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Drops his wings: CEO Pichler says Fiji Airways has been too politically motivated and was run more like public service  than commercial entity

17/10/2013

8 Comments

 
PicturePichler
New Fiji Airways managing director/chief executive Stefan Pichler will seek to extend the airline’s partnership with Qantas.This would be as part of a drive to introduce a more commercial mindset in the business, he told Travel Today in Australia.

Mr Pichler says the carrier has been too politically motivated and, as with other airlines, has been run more like a public service than a commercial entity.

Speaking to Travel Today in Sydney, Mr Pichler also said the carrier needs to create a brand that consumers can identify with.

He stressed the need for the destination to move away from a price-driven positioning. “We need to develop the brand and make sure people understand what Fiji Airways stands for,” he said. “If you close your eyes and think of a Big Mac, you know what you get. You think about IKEA you know you assemble furniture by yourself, so it’s very clear. “With Virgin, you know what you get but with Fiji Airways you don’t. It was a smart decision to rebrand the company, now we have to do the homework.”

Mr Pichler, who joined Fiji Airways after turning round the fortunes of Jazerra Airways, said Fiji needed to create a “high-end niche positioning” in a similar vein to New Zealand or Dubai. “You don’t want to compete on beaches, sun and sea as everyone has that,” he said. “If you compete on beaches, sun and sea you compete on discounts.

“There are a lot of things to do in Fiji. There is culture, the people, heritage, surfing. You have to position the product and base it on tailor-made holidays. “Images are not changed overnight but it is a realistic five-year goal.”

Qantas talks


Talks with Qantas have already started over extending its interline and codeshare partnership. Mr Pichler says there is a “willingness” at Qantas to explore further opportunities. Mr Pichler declined to comment on the tension between the carrier and Qantas, which owns 46 per cent of Fiji Airways.

He said Qantas’s shareholding was largely irrelevant to commercial agreements.“We have an interline and codeshare agreement and we both make pretty good money out of it,” he said. “Right now on a commercial level the co-operation between Qantas and ourselves is on good terms. That is what is important.”

Changing mindsets


The airline has been run too much like a public service, Mr Pichler continued, with not enough focus on commercial opportunities. “We will try to change the mindset and run it as a commercial entity,” he said. “I am a businessman. There is an understanding from the board that they want to run this as a commercial entity.They will let me get on with my job, so I won’t have any interference, and they understand that.”

Strong management team

Mr Pichler added that the airline has been run by consultants rather than by a strong management team. “That will change,” he said. “I believe in management who are accountable so we have to change that. Consultants are destructive I think, with the exception of where they have areas of expertise. “They stay a couple of months, drop you a PowerPoint presentation on your desk and disappear. There is no added value for the company.”

Mr Pichler said he wanted to employ more Fijians at the carrier. Meanwhile, the airline said it was on track to receive its third Airbus A330 in early November which will see the retirement of its ageing Boeing 747 later in the month.
– Travel Weekly


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Fiji Airways more like "a Bainimarama private airliner"
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8 Comments
Frank Bainimarama
17/10/2013 03:51:39 am

Pilcher - you bloody fool - it is time you began looking for another job soon!

Reply
Dictator FB in foul mood
17/10/2013 04:13:52 am

And the Fiji Anyway-Air countdown begins....

Reply
Keep The Faith link
17/10/2013 04:27:38 am

My dear Mr Pichler, if you keep this flavour of public statements up, your tenure there will be a short-lived one.

Firstly your comments are unsanctioned by the propaganda police, Qorvis and kowtowing to Australia is sacrilege in the world according to the BaiYums.

To insinuate that your predecessor was a bumbling idiot who was beholden to consultants and who ran the business like a government department -- while factually correct -- will be perceived by your line Minsta as a direct insult.

For those who know how 'fragile' like a delicate petal your line Minsta gets with this type of insolence, we can warn you to anticipate the backlash.

Reply
Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum
17/10/2013 04:34:50 am

How dare you, Pilcher, undoing all I did through my decree to punish Qantas!

Fiji takes control of national airline Air Pacific from Qantas
AP
March 29, 2012, 11:58 am TWN



WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Fiji's military government says it is taking control of the country's national carrier Air Pacific from Australian company Qantas.

The government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama has issued a decree saying that all Fijian-registered carriers must now be owned and controlled by Fijian nationals.

Fiji already owns a majority stake in the airline, holding 51 percent of it while Qantas owns 46.3 percent. But Fijian Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Qantas since 1998 has exercised effective control over the carrier because Qantas-appointed board members enjoy supermajority and veto rights.

Qantas did not respond to requests for comments Wednesday.

“It's an open secret that Qantas has proposed to sell their stake to the Fijian government,” said Sayed-Khaiyum.

He said the two groups haven't been able to agree on a price and that Fiji is hoping Qantas will agree to a binding independent valuation of its stake. He added the decree has nothing to do with the potential sale.

However, the Fijian government's latest move could negatively impact the value of the stake to Qantas and to any interested third parties.

In a question-and-answer statement on the change, the Fijian government said it is “false and misleading” to think Fiji is nationalizing the airline and depriving Qantas of its shareholder rights.

Qantas will retain its ownership stake and its right to dividends, according to the Fijian government, but will no longer be able to exercise control over the annual operating budget, the appointment of the airline's chairman, the addition of new routes or a host of other management decisions.

Fiji claims Qantas has been directly competing with Air Pacific through Qantas's wholly owned subsidiary, Jetstar.

Air Pacific is responsible for carrying more than 70 percent of visitors to Fiji, the government said, making it a vital part of the tourism industry, which accounts for one-third of the Pacific island nation's economy.

Sayed-Khaiyum said Fiji has recently extended its diplomatic relations with a number of countries and would like to have the ability to fly to new places.

“We want to be able to expand beyond our region,” he said.

In its last financial year, Air Pacific Group, which also owns a stake in a Fijian resort, reported an after-tax profit of 25 million Fijian dollars (US$14 million) on revenues of 587 million Fijian dollars (US$328 million).

Bainimarama has promised to oversee a process to introduce a new constitution to Fiji and to hold democratic elections in 2014.

Reply
Pilcher responds to fool Khaiyum
17/10/2013 04:39:01 am

You should read my statement, you moron - both Fiji Airways and Qantas are making money:

“We have an interline and codeshare agreement and we both make pretty good money out of it”

closed eyes
18/10/2013 02:49:14 pm

Yes...so when you close your eyes and you think Fiji, you know exactly what you will get...a dicktatorship and a gun up your ass....LOL. Fiji branding? sorry but he bula smile is wearing very thin overseas...Fiji = land of perpetual coups...from bloodless coups to full bloody coups, you don't have to close your eyes to expect what you will get...booooom!

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Ratu Frank Bainimagana levu
20/10/2013 07:52:21 pm

all this corruption and stupid management by kai-colo's and thieves, while the chairman Nitin PAtel turns a blind eye so that he and his family can enjoy free travel and other perks. Nitin Patel maichod....you chuni pio guji crook

Reply
abc
31/10/2013 05:25:04 pm

you mean Nalin Patel??? ...another MOB on the take..the MOB spirit has been corrupted...isa na red fire...sa back fire saraga...lol

Reply



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