Preliminary tid-bits regarding new CEO Matthijs Boertien's future plans for Cameroonian carrier Camair-Co (QC) have been revealed with the creation of 1'000 jobs via an envisaged fleet of 26 aircraft, a training centre, a maintenance unit, and a cargo hub being amongst the highlights. In the meantime, Boertien has moved to improve the carrier's relationship with its suppliers and staff in an attempt at rebuilding the carrier's battered morale and reputation.
In an interview with Cameroonian paper Mutations, Boertien himself gave an overall view of the state of the carrier he inherited from colleague Alex Van Elk twelve days ago noting that, above all, Camair-Co's "significant deficit" had necessitated a USD5.1million (CFA2.5billion) cash injection by the Cameroonian government in order to placate the carrier's suppliers, who are owed USD20.4million (CFA10billion) in total.
The cash boost was meant to improve strained ties with the airline's suppliers, which he stated, was the primary cause for its poor on-time performance last year:
"The poor relationship with suppliers and partners is the approximate origin of the (poor) service that Camair suffered last year: we were never sure of having meals on board hence flights never left on time ... There were a lot of flight delays. Only 20% of our flights were on time. But for 10 days, we went back to almost 90% of flights departing on time," says the CEO of Camair-Co, who claims to have achieved this by simply restoring the internal discipline and professionalism within the company. "Even internal meetings, we no longer tolerate being even one minute late," he says.
Matthijs Boertien (CamLink)
Source [Camer.be]
In addition to instilling a renewed sense of professionalism and discipline in the company, Boertien has also moved to repair relations with the company's unions by opening dialogue with them regarding the contentious issue of a 13th Month bonus, the cause of a major strike late last year, with staff contracts to also be reviewed with the aim of "formalizing and developing carrier paths" for staff, most of whom have been working without a contract.
Boertien's approach to labour disputes comes in direct contrast to his predecessor's, who was accused by both staff and unions of ignoring their grievances.
Turning to his 5 year plan for the company, Boertien allured to the following initiaves:
By 2018 he envisages Camair-Co as having:
- Joining and certification by IATA to be done by July 2013 (QC is currently suspened)
- Improvement of marketing - the airline has hired Christian Perchat as new Director of Sales. A former Air France, Air Seychelles, Air Mauritius executive, Perchat is tasked with reinventing the battered carrier's image.
- Turn Cameroon into the cargo hub for sub Saharan Africa with the aid of European Cargo Services (ECS) a French freight company which will "invest heavily in warehouses."
- Earnings from the cargo initiative will then pay for the setting up of a training centre - Camair-Co Academy - and an aircraft maintenance facility,
- The acquisition of 26 aircraft with 20 to be dedicated to passenger flights and 6 to be dedicated to cargo. No specific types or orders have been mentioned though Camair-Co under Van Elk's administration, was considering either Embraer E-Jets or Bombardier's upcoming C-Series for its mid-range fleet, with an extra Boeing 787-8 to add to its two others on order.
The full details of Boertien's 5 year 2013 - 2018 plan will be presented in Douala on 1 February.