Croatia Airlines unions to cease hostilities


Croatia Airlines' trade unions have reached an agreement with the government not to partake in industrial action until a new management has been named, which is expected to take place in April. It comes after the union of Croatia Airlines Cabin Crew voiced support for their pilot colleagues earlier this week and urged the government to select a new Chief Executive Officer who "did not participate in the airline's destruction". Both unions have previously criticised the manner in which the state organised a recent public tender to select the carrier's CEO, after it annulled last year' s process and issued a new call for applications, while removing necessary airline experience from the list of job requirements.

Following talks with the government this week, the unions' chief negotiator, Tomislav Kiš, said, "We want to negotiate with a management that will be in place for a full five year term and will be responsible and independent in its decision making. We don't want political appointees running the airline, if that is in any way possible at state-owned Croatia Airlines, which is of particular strategic importance. We want an aviation literate management". Unions are in the process of discussing new collective bargaining agreements after deferring industrial action, which was planned over the 2017 summer season, in order to allow for further talks to take place. The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, recently said, "Developments concerning the appointment of the new management are not as alarming and everything will be OK”.

Croatia Airlines' CEO Jasmin Bajić was selected as the carrier's interim chief in late 2017 on a six-month basis. He was preceded by Krešimir Kučko, whose five year term had ended and was extended by six months. "Every employee who sees their future in Croatia Airlines is deeply worried by the fact that the government is unable to find an expert to run the company for two years now. At the same time, managers who were catalysts in worsening employee relations have retained their positions or been promoted, while the company is losing employees and its share on the market", the Cabin Crew Union said. Croatia Airlines handled a record number of passengers last year and is set to post a profit for 2017, the latter being achieved primarily through the sale of assets. Furthermore, it will launch four new seasonal routes this summer.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:06

    I really hope the government picks the right person for the top job this time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Does anyone know who are the candidates? Last year we pretty much knew all of them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Having a feeling Bajic will be selected again.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      Purger knew the candidates last time around. Maybe he could share some details.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:24

      He is too busy with the pilots ;)

      Delete
    5. Alen Šćuric Purger09:40

      You will be surprised whit what I am busy now, but it is not in Croatia and not pilots. Surprise, surprise, but it is not time jet to put it public jet.

      I know candidates but I will write article about it, so you have to wait for few days.

      And little correction: Union gave to minister 60 days without industrial actions, not end of April, and that is 6.4.2018.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:33

      @Purger
      Jel će u tom novom remek-djelu biti napisano da ti ložiš sindikate da sebe ili svog jarana uhljebiš kao "stručnu osobu koja nije učestvovala u uništenju tvrtke"? Pa da ljudi znaju što se događa?
      I reci nam još... kakav ti je plan kad premijer na sebi svojstven način na čelo CA stavi nekog trećeg kao što je napravio u drugim državnim firmama? Jel onda planiraš sa sindikatima patiti kad izgube pregovaračku poziciju za kolektivni ugovor radi tvoje igre ili ćeš nestati?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:07

      A kako je to sudjelovao?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous17:37

      I don’t understand this hate and these conspiracy theories against Purger. As far as I understand, he’s a passionate enthusiast and profesionally uninvolved in aviation. His arguments are generally sound and he often speculates just like the rest of us. So why these conspiracy theories?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:40

      Because people don't like to hear the truth here. They preffer to shout Bravo ....!

      Delete
    10. Alen Šćuric Purger19:35

      Sebe? Ja se niti vidim u Croatiji, niti za to imam vremena, ni želje. Eto to sada javno kažem (ne prvi puta). Radim 16-20 sati na dan, nikada ne spavam preko 6 sati, čest kada i samo 3 sata. Radim 7 dana u tjednu. Ne odlazim na godišnji odmor. Samo bi mi još Croatia trebala.

      Mog jarana? Nitko od mojih prijatelja nije podnio molbu za mjesto CEO-a, niti se itko od mojih prijatelja bavi zrakoplovstvom. Znam da Vam je to teško povjerovati, ali ima nekih ljudi koji neke stvari u svojoj domovini (i šire) rade iz ljubavi i za dobrobit zajednice.

      Ja nemam nikakav plan kada premijer na čelo stavi nekog svog igrača. Zašto bih imao plan? Niti rušim kompaniju, niti dižem revoluciju, niti želim zlo toj kompaniji, pa da joj je na čelu i Lucifer osobno, željet ću joj svu sreću i imat će svu moju pomoć. Ali i kritiku kada napravi gluposti.

      Sindikati će radi mene izgubiti pregovaračku poziciju? Radi moje igre? Koje igre, Isusje i majko božija? Vi stvarno niste istina. Ali nemate ni najmanjeg pojma koliko ste daleko od istine.

      Nestari? Ja sam javna osoba u Republici Hrvatkoj (i to ne po osnovi zrakoplovstva). Ovdje imam vlastiti business, obitelj, prijatelj, obiteljsku kuću, nekretnine. Jako teško ću nastati. I ne vidim bogami zašto bi nestao.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous19:50

      Purger, nikome se nisi dužan pravdati! Odličan si i samo tako nastavi!

      Delete
    12. Anonymous21:33

      Ako nemaš vremena onda se ostavi te CA. bavi se svojim poslom. Svim tim svojim bogatstvom. Očito imaš vremena kad iskačeš na svim mogućim televizijama i portalima.

      Da, tvog jarana.

      Dižeš revoluciju ti i onih možda 10% zaposlenika. Na žalost tih 10% je jako i glasno. Ostali šute i nemogu da vjeruju. Otišao sam iz te kompanije dalje ali znam što se događa tamo.

      Izgubiti će sve jer se ni jedan CEO neće pitati ništa kao što se nije ni dosada ni jedan nije pitao.

      Sve do jednog si popljuvao i ni jedan ti nije valjao. Niti će valjati dok ne dođe jaro ili jedan od ovih tebi blagonaklonih ikonopoklonika koji će tvoje "stručne" savjete slušati sa iskolačenim očima na rubu ejakulacije.

      Da nestati ćeš sa televizija i portala a oni će ostati u toj kompaniji kojoj ti želiš dobro ali je jedino dobro tvoje dobro.

      Nisam do sada komentirao tvoje izljeve ali čovječe dosta je.
      Pitaj malo one koji rade svoj posao na koji su pristali u toj kompaniji i ne petljaju se gdje im nije mjesto što misle o tebi i o ovom isključivo tvom cirkusu koji provodite ti i ovi gore navedeni koji bi ga napravili i da rade u bilo kojoj kompaniji (da mogu) jer njima nikada ništa ne valja. Da vidiš kako se smire kad dođu raditi za pravog gazdu, a nije baš da imaju nešto više nego u CA. Manji od makova zrna.

      Delete
    13. Alen Šćuric Purger03:26

      Još jednom: nitko od mojih "jarana" nije u zrakoplovstvu, niti se kandidira ni za jednu fukciju u zrakoplovstvu ili CTN-u.

      Treba sve ostaviti? Pustiti da Croatia doživi sudbinu Maleva, Cyprusa, Estoniana, Air Bosne, Macedonian Airlinesa...?

      I da se razumijemo, ja ne podržavam apriorno sindikate. Niti ja vodim ikakav cirkus, niti vodim sindikate, niti želim sudjelovati u vođenju Croatie Airlinesa, niti želim ikome pomoći da dođe na vrh Croatie Airlines. I ovo jasno naglašavam.

      Ja radim svoj posao. U zrakoplovstvu me institucije i mediji angažiraju. I to u široj regiji. Nema dalje!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:09

    Is this to say that the unions were planning a strike?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:13

    Hope they don't have a genius idea to go on strike during the summer like they wanted to last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      It depends if they make collective agreement.

      Delete
    2. Alen Šćuric Purger09:43

      And they did not strike, just and only because of benefits of Croatia and tourism. Not like British pilots who were in strike for 30 days in July and August.

      But minister promise that he will moderate negotiations about collective agreement and it will be done till end of year. Instead he ignore Unions, not even answer their appeal to have meeting. So, what is their options? Do they have any exempt strike?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:57

      It was the cabin crew of BA who was striking last year, not pilots.

      Delete
    4. Alen Šćuric Purger10:14

      You are right. Sorry for mistake, and thank you for correction.

      Delete
  4. Nemjee09:15

    'Croatia Airlines' trade unions have reached an agreement with the government not to partake in industrial action until a new management has been named, which is expected to take place at the end of April.'

    In other words they realized there is no point in grounding the airline in February or March, it's wiser to wait for spring/summer as there will be more pressure in order to demand more money from their loss-making employer.

    I think they really don't realize how bad the situation is at OU.
    Croatia Airlines was crushed on the coast, seasonality is still a major issue, it's facing more and more competition at ZAG while LJU keeps on adding lowcost flights thus positioning itself as the 'cheaper' alternative to an overpriced ZAG.

    Unless something fundamentally changes, all of them will be working, on a summer seasonal basis, in Zadar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger09:47

      And what do you think is main goal of pressure and industrial actions?

      They want Government to choose professional management who will make changers. Pilots does not want to interfere in management, they just don't want political and incompetent management any more. And to choose it, not to delay it again after one year of postponed.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:55

      And you think it's that easy? OU has been mismanaged for years and years and like any other failing business it needs a large capital injection in order to be restarted. Who will give those millions to OU? Which Croatian government will put an end to the long-standing employment practices?

      It's one thing to speak of a certain theory but it's a whole other to actually implement it.

      The best outcome would have been to privatize OU but it seems there were no buyers. With each new route to Croatia, OU's value goes down.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:58

      If they don't want political management, they should advocate they want the airline to be privatised. It is utopian to expect professional and unpolitical management in a government-owned entity in the Balkans. Surely they must have learned this by now.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee10:02

      Exactly. Look at what happened in Greece. Their civil aviation sector did not stabilize until a private company (Aegean) took charge after the government one (Olympic) collapsed under the weight of its own incompetence and corruption.

      If you want OU to flourish then find a rich buyer who will know what to do with it.

      Delete
    5. Alen Šćuric Purger10:20

      But Nemjee you will agree that it should be done before, but for sure they have to do it at least now.

      You have examples of state running companies which are successful, like Air Baltic.

      Pilots are not apriory against privatization.

      But for sure they want to point how urgent is to react. Not to wait 14 months just for choosing CEO.

      Delete
    6. Nemjee10:55

      I absolutely agree that it should have been done long time ago- especially back when OU had a much stronger presence on the coast.

      In my opinion, BT is the exception that proves the rule. Also, the Latvian business ethic is a bit different from ours. Not to mention that their CEO is a German guy.

      The real question is who would be interested in OU? Maybe the best would be to sell it to LH and hope Eurowings would use ZAG as a mini base from where it would also serve the coast.

      Personally, I think drastic measures are needed to save the airline but I fear the government doesn't know how to save OU.

      Delete
    7. Alen Šćuric Purger14:39

      Well, Minister will have presentation on Wednesday. We will see if that will be any help.

      Air Baltic is not exemption. You have so many examples. If you want you can read my last article in Tango 6 where you have 50 independent airlines that are successful more than 10 years.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:47

      I think he is speaking of Europe where almost all government airlines failed or are failing

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:56

      Nemjee samo zvekece po buretu. Koji ce im andrak Zagreb kad imaju slobodan pristup svim aerodroma na obali. EU kuzis stari moj? Jedinstveno trziste.

      Delete
    10. Nemjee17:25

      Загреб има преко 3 милиона путника и знатно ниже трошкове него Немачка, Аустрија, Белгија... те би им се исплатило да комбинују континенталну Хравтску са обалом користећи локалну посаду. Уз све то, могли би комбинују и летове широм Европе по моделу:

      Загреб-Минхен-Европа-Минхен-Загреб

      Европске фирме отварају погоне у Хрватској из истог разлога то јест због повластица и јефине радне снаге.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous18:19

      +10000 nemjee

      ZAG is a booming market and it's working the whole year and not just in summer

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:21

      Nemjee 5:25
      Mislim da si pobrkao Hrvatsku i Srbiju sto se tice jeftine radne snage. prosecna neto plata u Hrvatskoj je oko 900 evra (6.500 kuna, objavljeno pre nekoliko dana, izvor Drzavni zavod za statistiku), a na takvu neto platu Hrvatske kompanije imaju ogromna davanja drzavi do bruto plate, koja stope su jedne od najvecih u Evropi, i upravo jos uvek nedovoljno investicija u Hrvatskoj investitori objasnjavaju SKUPOM radnom snagom u Hrvatskoj. Toliko. Pozdrav.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:19

    I find this really strange. OU is expanding its network, fleet and profit as is mentioned in the last sentence but employees make it sound as if the company has never been worse off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      +1 don't get it either.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      Easy. All money they make in summer is wasted in winter.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:33

      This is true. There was a conference in Zagreb last week where Jasmin Bajic was one of the speakers. He said (and I quote) "We only make money between May and October afterwards then we have a 96 million kuna loss". He also listed around 10 destinations which were profitable. They were the main Europeans airports.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:36

      Do you remember which ten? I suppose LHR wasn't there so my guess is: ZRH, MUC, FRA, VIE, CPH, AMS, BRU and I can't think which other three. Maybe seasonal ones like PRG or MXP?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:47

      All the ones you wrote plus he said Rome and Paris.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:24

    So has there been a decision about privatizing OU so the state no longer decides about this sort of stuff?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/01/croatia-airlines-to-remain-state-owned.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:53

      Thank you. Missed that.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:01

      Privatization is very risky no matter who they chose. If things don't go to plan and the owner shuts OU it could really screw the tourism industry, at least for one season. So I understand why they are cautious.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:05

      The coast would not feel OU bankruptcy

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:27

    An airline with a lot of potential. They just need a good management team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger09:48

      So true!!!!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:36

      Purger if you say it's true, do you think you can do a better job managing the company or consulting them how to manage it?

      Delete
    3. Alen Šćuric Purger14:44

      Me managing? Of course not, I am not that capacity. My business for last 26 years is little company with just 6 employees. OK, Kučko had 3. But if I would be so prepotent to say that I am qualified for that job, I will be the same as they are. I am no qualified or good enough for that job. Not even near.

      Consulting? Yes I could do that.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:46

      So influencing with no responsibilities.

      Delete
    5. Alen Šćuric Purger19:42

      I don't need any influence at all. I don't want to be consultant in Croatia Airlines and don't see myself in it. Don't have time fore that.

      As I said, I can do it, but I don't think it will ever happen.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:38

    The government simply doesn't care. Full support to the unions of OU and the possible strike during summer months. That's the only way to achieve something!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:02

    Apparently 10% of full time cabin crew transferred to ground operations last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      Apparently too much stress and long flying hours.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:29

      They should transfer over to Emirates to see what long flying hours means.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:29

    Unions are obviously trying to influence the process of selecting the new CEO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:35

      They are right in doing that considering who the government's track record.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:40

      @ 10.29 wouldn't this ceasefire in hostilities mean exactly the opposite? They are trying not to influence the selection process with a strike.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:39

    Croatia Airlines is an unsuccessful company and the best what could be done is to privatize it for one kuna and get rid of that moloch from the public finances. There will always be companies interested to fly only those pilot and cabin crew blood suckers in OU will not have an opportunity to blackmail the state and the public.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11:02

    Good. I was afraid they might be planning to strike.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:11

    Who was the most successful CEO of Croatia Airlines?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:19

      Kresimir Kucko since he went on to become the CEO of Gulf Air :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:00

      Turns out that way.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous12:23

    Good news. Wish OU a successful summer season.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous13:02

    Why is the current CEO so problematic for the unions? He has worked at Croatia Airlines for a very long time. He started out in lower management positions and worked his way up. I don't see this as political interference so why are the unions are unhappy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:06

      Because he is an Ivan Misetic inspired CEO. Misetic's daughter is part of the government and he is very much still interested in Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:44

      So why doesn't Misetic come back? He was successful as a CEO

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:22

      Successful? After him the company had to go through restructuring because of losses and debt. He was also sitting on the board of a Lufthansa airline at the same time as being CEO of Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:27

      The current CEO is from HDZ of course. That's problem number 1.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous13:05

    The notion of the government selecting someone to run an airline is so silly. I thought Croatia has moved past that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:07

      I think in most countries, companies that are 100% government owned have their leadership selected by the government.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous13:29

    I'm interested to see how the fleet will develop under a new CEO. Will they finally get 100 seat aircraft and what will happen with the neos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:26

      The neos will come. Too late to do cancel them and they were renegotiating that for years so they could fix the mess made by Misetic.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous16:16

    OT:

    Zagreb numbers are out for the first month,
    + 13.2%, 191200 pax in January, up by 22000
    + 45% Cargo 1020 tons.
    Number of operations down ~2750

    February will most likely be also up by around 10-12%, January and February are slowest months for Zagreb airport, there's latterly nothing happening in the City.

    Easter Brake this year is at the end of March and first week of April. So that'll be when airport should get busy.

    Prediction for first 5 months:

    Jan: 191 270
    Feb: 165 700
    Mar: 223 000
    Apr: 257 700
    May: 300 000

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:20

      Numbers are not out and they are not official.also we've had this posted a few days ago too as an off topic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:58

      @AnonymousFebruary 10, 2018 at 4:20 PM

      This is my first post in over a week on this blog, I rarely visit this blog, so I posted this, the information is accurate, however Zagreb airport is yet to put it up, they normally are slow with January numbers as it is the start of the year.

      Normally they wait for February and January before they post the result on their website.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous16:24

    Hope we get a decent CEO which Croatia Airlines and Croatia deserves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:29

      James Hogan is free these days... :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:48

      I don’t think he is aloud to leave the UAE someone wrote somewhere that he is under house arrest in Abu Dhabi

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:53

      He is not in the UAE anymore. He has a consulting company in Switzeralnd.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous03:29

      Cool... I was wondering it was true or not.

      Delete

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