Michael Graff is the newly appointed president of Bombardier Aerospace's business Aircraft division with responsibility for the global marketing of Canadair and Learjet aircraft and the fractional ownership programme. A graduate of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Graff has worked in London and the USA, with the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Q: Does your new role with responsibility for both Canadair and Learjet mean a greater bringing together of the two brands?
A: Bringing together are probably the wrong words to use. The plan is to consciously think through the requirements of the market-place and look at how we position the products and services that we offer as a group. The range from Learjet through to Global Express, along with the product support will give us tremendous strength around the world. Learjet, Challenger and Global Express are fantastic brands and it is unlikely we want to do anything that would damage those brands. We will look at doing things in a well co-ordinated fashion. We have the breadth that will allow us to work with a customer organisation that may grow from a small domestic company to a large multinational.
Q: Bombardier group has been critical of Learjet's financial performance. Do you envisage an improvement to the revenue from that company?
A: Absolutely. Learjet has faced a number of challenges over recent years but the 45 is a fantastic aircraft with a healthy order book.
Q: In Europe there tends to be strong shareholder pressure against companies owning aircraft. As a business consultant you must have been aware of that. Do you think it will change?
A: Yes I do. As a consultant I worked with organisations that needed to become more competitive. Waste is not helpful to any organisation. But there is a good case for certain companies to utilise a business aircraft. With the airline business in North America having restructured to the hub and spoke system, and with the high fares, there is reduced cost gap between taking scheduled service and running your own aircraft. When you look at the deterioration of service, unless you are based in hub city, then the case is even stronger. That is happening in Europe too. It is interesting how many low-margin businesses have demonstrated how valuable a business aircraft can be. Looking through our customer list there is a strong representation of retail businesses where margins are tight. But in times of re-engineering where layers of middle management have been removed, senior management needs to get closer to the business. Europe with its high fares and with the economic growth will offer plenty of opportunities, although this may be through Euro charter or programmes like Flexjet.
Q: Your appointment at Bombardier is one of many announced in the past couple of months. Is this upheaval planned and is the company coping with the changes this brings?
A: Bombardier has grown dramatically in recent years. The company has coped well with growth. The organisation needs the skills and the people to take it through the next growth stage. This group will continue to grow.
Q: You sound optimistic about the prospects but what do you base that optimism on?
A: I learned many lessons at McKinsey. One was what an organisation needs to be a winner. Bombardier's greatest asset is that it's not steeped in a set way of doing things. A company needs to be flexible, creative, innovative and change rapidly to meet new demands. A company has to understand trends and will win if it has already shown it will take risks - look at Global Express and the RJ projects. This is not to do with any one product or service. It is the group as a whole and the overall culture. I am not just optimistic, I am terrifically excited.
Q: When you talk about culture, how do you see it working, bringing together American, Canadian and European companies all with their different ways of doing things?
A: We are genuinely building an international team. A Bombardier team. I want us to build a strong corporate identity that is the same whether we are Canadian, American, French, Irish or Chinese.
Q: You spent some years running McKinsey's operation in London. How do you feel about coming back to the UK and Farnborough?
A: We had six marvellous years in London. It had the excitement and vitality of Manhattan without the hassle.
Source: Flight Daily News
