Qantas unions are told the Ryan way of dealing with things!!
Kell Ryan, the co-founder of Irish-based discount airline Ryanair, said on the ABC yesterday that unionised workers at airlines such as Qantas and British Airways needed “to wake up” or risk the airline going out of business.
Kell Ryan’s warning should be taken seriously by Qantas because his fledgling airline Ryanair was bankrolled by one of the private equity firms now stalking Qantas and he says that breaking union power is the key to running a profitable carrier.
Texas Pacific Group, part of the Airline Partners Australia consortium bidding $11 billion for Qantas, became an investor in Ryanair 12 years ago, with since then, the airline has growing from eight jets to 108, giving it the biggest network in Europe.
Within the next fortnight, APA, which also includes Macquarie Bank and Allco Equity, will lodge its bidder’s statement, justifying the massive premium it is paying for a company valued at about $6 billion before the takeover was launched.
Mr Ryan, who will address the Very GC Global Business Insights conference in Queensland next month, told ABC Radio yesterday that airlines would go out of business if they continued to battle militant unions. He said there was no future for the style of unionised airline run by Qantas and BA “because change is happening all around them”.
“We’ve had the events of 9/11 and we’ve had SARS and we’ve had fuel increases and stuff like that, so you have to be able to keep a handle on your costs,” Mr Ryan said.
“You have this threat from other low-cost carriers eating into your market so you have to have a flexible workforce and you have to have people that can adapt to change.”
Mr Ryan said the British car industry went out of business “because unions wouldn’t adapt and it’s the same with the airlines”.
The APA bid for Qantas has raised concerns among unions that any new owner would transfer jobs, such as maintenance, to cheaper locations overseas, a move they claim would jeopardise safety.
They are demanding the federal Government impose conditions on APA, such as maintaining Australian jobs and regional routes, if the Treasurer approves the takeover.
The full ABC report can be read at: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1829586.htm
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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