and network Hashim Mahmood (acting).
Further details of the restructuring plan will be presented next week.
By Bev Fearis
