All Strategy articles – Page 1069
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Alitalia has private plans
Tom Gill Alitalia's privatisation is well underway but the flag carrier still has to resolve escalating rows at Milan/Malpensa. In mid-May, state holding company IRI was due to sell 27.6 million ordinary shares, equivalent to 18 per cent of equity, to investors for L900 billion (US$512 million). The carrier ...
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United trusts US alliances
Karen Walker It was almost a throwaway comment, but it was deliberately aimed. Gerald Greenwald, United Airlines' chairman, says that for two airlines to approach corporations jointly about discount deals, they would need antitrust immunity. The statement, made during a question and answer period after the announcement of the ...
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American to bed US rival
Karen Walker Caution is the key word in the American Airlines and US Airways alliance proposal, but some wonder whether early tiptoeing might lead to a full merger further down the road. The two airlines describe their marketing alliance as 'broad and innovative', but provide few other details. By ...
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Bizarre Thai love triangle
David Mann Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Qantas are among the latest suitors to be linked with buying a stake in Thai Airways International, as doubts linger over the airline's future membership of the Star Alliance. SIA, due to join Star in the near future, has confirmed its interest in ...
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Bob bows out to Carty
Karen Walker For a leader originally set against airline deregulation and then dismissive of strategic alliances, Robert Crandall's frequent description as industry innovator has been earned in a peculiar way. But Crandall's handing over the helm of American Airlines to Donald Carty should ensure that the Crandall legacy continues, ...
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Boeing feels the pressure
Karen Walker With Boeing's troubles piling up, Airbus threats to become market share leader are no longer the war cries of the underdog. This year, Airbus is likely to take at least 50 per cent of the world market. As Boeing announces another depressing set of results - first ...
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China seeks foreign cash
David Knibb Zhu Rongji may be starting cautiously as China's new premier, but his pro-market plans are clearly visible in recent aviation initiatives. Beijing is cutting its own spending as the Civil Aviation Administration of China considers whether to allow more foreign capital in airlines and how to attract ...
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Uganda eyes foreign cash
Tom Gill Uganda Airlines is set to go private, with the sale of a controlling stake slated for mid-year. Six airlines have expressed interest in a yet to be determined majority stake in wholly government-owned Uganda Airlines, according to Michael Opagi, director of the Ugandan government's privatisation unit. The ...
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Time to climb?
Karen Walker From the bottom of the pile, life offers a different perspective. While most US airlines have returned to profitability in the 1990s, the financial haemorrhage at Trans World Airlines has continued. So management was encouraged to note, after announcing 1998's first quarter results, that the words 'beleaguered' ...
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Who's ready for a cosy threesome?
And then there were three. If things work out as planned - and that's a big 'if' - over 80 per cent of the US airline industry will be in the hands of three alliance groups. Globally, the situation is less clear-cut, but the industry is moving in the same ...
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Taca lays into US open skies deals
Karen Walker Pop! That's the sound of Central American carriers reacting to the open skies agreements they were applauding just a few months ago, but which they now regard as black clouds that have opened the floodgates to US competition and left local airlines with little shelter. The bubble ...
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Delta ties knot at last
Karen Walker To the relief of its new chief executive officer, Delta Air Lines has joined the US matchmaking game. But the planned strategic alliance with United Airlines has union and governmental hurdles ahead. The two airlines confirmed their alliance plans on 30 April. The pair say they will ...
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East joins west skies
Peter Bennett The European Commission is set to begin talks with 10 nations from central and eastern Europe in a bid to conclude a comprehensive air transport agreement with the region. The agreement is likely to include cabotage rights for east European airlines, airline ownership rights and a full ...
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Ryanair passes go in Europe
Tom Gill With soaring profits, share price and traffic, Europe's largest and longest established low-cost airline may yet achieve its ambition to be the Southwest of Europe. But as it strives to continue its profitable growth path Ryanair can expect to cross swords with the new British Airways ...
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Peru opens skies first
Peru has leapfrogged past Chile in its open skies negotiations and agreed to a deal that phases in liberalisation over four years. The open skies agreement was initialled on 9 May but not made public by presstime. The deal follows the pattern of recent treaties signed with Japan and ...
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Hold your horses!
Jackie Gallacher Close your eyes. Now open them. Like magic the alliance picture has changed again. In fact the speed of airline alliance courtships in 1997-8 is beginning to make pinning down an accurate image of the major groupings a bit like trying to capture fairy dust. Has the ...
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Will sun rise in Japan?
David Knibb After a bad year for all three major Japanese airlines, the debate is now whether their woes are temporary or due to deeper, more fundamental problems. Japan Airlines claims to have resolved its problems and cleaned up its balance sheet by taking a US$1.2 billion write down. ...
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SAA moves key players
Roger Makings Transnet's board of directors decided to oust Zukile Nomvete from his position as executive director of South African Airways on 8 May, following the airline's dismal performance during his two-year stewardship. Sources within SAA predict that Mafika Mkwanazi, deputy managing director of SAA's parent company, Transnet, will ...
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Taiwan urge to merge
David Knibb Taiwan's skies will be less crowded if recently announced consolidation plans proceed. How far these go, however, will depend on key players which have not yet revealed their intentions. Three air crashes in February claiming 218 lives prompted Taiwan's premier Vincent Siew to call for a new ...
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SAA will be sold on
Roger Makings The partial privatisation of South African Airways will go ahead as planned, despite a series of setbacks which threaten to delay the deal. The Minister of Public Enterprises Stella Sigcau under whose department SAA falls, says that although the first deadline has been missed, the 31 October ...