Interviews – Page 8
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Airline BusinessEl Al chief Gonen Usishkin grapples with unique challenges
Speaking before the scale of the coronavirus impact became clear, El Al chief executive Gonen Usishkin explains how the Israeli flag carrier handles its unique operating environment
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Airline BusinessHow Martin Gauss carved a European niche for Air Baltic
Walk into Air Baltic’s boardroom at its Riga International airport headquarters, and your eyes are immediately drawn to a table featuring dozens of tiny Airbus A220-300 models adorned with the carrier’s distinctive green livery.
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Airline BusinessPeter Ingram on leading Hawaiian Airlines amid fierce competition
Two years into his role, Ingram is skilfully guiding the company through an evolution that would test any leader: answering the fierce competition from the US mainland, executing a major joint venture, overseeing a transformational infrastructure project and plotting the carrier’s next geographic and fleet expansion.
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Airline BusinessChief executive Peter Ingram on leading Hawaiian Airlines
Two years into his role, Ingram is skilfully guiding the company through an evolution that would test any leader: answering the fierce competition from the US mainland, executing a major joint venture, overseeing a transformational infrastructure project and plotting the carrier’s next geographic and fleet expansion.
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Airline BusinessTUI aviation chief on 737 Max and Thomas Cook
For the chief executive of aviation at European leisure group TUI, seeing competitor Thomas Cook exit the market earlier this year was a double-edged sword.
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Airline BusinessMichael O’Leary on tackling Ryanair’s biggest challenges
When Michael O’Leary stepped up to the group chief executive role at Ryanair, some people wondered whether it might signal a shift in leadership dynamic at the Irish low-cost carrier. But asked by FlightGlobal how much the move has changed his day-to-day life at the operator, the Irishman is typically outspoken in his response.
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Airline BusinessClark on how Emirates has adapted to changing conditions
Tim Clark has spent literally half of his life steering – and subsequently leading – Emirates Airline on an incredible journey to become one of the world’s most successful, well-known and feared network carriers.
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Airline BusinessBlue Air chief prioritises profitability over growth
Sustainable profitability is something that Romania’s Blue Air has struggled to achieve over the past decade, only sporadically ending the year in the black.
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Airline BusinessVietnam Airlines chief executive Duong Tri Thanh
In a corner of Hanoi’s Noi Bai International airport is a derelict Ilyushin IL-18 in the livery of Vietnam Airways, a forerunner to the Vietnam Airlines of today. The Cold War icon sits on flat tires, corrosion all but obscuring its blue and white livery. It rests in clear sight of Hanoi’s two parallel runways, a silent witness to the revolution taking place within Vietnam’s airline sector – and the major changes in Vietnam Airlines itself.
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Airline BusinessWhat keeps driving Bill Franke to invest in low-cost carriers
Every August, a group of geographically diverse airline managements gather in Montana for an annual review. They have a couple of things in common: they are all from low-cost carriers and each one has scored the support of Indigo Partners.
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Airline BusinessIATA chief Alexandre de Juniac flags pressing issues
IATA chief executive and director general Alexandre de Juniac believes airlines meet for this year’s AGM in Seoul against a backdrop of pressing challenges, including the consequences protectionist policies and trade wars pursued by some governments over the past 18 months.
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Airline BusinessWang Junjin, chairman, Juneyao Airlines
Singapore Airlines’ attempt to take a stake in China Eastern Airlines in 2007 is well documented, but few people are aware that the Star Alliance carrier originally intended to enter that market through a much smaller, private player: Juneyao Airlines.
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Airline BusinessJaan Albrecht, chief executive, Saudia
Whether the gradual transformation apparent in the ancient and conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is driven by altruism, or a grudging recognition that a semblance of change is the price of international acceptance, is still a contentious matter.
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Airline BusinessChristine Ourmieres-Widener on gender diversity
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a photo of the IATA board of governors from June 2018 probably said it all about gender diversity at the top tiers of airlines. Flybe chief executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener, seated at the far right of the photo, stood out as the only woman among the pool of two dozen men in suits and ties.
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Airline BusinessAirAsia's Fernandes on long-haul, low-cost
The long-haul, low-cost segment of the airline industry is going through a period of turbulence, but AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes remains confident in the business model’s viability.
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Airline BusinessAlex Cruz, chief executive, British Airways
For British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz, the year ahead marks an opportunity for the airline to get itself firmly on the front foot.
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Airline BusinessMalindo Air looks to punch above its weight
Just over five years since starting operations, Malindo Air is preparing a growth phase to better compete against its more established and larger competitors in Malaysia.
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Airline BusinessPeter Chang, chief executive, CDB Aviation
As a child growing up in Taiwan, Peter Chang traveled to the market with his mother. For years, much to Chang’s bewilderment, his mother always selected the same vendor from a line of identical shops. One day, Chang noticed that after paying, the vendor slipped three green onions into his mother’s bag. This weekly exchange would inform Chang’s business style for his career in aviation, spanning nearly four decades.