“Jat needs to clean up its image”

Jat’s new CEO sets his priorities

The newly appointed acting CEO of Jat Airways, Velibor Vukašinović, says his main priorities are to improve safety, reliability, profitability and the airline’s image. Serbia’s national carrier has recently been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons as its chronic fleet shortage continues to cause massive delays across its network. Following technical problems with one of its aircraft on Monday, a flight from Amsterdam to Belgrade was delayed by over 24 hours. “Better planning is needed in the future in order for us to avoid such situations. Furthermore, Aviogenex’s Boeing 737-200 (operating for Jat), which recently came from an aircraft maintenance check in France, has had several technical problems since, which is unusual”, Vukašinović says. Adria Airways will today finalise its lease of two Airbus A319s to Jat which will alleviate the fleet shortage. In addition, several aircraft which are undergoing regular maintenance checks are to return to service. “We will do everything in our power to end this fleet shortage but we must introduce better technical and employee etiquette, security and corporative culture”, Mr. Vukašinović says.

The acting CEO admits that one of Jat’s main problems is its shattered image. “We must work together to improve Jat’s image and we must never forget that Jat is a national airline which represents Serbia and has a long history. We don’t need a lot of money to do this, just some good will and hard work. For example, just a few days ago Jat marked the 65th anniversary since it launched flights to Frankfurt but no one bothered to mark the occasion. We have come to a point where our partners mark our anniversaries for us. Just imagine how many chances Jat has missed to position itself and make it known that it has been in existence for 86 years”, Mr. Vukašinović notes.

Mr. Vukašinović ended his visit to Abu Dhabi yesterday where he held talks with Etihad Airways which is expected to make a takeover offer to the Serbian government in a few days. Details of the offer are expected to be made public on June 15 when Etihad launches flights from Abu Dhabi to Belgrade.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:23

    What !,l my comment gone, oh well write it again.... I hope something's happens, most important thing is to stay postive, even though the situation might seem horrible and grim. Watch the first part of this video it had a interresting spot. http://youtu.be/8CtOEezVxiQ Please comment what do you think? All the best for jat! I don't want to make the other " airlines" jealous so all the best to croatian airlines, bosnian and herz airlines, montnegero airlines, Adria and who else? Yes, the almighty and most powerfull with the best profit margin and most passengers in ex yu, and also the newest and best plans with the most aircraft in its fleet........SkySrpska..I wish them more years of operation.....hahahah just a joke, I am from BNX....so hard writing on this thing Ipad....urrr

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    1. Anonymous23:45

      Hiya BNX, sorry for asking.....it seems...hm, there is a lack of passengers there. What could be the problems?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous11:42

    hah, typical political expose characteristic for Communist Yugoslavia "We shall, we must, we should.." Only thing what is missing is "Comrades"...

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    1. Anonymous23:28

      Those political forces steel serving past, never respect name of Serbia. Perhaps mr. Mrkonjic and associates love to have Jat for "glory" and success under name of the ex country, exist only in His cabinet. Once again, under Jat's name Serbia will have not a chance, with out raid under wing of Etihad. Not very patriotic, but jat's name definite is not association with future of land of Serbia. After Mr. Mrkonjic live the office name going to history. Time will proof! R.Marinkovic, A.M.E. (RET.)Kvo. / Syd.

      Delete
  3. ''Boeing 737-200 (operating for Jat), which recently came from an aircraft maintenance check in France, has had several technical problems since, which is unusual''

    Your right.. a plane that is 86 years old now should never ever have any problems, shocking and unusual news really..

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    1. Anonymous13:09

      Like it was mentioned here many times, that plane is younger than Jat's 733s and was used less. Also it has just passed the check, so it should not have any problems.
      Of course, the real problem is the fact that Jat has no backup planes and poor operations planning so every problem causes long delays. The new CEO is right, but his "plan" seems too little too late now...

      Delete
  4. Anonymous13:25

    The best way to rebrand JAT is to sell it to Etihad, since that's the only viable way to acquire new aircraft. Aside from that, I would rebrand it back to Aeroput and market the hell out of the fact that it's one of the oldest operating airlines in the world, while also emphasizing that it's one of the safer airlines around.

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    1. Anonymous14:17

      "Аеропут" is similar to much more famous "Аерофлот". Simply "Serbian" would be fine. New fleet, new image, best quality service...enough to accept the brand new shiny national airline: Serbian. Farewell to JAT, Jat Airways, welcome Serbian!

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    2. Anonymous14:34

      That requires LOTS of money.

      Delete
    3. Maybe instead of the airline, Serbia as a country should rebrand itself. Sorry to disappoint you but the name Serbia has much poorer image and reputation in the world than JAT. So, naming an airline after a country whose name has been used so many times in relation to wars, war criminals, sanctions, corruption, etc, would be a very bad move too. JAT is short and simple and should be an airline that connects people from all over the region. If they really intend to change the name, the Aeroput would be a much better choice.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:09

      "Airline Without Borders" perhaps?

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    5. Aэrologic15:38

      It should be South-Eastern Air Transport, so no need to change the Jat acronym and it would encompass the whole South-East Europe/Balkan area (what should be Jat's business plan), while still staying Jat (Juznoevropski Aerotransport) for Serbia. As simple as that.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:19

      Your info is false, Jat stood for "Jugoslovenski Aero Transport"...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:30

      +++ for Sam

      Delete
    8. JATBEGMEL01:50

      Serbias reputation for war and such criminals is over. Its great that we have such amazing ambassadors to our country such as Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic who are making a great change to our country's image. One year at the Australian Open, Novak talked and introduced to the Australian commentators Serbian food as well as Rakija. Serbia is becoming known as a city break destination, with Belgrade been known for great clubbing and cheap alcohol. Ive seen at random splavs German and British tourists, and noticed as well a couple Lebanese in the city. Also saw a couple New Zealand backpackers (going by the flags on their backpacks) walking through Kalemegdan, while also noticing a Chinese tourist making a video of Kalemegdan and small talk to his video camera of the Danube river (which btw was really funny to listen in to). And lets not start the talk on the amount of Croatians who visit my city. If you havnt been to Belgrade, I suggest you come and visit, and be welcomed by our warm hospitality :)

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    9. Anonymous11:54

      @Sam
      Your comments may offend many Serbs. Sounds like we should be ashamed to mention the name of our country! People will fly with an airline that has good reliable service, whatever name it has. Just want to emphasize that the name(s) JAT and Jat Airways should go to history. If brilliant Swissair has a successor named Swiss, Serbia can have "Serbian".

      Delete
    10. @ JATBEGMEL and Anonymous (11:54AM)

      My apologies if I offended anyone here. The problem with using a neam of a country for it's airline is not only specific to Serbia. Trust me, other ex YU states are not much better viewed either. We can fight and argue here indefinitely on whether ZAG is better than BEG and similar crap, but in the eyes of many people, especially those from West we are still a big black hole on the map of Europe. It's kind of sad as we have so much potential. Instead of focusing our energy and efforts to work together and move on, we get greedy and tend to make each other look bad forgetting to realize that at the end we are all in the same pot. And for the end...yes, not just Serbs, we all should be ashamed for allowing the same type of politics and behavior to dominate us even 20 years after the war.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous13:29

    Haven't we heard this before. If they don't change their image, the consequences are shutting down the airline. Maybe it is their way of softening the blow of shutting down Talk is cheap. If JAT was serious about changing their image, it would have been done a long time ago.

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    1. JATBEGMEL01:24

      Until hopefully now, JAT was passed down from one ministers cousin/uncle/nephew/friend/colleague to the next. This guy seems to have at least an aviation background rather than the advocate from Grand kafa whos idea of bringing change was to offer everything but proper inflight service and some form of standard. Having said that, I dont expect miricles and anything he does to improve the airline would be a plus.

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  6. Anonymous14:29

    "Adria Airways will today finalise its lease of two Airbus A319s to Jat which will alleviate the fleet shortage."

    If this was true, why is Adria still flying those 319's today? Considering that it takes about a week to paint new logo's on a plane, you would think that they would already have them at the paint shop and be giving the a final checkup before they go for their alleged 3 year lease to Jat.

    And on the Monday this blog ran a story "Jat takeover offer by Sunday", now it is coming in another 3 weeks, if ever.

    It is time to do the decent thing and to take Jat and it's fleet of decrepit airplanes around the back of the hangar with a shotgun, and put them out of their misery.

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    1. Anonymous15:38

      1. Just because the lease contract is finalised doesnt mean the planes will be under jar straight away

      2. Re-read the previous articles before you post anymore bs.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous14:54

    Has anyone watched the video? The Etihad CEO does not even know how to say Jat properly. lol!!!!

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    1. Anonymous18:40

      You do know he worked for JAT back in Australia, right? And it's sad to see so many malicious comments directed at JAT. Seems like some people have an emotional investment in JAT doing poorly. I would adjust your expactations if I were you.

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    2. Anonymous05:05

      I realise that he worked for Jat which makes it more funny. Nothing against Jat trying to do better but when a CEO who worked for the airline can't even say the name properly is very poor form on Hogans part!

      Delete
  8. BA88815:08

    Why dont we just GIVE AWAY Jat to ANYONE and let it rest in piece?

    (Still worried about my forthcoming JU211 flight! GULP!)

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    1. Anonymous16:07

      Worried?! Ah you moron, what can happen to your damn flight besides being a few hours late in the worst case? How stupid you are, how people became spoiled drama-queens...

      Delete
    2. BEG2IAH18:10

      BA888May 23, 2013 at 3:08 PM
      Why dont we just GIVE AWAY Jat to ANYONE and let it rest in piece?

      You mean in "peace"?
      I agree with previous comment. Drama...
      I had my flight cancelled yesterday (US) and drove for 6 hours to get back home. I can only imagine the tragedy and stories of real human drama in Serbian media if that happened with JU. People need to fly more. It's hard when you switch from a greasy bus to a plane.

      Delete
    3. BA88819:49

      Dear all,

      Some of us are spoilt...indeed!
      And that is because we just can.

      And I am glad you arrived home safely, so you can check my spelling. Some of us live in Europe and six hours drive...well...we just don’t do.

      Because we just can...and we are spoilt!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:58

      I hope everything is sorted out by August when I fly with Jay.

      So many low life haters on this blog. Or should I say, 'no life' haters.

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL01:35

      @ anonymous

      not all pax are O&D meaning they will have a connecting flight. I almost missed a conenction ex FRA to DXB because JAT's B733 landed late from FCO. Missing a connection at some airports can mean having to find alternatives if able to, or just having to wait another day, with an additional expense of having to get hotels. Not all airports are pleasant for transfer, like FCO for example, being by far the worst experience ever. spoled drama queen? I payed for service, not something unreliable and going to be unpredictably late. Avoid flying JAT, better option. That is why my money this time went to LH. The worst part is, my taxes are going to pay for the massive debt of my national airline and for what? so I cant fly with it? spoiled? no, just annoyed.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:47

      Well, the guy in question is obviously flying O&D so what's the point of your post? Missed connections can happen with ANY airline anyway around the world, what's that focus on Jat?

      Delete
  9. Anonymous18:47

    I keep hearing that at almost every western airport the AGX 732 touches down, officials and security is checking it. Really humiliating for JAT Airways.

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  10. Anonymous19:24

    Just as a sidenote all three of Adria’s Airbuses have been sitting near the hanger all day in LJU. Seems their days with JP are numbered.

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    1. Anonymous01:35

      That's not true! All of them (2 A319) were flying whole day today and will be flying in the next days! Look at flightradar24 or lju airport webpage.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous21:25

    what is happening to JU70 right now?!!

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  12. Anonymous23:03

    Aviogenex's 737-200 would not be allowed to fly into London due to it's emissions!

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    1. JATBEGMEL01:40

      Not true. YU-ANP operated recently (back 1-2 years) to LHR many times. I think its for now the EU carriers who are restricted from using the B732, but do see an eventual ban on the aircraft to EU airspace. If its noise emissions you are talking about, the engines have been hush kitted.

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    2. Anonymous07:10

      A hush kit is to quieten sound, not emissions.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:26

      Who said it had anything to do with emissions? The guy clearly said "If its noise emissions you are talking about, the engines have been hush kitted." so what's the problem, what are you not able to get into your head?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous00:29

    A E R O P U T

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  14. Anonymous00:46

    Aeroputin -Stalin-Airways would be a good name and would attract especially foreigners...

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  15. Anonymous01:40

    Up above Aerologic stated to call JAT Juzno-Evropski Aerotransport. Well I suggested that name last year. I sent a few e-mails to JAT and they never answered any of my e-mails. My feeling is no one at JAT actually cares. As long as their pockets and their relatives pockets ar being fulled, why care about the company that provides them with the luxuries of life. JAT should now stand for Junk Airline Transportation.

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    1. Anonymous02:09

      Hahahahhahahahahahahahaha you have written mails concerning the name:-)))
      Dude they don't care about the planes and passengers and leave them for 24h to wait stuck in an airport building and you think they would care about the name:-))) Lol

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:15

      It's always kind of cute to read something like this and imagine the poor guy writing it who loves Serbia very much, yet knows nothing about it after living a lifetime in the USA.

      It's as sincere as it is ridiculous.

      Delete

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