Jat’s fleet crisis deepens

Jat’s management unfazed by latest problems

An ongoing fleet shortage continues to plague the Serbian national carrier, with the airline forced to further rationalise its operations during the winter period. Jat Airways has cut down on its frequencies to Stockholm and Copenhagen, with services to both cities now operating only once per week. A second weekly flight will be reintroduced at the beginning of February. The nonstop Belgrade - Stockholm service will now operate via the Danish capital. On Friday the airline suspended its two weekly flights to Brussels. They will resume at the start of the 2013 summer season, which begins on March 31. Other destinations have also been affected by the ongoing fleet shortage with frequencies to Berlin and Milan also slashed.

Over the weekend Jat rescheduled many of its flights with several of its aircraft now out of service. Passengers were informed in advance of the changes. Further scheduling chaos was seen on Friday when one of the airline’s ATR72 aircraft was out of action for the entire day, carrying the Serbian President on an official visit to Podgorica. As a result, the carrier was forced to operate its regional flights with Boeing 737-300s and major delays were experienced across the network.

The ongoing fleet chaos doesn’t seem to have phased Jat’s management duo - CEO Vladimir Ognjenović (pictured on the left) and his Chief of Cabinet Stanimir Jovanović Slavinski (pictured on the right). Ognjenović, who was named CEO thanks to his political affiliations, is unlikely to face any consequences for running the airline into a worse state than it was two years ago when he took office. Since the CEO is reported not to be spending much time at the company, his Chief of Cabinet is effectively running Jat. Recently, the newly named deputy in charge of aviation at the Ministry of Transport, a former Jat employee, drafted a plan for the lease of six new aircraft for the upcoming summer season, including two ATR72s and four Airbus jets. The plan has the support of the Minister of Transport Milutin Mrkonjić. Serbian media have been tight lipped on the ongoing problems at the national carrier.

Comments

  1. JU520 BEGLAX09:13

    Adria has 1-2 Airbus on the ground during Winter, why no ACMI leasing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing but does Jat have the cash to pay for the lease and do any possible leasers feel they could trust that Jat will pay for the lease?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:17

    Without substantial capital and a REALISTIC strategic plan Jat is doomed. It's nice to have a flag carrier that flies alll around the world but one that can make a boring regional network work year-round would be a nice start!

    ReplyDelete
  3. BA88809:36

    For the first time I am scared to buy tickets on LON-BEG-LON route for June...

    Pretty uncertain future of JU (and, that W6 is a joke)....so LH here I come...

    Someone might get things right eventually...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:13

      W6 is extremly professional in comparison to JU. I use them a couple of times per month and they are more than fine! I'd never even consider JAT on the London route anymore. W6 or a connecting flight, but that just makes the day so long.

      Delete
    2. BA88821:40

      "Few" problems with W6:

      Departure time from BEG
      (I really do not have to do that and I'd rather go around MUC/VIE/ZRH/FRA Duty Free)

      LTN airport
      (Have a look on Skytrax)

      Seat pitch
      (No need to elaborate on this one)

      Lack of daily flights

      So...W6...no, not really.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:47

      Lufthansa group is propably the best bet! W6 while professional can be expensive with the add ons, and dreadful timeings! It's a shame jat has been left to neglect by Serbian
      government's!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:50

    They should appoint Mr. Mrkonjic for CEO of JAT Airways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:45

      hahahahahahahaha!!!!!

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:59

    "Passengers were informed in advance of the changes."

    I know at least three people who were scheduled to Brussels and Stockholm this week and haven't been contacted by anyone about the changes. Jat is absolutely horrendous when it comes to rescheduling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:38

      Actually no it is not. I live in Berlin and there has not been a single time that I was not informed of a change. I think their Berlin flights are the one to see the most changes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous08:30

      My BRU-BEG flight has been rescheduled for a couple of hours, about one year ago, and I got a three (!) phone calls from JAT offices, one week in advance - two from Brussels office and one from Belgrade. Idiots are almost never from JAT itself, but those "in charge" around ...

      Delete
  6. Anonymous12:47

    Well that’s what happens when you get an airport ground handler to become CEO and he fills all the managerial positions with his other ground handler buddies. And offcourse it helps to be the nephew of Vida Ognjenovic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You diagnosed the problem 100% correctly!!!!

      Delete
  7. I am sure that Ognjenović and Slavinski will get a nice reward for handling the airline in such a professional manner.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous14:44

    OT: What does 'overflow' ('Preletio') mean in terms of arrivals status on Zagreb airport? It's foggy now and a lot of flights have this status...

    Is it missed approach? Or that the aircraft was rerouted to an alternative airport?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:30

      I am not a native speaker of Croatian, but I am pretty sure "preletio" means "landed," as in the aircraft has landed.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:16

      Nope, that would be 'Sletio' and the flight status on the webpage would say 'Landed'.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:46

      preletio - overflew

      Could mean it never landed or is about to land, but delayed due to what ever reasons.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous15:07

    Croatia Airlines should take over JAT and be the regional airline for Serbia...it sounds like a joke but the ongoing situation of JAT is even more of a joke...it's a classic!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:41

      Yes! It's a jat airways Boeing 737 classic!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:49

      I doubt anyone at Croatia Airlines would like your idea.

      Croatia Airlines is doing ok cause it has good market and good network, it could do much better if there was a good management in place and good allocation of resources, but like most airlines in Europe Croatian Airlines is run by a moron.

      Delete
    3. What Croatia Airlines could do best in this situation (and should have done a long time ago)is fly Zagreb - Belgrade at least twice daily. One morning flight and another in the afternoon. They could give Serbians another transit option to the west and through an airport which speaks the same lingo and Croatian passengers would have another option access to Dubai and Moscow for example.

      Sparing up an aircraft would be a problem for this especially in the summer but I think the real obstacle might be some unwritten agreement between Croatia and Jat not to launch Belgrade - Zagreb.

      Delete
  10. If Crotia airlines would take over Jat no one in Serbia will ever take one step in to the planes to fly it. No one will get it that it's good and a strategic option. All will see it as a defeat.

    Same story if jat takes over OU,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would not say no one, I don't think it will even be half to be honest (the silent minority usually does not care too much about politics) but there would be some type of boycott both ways and it would be significant enough to not bother with any regional take over between Croatia and Jat.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous00:35

    What are Jat's slots worth ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:50

      what slots, lol, JAT can't fly, they've got no slots, lol

      Delete
  12. Anonymous02:16

    Connection to the west hahhahhahahaha. Dude BEG will hit 4million and it already has what it needs without german pupper airports.

    Do you wanna be a transit hub for dubai? Could that be next joke?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous05:05

      Even with the growth at Belgrade Airport, JAT is just faling apart. They could have grown as the airport did but chose not to.

      Once JAT goes bankrupt, Belgrade will be listening toall the forign carriers and will be following their rules if citizens of Serbia want to travel. There won't be room for a Flag Carrier of Serbia.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous02:20

    Part two, if they want to offer some connection, fly from Nis. That should be realistic. Worldclass airlines with the worldclass airports have failed in BEG due to the competition. Your farthouse is still stuck in the 1960s.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous05:15

    JAT is an 80 year old rusty can of beans that no one wants....so if OU is not good enough as a regional airline to Serbs because of their past (hint hint...move on) than good luck mate!!!! Business is business and whether they like it or not they are in the same region and countries connected in a region based on geographic loaction, language and cultural similarities support each other....Australia New Zealand....USA, Canada...Scandinavia...etc is a perfect example!! The Balkans are stuck in the middle ages and are out of place being in Europe...Should place them next to Afghanistan and Pakistan that way they would feel more at home...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous06:44

    Maybe you need to move on. Budapest lost their home carrier and croatia can try there. I am sure hungarians cant wait to pass via pleso. Looks like nobody wants free money as you pointed out with business is business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:28

      The comment of the day...please! :) Forget about even mentioning or even comparing BUD when it comes to ex-Yu airports. It has the traffic of at least 4 out of 6 capitals together!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous11:52

    Seriously, why would anyone ever want to transit through the airport which doesn't even have airbridges? I don't like neither Vienna nor Munich much (sorry, spoilt by Zurich), but I'll always transit there if Zagreb is alternative. On the other hand, if there was a functional rail link between Zagreb and Belgrade, I wouldn't think twice. Unfortunately, rail transport in Serbia and its neighbourhood is going from bad to worse in recent years :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:37

      What makes ZRH better than MUC? Their A pier is blast from the past, B pier and sattelite are okay, even nice, but their passport control is really freaky, second only to the infamous CRL.

      VIE - I didn't think they could fit all the pax for a long-haul flight to Asia in a small waiting room, with temperature over 25C in the middle of winter. Boy, was I wrong. Hellhole.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:38

      It's just a personal preference, really. And you're right, pier A sucks, but I've flown only once from there, so my preference is based on great experiences with pier B and sattelite (except for "Heidi train experience" which I hate)... I have no problem with ZRH passport/security (although for about a year every time I flew there was security check in a different place, but staff was always OK, not especially nice). Also, ZRH keeps getting award for functionality/usability, so I'm not the only one who finds it nice :)
      As for Munich, I find it boring and too large (i.e. I had to spend too much time walking around), but it might just be that I've flown through it at bad times...

      Delete
  17. Anonymous12:45

    Heathrow has air bridges but British airways don't use them out of terminal 3!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous12:58

    Having air bridges do not make an airport better or more attractive economically for airlines. Take Charleroi in southern Brussels - not 1 sole air bridge and it has 6+ million passengers per year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:50

      Most of planes inside Europe from CDG (espetialy Regional or Britair) does not use airbridges. The same think in FRA, VIE, BUD, VCE...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:41

      I hope you'd agree that air bridges (and shops/restaurants/plenty of toilets) make airport more attractive to passengers.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous21:59

    Stop with your propaganda. For jetways or anything else you need good economy. Go to any economy superpower and see what they got. Dont compare it with a crappy lowcost airport

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:21

      That was just an example of an airport making lots of money with no need of air bridges. Having a fancy terminal and air bridges do not make the airport an attraction or an additional profit for an airline. So if ZAG doesn't have such, some routes might be just as profitable for other airlines. Finally, CRL is not a crappy airport.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous23:27

    None of that is true. No lowcost airport can make serious cash. It depends what on what is making money in your books.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:50

    Btw many will just compare zagreb and beg by pax numbers. Belgrade is becoming much cheaper to fly out of, that is why zagreb will never lure any pax. You have a direct link for much cheaper price and better service. Look and compare, and that is for anywhere in the world.

    ReplyDelete

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