Nine months ahead of startup, fledgling international carrier Air Macau has run headlong into management problems, compensation claims and allegations of shady dealings which at presstime were being investigated by the Portuguese enclave's anti-corruption agency.
The proposed carrier faces a barrage of legal action from expatriate managers whose contracts were 'torn up' following the resignation of the carrier's chief executive, David Young. The former Air Fiji chief walked out in January complaining he had been 'misled' over the extent of his authority to run the airline and appoint senior personnel.
'The chief executive has to have control and pick his own team. Having a whole lot of people delivered to your doorstep is no way to run an airline. This was a matter of principle for me,' he says.
Immediately after Young's departure two of his appointees, maintenance manager Dick Coar and communications manager Peter Marks, were given their marching orders. Both managers, who had only served three months of a three year contract, filed a statement of claim on Air Macau in mid-February and say if it is not met they will proceed with legal action. Marks refuses to say how much he and Coar are claiming from the airline but its is understood to be a substantial amount for breach of contract.
The airline's eight-person executive committee also informed three other new executives, yet to arrive in Macau, that they were no longer required. Set to fill the positions of corporate counsel, airline services manager and training manager, the three are also taking legal action, having already quit previous jobs and sold their homes.
The chairman of Air Macau's executive committee, Leonel Miranda, confirmed the contracts were torn up immediately after Young left and says no compensation would be paid to any of the men.
'Air Macau did not need Peter Marks and Dick Coar and that is why we made them leave. We wanted them out. But it is a question that is closed for us. Now we think in the future and not in the past,' he says.
Separate allegations against the airline involve claims it made unauthorised payments to a civil servant but if substantiated the charges do not constitute a criminal offence, says the territory's deputy high commissioner against corruption and administrative offences, Julio Pereira.
Miranda insists neither he nor any other parties connected with Air Macau have acted improperly and all transactions and arrangements have been made within the territory's laws.
Meanwhile, the carrier's plans to launch its first flights on 1 November will not be affected by Young's departure, according to acting chief executive and general manager commercial Zhou Yun Da. One of a number of managers transferred from the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) to help set up the new carrier, he is looking after the running of the airline with an official from TAP Air Portugal.
Air Macau, a consortium of the CAAC (51 per cent), TAP and local interests, plans a regional network with emphasis on China. Despite the shakeup, the carrier said at presstime that it expected to make a decision on aircraft in late February. It is evaluating either B737-400s or Airbus A320s, although sources say TAP is lobbying very hard for the airline to acquire the latter.
Air Macau, a consortium of the CAAC (51 per cent), TAP and local interests, plans a regional network with emphasis on China. Despite the shakeup, the carrier said at presstime that it expected to make a decision on aircraft in late February. It is evaluating either B737-400s or Airbus A320s, although sources say TAP is lobbying very hard for the airline to acquire the latter.
Source: Airline Business
