SAirGroup boss issues rallying call to staff
The new boss of the troubled SAirGroup, Mario Corti, has delivered an upbeat message to employees by promising to invest in their future and to do all he can to transform the company into one in which they can be proud.
In the group’s internal publication, SAirGroup News, Corti said money was not the big motivating factor in his decision to accept the challenge of becoming chairman and chief executive officer of the group, which owns Swissair and Crossair.
“When the old Swissair shines in a new light again and we can proudly look back on the change, that will be a more valuable reward than money could ever be,” he said.
Corti – the former chief financial officer of Nestlé – faces the challenge of turning around a company which chalked up record losses of SFr2.9 billion last year over its failed strategy of acquiring stakes in mainly loss-making airlines.
He told staff that the past was not his responsibility and that he understood that the mood inside the group was not at its best. But he said he had faith in the many good people within the group, and that they had to be encouraged, without outside help.
“I plan to cut back significantly the number of advisers we work with. I’d rather invest in our own people than spend lots of money on external consultants who have to familiarise themselves with our company first,” he said.
Corti, described by Germany’s “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” as “the best of the highly qualified managers that Switzerland currently has to offer”, said the second milestone after the annual news conference earlier this month would be the shareholders’ meeting on April 25.
“I will highlight what has happened in the past, where we stand today and, in particular, I will sketch a bit more precisely where our journey will take us in the future,” he said.
Corti hinted at major changes earlier this month. He wants to sell off the French airline company, Air Littoral, and the group’s hotel business Swissôtel. He has also suggested that the SAirGroup’s may divest itself of its stakes in two other French carriers, AOM and Air Liberté.
The future of the company’s 49.5 per cent stake in Belgian airline Sabena is also hanging in the balance.
“From an economic perspective, we can’t survive if we don’t restructure the SAirGroup, and I’m talking about a major renovation,” Corti told the News.
“We can’t operate with all these little islands that we have anymore. We must radically simplify the structure of our entire group,” he added.
However, he said that some parts would stay: “Everything that helps us to improve the quality of our services for our customers. On the other hand, activities that don’t positively influence our business success… in the future, we won’t be able to afford such luxuries.”
Although Corti has said he is not responsible for the past, it is clear that shareholders will want to know how and why the group descended into its current crisis.
In particular, they will also ask who is responsible for the financial mess and what legally, if anything, can be done against those who were once in power.
by Robert Brookes
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