Muscat: The recently appointed CEO of Oman Air, Con Korfiatis, in an exclusive interview with the Observer, said the airline is committed to total transformation by 2027, which he considered is a fair time to turn around the financials and lay the foundation for growth.
Delving into a range of issues, he said the airline’s immediate priority is to fulfill the implementation phase of the strategy to ensure Oman Air is an efficient and financially sustainable organization that can both support itself and contribute to the national objectives, of which aviation and tourism is a huge focus.
Transformation
"There have already been some positive results, which His Excellency, our Chairman, spoke of recently. As we go into the second half of this year, we're looking to gain more momentum. We're ultimately on a three to four-year program to get ourselves to a business breakeven level. It’s a large and ambitious program, and there are many things we have to do to deliver it, but we're confident that we can.”
The CEO added that the airline was unable to justify the amount that was invested in it. “The transformation journey is about bringing the airline onto better financial footing and equipping it for the future. We still have a lot to do to improve processes and procedures, bring efficiencies into the organization, utilize assets more effectively, increase productivity, review contracts and cost bases, enhance digitalization, and other things.
There's no stone we will leave unturned on the journey to being as good a commercial organization as we can be, because if we use our resources very efficiently, then we can justify more investment in the airline and thus benefit the country, and our passengers, further.”
Proud tradition
Oman Air has a proud tradition. I think it's a wonderful airline that could compete with any other airline in the world. And I say that from a customer experience point of view.”
“I believe we have a very good product, a lovely cabin crew ethos, and a service attitude. We also have fantastic catering and a network that links Europe to the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East. We have been winning global awards, including recently for On-Time Performance.
Overall, there’s been a wonderful job done of creating an outstanding brand that carries the name of the country. So, we have a huge responsibility to uphold that legacy. However, it's a 30-year-old airline that’s never really transformed so there are a lot of improvements necessary on the business side of things.”
Post-transformation, he added, “Once we have got ourselves on stronger financial footing, we can go back to growing the fleet, more significantly expanding our footprint, and much more. There are lots of interesting opportunities that are going to be open to us in the future.”
On the perception that there is too much downsizing, the CEO said, “Part of our review of costs and expenditures has inevitably involved a review of the size of our operations; however it’s not all about making cuts, it’s about optimizing efficiencies by putting loss-making activities and assets to the side and restructuring to align with our future objectives. We must focus on fixing the foundations. And when we've fixed the foundations, then we can start looking at growth again.”
Fleet and Network
"We are currently looking into ways of simplifying the fleet. Having four or five different aircraft types, as a medium-sized airline, doesn't make good business sense. It adds a lot of inefficiencies in training, maintenance, crew qualifications, and licenses. We don’t have a definitive decision yet on what that means for us, but we will very soon.”
On the seasonal fluctuations of destinations, he said, “Our operations are year-round but demand naturally rises and falls through the seasons and it affects some destinations more than others. We've expanded our summer flight schedule for several destinations because of high demand but airlines are constantly evaluating and adapting their schedules in response to the market.”
Back to China?
Asked whether he would consider resuming routes to China, he commented, “I wouldn’t say never. The China market is going to be relevant for us at some point. How can you ignore 1.4 billion people? So, to say that we will never fly to China, I think would be a bit naïve. It's not a matter of if it's a matter of when, but I don't know when.”
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