After hearing Robert Milton speak in London two weeks ago I thought out loud that the next step for our Canadian friend could be as an airline investor.
Well, a release from Malaysia today tells me that Mr Milton has indeed been active on this front already: he has been revealed as one of the founding investors in AirAsia X, the low-cost long-haul carrier starting up from Kuala Lumpur.
Having edited the Airline Business appointments page for what, seven years, now, I feel comfortable reading the tea leaves when it comes to career progression.
So, the revelation that Ghaith Saeed Al Ghaith, currently executive vice-president of operations at Emirates, is being rewarded with the job of leading Dubai's soon-to-be launched low-cost carrier leads me to believe that the next step for this accomplished airline manager will be to lead Emirates itself someday.
My colleague and expert in all matters business aviation over at Flight International, Kate Sarsfield, has written an excellent story explaining Lufthansa's move to buy its own business jets to woo high-end passengers.
Lufthansa is alone it seems, at least for now, in having a strategic vision that goes from providing ultra-exclusive, first-class services (business jets, dedicated first-class terminal etc) right through to low-cost flying (germanwings).
Robert Milton is nothing if not frank about the business he loves so much. "Airlines are the most fun to talk about even though they are the worst business we have," he told the audience at London's Royal Aeronautical Society on Tuesday evening.
Milton gave a lecture on "The ACE Equation: The sum of parts is greater than the whole." The story is how the Air Canada group - the airline, maintenance arm, frequent flyer plan and regional carrier - has gradually been split up and spun off. He discussed the concept in depth with Airline Business in a cover interview in 2006.
Since 2006, when holding company ACE Aviation began selling off parts of these four companies it has returned over $3.7 billion to shareholders, said Milton.
With just under two weeks to go until London Heathrow's Terminal 5 finally opens, the frenzy of events surrounding the beginning of operations is hotting up.
This Thursday sees BAA and BA unleash a string of senior managers to brief all and sundry about the terminal ahead of the "official" opening of T5 by Her Majesty The Queen at a ceremony to be held on Friday 14 March 2008.
Operations at T5 begin on Thursday 27 March.
Decked out in a casual shirt and against the backdrop of a colourful garden, British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has started to state his case for the airline’s green credentials in a new column in BA’s High Life in-flight mag.
According to the blurb “The Green Wing” is going to be Willie’s way for customers to put “eco questions” direct to him.
Recent Comments