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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 0186.PDF
HEADLINES Alitalia seeks ban on strikes to help recapitalisation ALITALIA IS AWAITING re sponses from its main unions over plans for an 18-month ban on industrial action, which has be come essential if the cash-strapped carrier is to go ahead with its badly needed recapitalisation. The Italian flag carrier requires a cash injection of Ll.S billion ($950 million) to help rescue it from severe financial difficulties. Although Alitalia's parent, the state-owned IRI holding company, has said that it is prepared to put up LI billion of the cash, the airline is looking for financial markets to provide another L500 million. Alitalia has asked unions for the strike ban as a guarantee to private investors that the airline will not descend into another round of industrial action, which disrupted services through much of 1995. Without the presence of private capital, Alitalia fears that the cash injection would be viewed as state aid by the European Commission (EC), therefore attracting harsh restrictions on the airline's expan sion, just as Europe completes deregulation. Iberia won its pro longed battle for state aid only by promising to sell most of its outside holding and make swingeing cuts. IRI has anyway confirmed that it will only go ahead with its part of the recapitalisation if outside investors are also brought in, while the Italian Government appears to have ruled out direct state aid. Alitalia is also attempting to win union agreement over an accelerat ed restructuring plan, designed to put the carrier back into profit over the next two years. Most of the unions have agreed to the plan, which includes wage cuts and pro ductivity increases, but the pilots unions have been holding out. They claim that a secret deal was struck with Roberto Schisano, before his removal as Alitalia chief executive in 1995, under which pilots would receive a L28 million wage rise spread over three years, beginning in 1996. Alitalia says that no such deal exists and that the contracts have to be renegotiated. • Fokker in rescue KEVIN O'TOOLE/LONDON FOKKER SAYS that it is in talks with "several" potential part ners in an effort to stitch together a rescue package for the struggling Dutch company. Fokker, which applied for pro tection from its creditors on 23 January, says that it plans to contin ue full production while a deal is thrashed out. Under Dutch law, the company could continue to operate under protection, similar to US Chapter 11, for up to 18 months provided, that bridging finance is put in place. The Dutch Government agreed on 26 January to give Fokker a DA250 million ($150 million) bridging loan to temporarily keep the operation afloat while a buyer is sought. ANALYSIS Analysts on bom sides of die At lantic have already tipped Bom bardier as a likely buyer, given its expansion in the regional-aircraft market and a track-record for turn ing round aerospace manufacturers such as Canadair, de Havilland Canada and Shorts in conjunction with state support. Bombardier has denied tie speculation. The Canadian group has an ad ded interest through Shorts, which builds wings for die Fokker region al-jet family. Shorts says that it has "no plans for the time being" to become involved in the rescue other tlian as a programme partner. Shorts admits that the contract accounts for around 20-30% of its civil-aerospace activities, and could amount to as much as £80 million ($120 million) of the company's £400 million total sales. The Belfast company has al ready given notice of up to 1,500 redundancies if the Fokker work dries up, including 800 jobs on the wing-assembly line and another 700 from support and engineering. The company hopes that at least 500 jobs could be transferred with in the group, however, as work builds up on other programmes such as die Canadair Global Express and Learjet 45. For die time being, Shorts says that the Fokker wing line will remain open. Other interest for Fokker could come from Asia. China, Japan, Singapore, Soutfr Korea and Taiwan have all been involved in talks with Western manufacturers over ambitions to set up a regional- jet manufacturing line in die region. DASA folds its wings ANDRZEJ JEZIORSKI/MUNICH THE DECISION BY Daim ler-Benz to abandon its Dutch regional-jet associate Fok ker to its fate is die final nail in die coffin of die German company's hopes of dominating a united European regional-aircraft indus try. Widi the policy in tatters, little remains for Daimler-Benz other than to regroup — mainly around its Airbus and space activities. In his former position as presi dent of Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), Jiirgen Schrempp—now the chairman of the parent compa ny — was the driving force behind the controversial DF1680 million ($410 million) acquisition of an effective 40% stake in the Dutch company in 1993 — a company he once referred to as his "love baby". Now the German industrial giant has cut and run, and Schrempp is facing down criticism — even calls for his resignation — with presidential candour: "Even Schrempp: faces resignation call businessmen make mistakes." Coming just months after die former Daimler-Benz finance director Gerhard Liener attacked the company's former chairman Edzard Reuter for acquiring Dornier in what he described as die "...most miserable contract we have ever completed", the move places Daimler's aerospace credi bility on die line. Additionally, die company admits that it is now in negotiation to sell a majority interest in Dormer's 328 maker. DASA's refusal to bear the full weight of Fokker's troubles when the Netherlands Government failed to provide money to bail die company out of its financial trou ble is not surprising in the light of DASA's own financial problems, which have been compounded by die low value of die dollar. The first half of 1995 saw DASA make a record DM1.6 billion loss, which led to die launch of the "Dolores" (dollar-low rescue) restructuring package, axeing 8,800 jobs and three sites in Germany. DASA's overall financial result for 1995 will now be further depressed by a DM2.3 billion write-off on the balance sheet, while the danger of Fokker pro duction collapsing — thought to be unlikely in the immediate future — has raised a question- mark over the future of a further 600 employees producing Fokker 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 31 January • 6 February 1996
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