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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 1809.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT No restrictions on BA sale LONDON Target date for the sale of British Airways is September 15 next year, and the British Government is no longer set ting any particular minimum limit om its own holding in the airline. "How much we sell depends simply on how much we can sell. There is not a a limit. It depends how quickly the airline can turn around." Thus Iain Sproat, Trade Department under secretary, explains to David Learmount his department's new attitude to this well- worn subject. He adds the proviso that, of course, the Prime Minister could, if she sees fit at the time of sale, require a certain Govern ment holding. "I want to sell off more than 50 per cent of BA with in the next 15 months," Sproat says, making clear the fact that he does not see BA's present losses and debts turning around com pletely at a rate only a miracle could arrange. But even the grudging admission that 100 per cent sale by September 1983 is unlikely shows Sproat's attitude of amazing confidence, particu larly in BA's chairman Sir John King and its new finance chief Gordon Dunlop. To put the matter in pro portion, Sproat is an aggres sive man who quite obviously believes that you will not achieve anything if you don't set yourself targets, particu larly when you are trying to direct the efforts and pre conceptions of civil servants. September 15 next year is the second anniversary of Sproat's appointment to his present post. Talking of a general loosening-up of atti tudes toward matters like this big denationalisation, Sproat claims "the entire De partment's views on this have changed". The under-secretary will not be drawn on the shape he envisages BA will have by the time it is offered for sale. Airline subsidiary Inter national Aeradio (IAL) will be sold (see Flight last week, page 1646), but it is up to BA's Board whether other subsidiaries like British Air ways Helicopters and British Airtours are disposed of. Sproat remarks that the car rier's workforce now num bers fewer than 42,000, and that he believes there will be a further reduction yet. Sproat offers no objection in principle to the sale of subsidiaries. To the argu ment that a lossmaking air line needs profitmaking units like IAL, he counters that lAL's estimated profit of £10 million for the year ended March 1982 goes nowhere to wards paying even the in terest charges alone on BA's £1,000 million debts. He adds that IAL will prob ably do better freed of BA. Recent reports allege that there could be obstacles to the IAL sale, because the 2 per cent of IAL shares not owned by BA are owned by BA competitors, yet the articles of association say that first refusal for pur chase must be given to shareholders. Sproat does not see how this is an obstacle to sale, since none of the shareholders are from the Eastern Bloc. Talking again of changed attitudes at the Trade De partment, Sproat describes how he had to fight to allow public access to basic details about the nationalised air line—like the fact that BA has been able to stay solvent with debts of the present size only because of Govern ment guarantees. Facts are now much more freely avail able, Sproat says. However, fine details from the Price Waterhouse report on the airline's condition is not available. This is the report on which Sir John King is basing his restructuring of BA, which has already started with its division into three "profit centres". De tail is not available on how much BA will sell to try to reduce its debts, how else it would reduce them, or what the airline must do before the Government will provide the cash to convert it into a saleable commodity — even whether the Government will supply any cash at all. During June the first Saab-Fair child SF.340 fuselage took shape, the forward, centre and rear sections being mated. The first fin and stabiliser has arrived from Fairchild Republic's Farmingdale plant. Before this week is out the No 2 fuselage will also be complete, and soon after that a third which will be used for static testing. The first complete aircraft is scheduled to roll out of the new-built factory on October 27 this year SAS will train SF.340 crews STOCKHOLM Though it is not going to operate any Saab-Fairchild SF.340 commuter airliners itself, Scandinavian Airlines System has won a ten-year contract to train pilots and technical support personnel for this new aeroplane, which is to enter commercial service early in 1984. The original favourites to carry out this task where either Saab itself or Swedair, the third-level carrier which has ten SF.340S on order. Training looks as if it will not be the only SF.340 pro gramme involvement SAS will have. The airline's opera tions division is currently discussing with Saab the possibility of using regular SAS pilots to ferry "green" SF.340s to Fairchild's San Antonio furnishing plant— those aircraft bound for the American market. Pilot training will take place at SAS's Bromma Air port simulator centre, where an SF.340 simulator, built by George W. Moody's rela tively new Haywards Heath, UK-based firm GML, will be delivered in autumn 1983. Technical staff training will be carried out at the SAS engineering base at Stock holm's Arlanda Airport, where the airline will make use of space made redundant by the decision to sell its Air bus A300s. SAS is using this contract to provide profitable work for employees whom the car rier does not want to lose, but whose jobs might be in jeopardy during what SAS calls a "no - expansion" period. For example the air line has a surplus of pilots whom it will need again in two to five years, and it can usefully retain them and their experience by offering at least some of them the chance of SF.340 flying train ing work. Since aircrew acceptance, conversion, and continuation training loads at SAS are low right now, the airline is mar keting its training capacity worldwide. FLIGHT International, 3 July 1982 3
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