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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 1491.PDF
The world's medium-sized flag-carriers, particularly the state-owned and overmanned ones, face a grim and, in some cases, short future — or so the conventional wisdom runs. At best, they will lose their identities as they are driven into multina tional alliances. At worst, they will col lapse as meaningful commercial entities in the face of mounting and unsustainable financial losses. There will be exceptions, however, typ ically where favourable regional markets are capitalised on by skilled managements which, perhaps above all, succeed in containing costs. THY Turkish Airlines, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in May, probably already meets the first condition. Suddenly, it also shows signs of meeting the second one. President and chief executive officer Tezcan Yaramanci, now 18 months in the job, is transforming the Istanbul-based carrier. This is needed if it is to be successfully privatised, as the Turkish Government plans. The effect of a single person on a commercial organisation can be over em phasised, but Yaramanci has made re markable progress in achieving sorely needed change. Even THY managers con cede that Turkish nationals, let alone foreigners, would often avoid flying with the carrier. It became a byword for lateness, inconvenient schedules, missed connections and grudging service. Yaramanci was appointed by Turkish prime minister-turned-president Suley- man Demirel, to whom he effectively reports. It was Demirel who persuaded him out of the senior echelons of the nation's Koc industrial group — Turkey's biggest industrial enterprise, by far. Yaramanci's qualifications include me chanical engineering and business de grees. He has effectively been given carte blanche at THY, which has not suited some of the airline's more comfortable staff. Yaramanci was tasked with a bottom-up TURKISH TURNAROUND Turkish Airlines THY is in the middle of a dramatic operating turnaround. It will soon be lookingfor a major airline investor, reports Kieran Daly from Istanbul. The Airbus A310 has formed the backbone of its fleet but THY's future is heavily based around the 737-400 44 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 June, 1993
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