Gulf Air chief executive Maher Al Musallam resigns
Manama: Maher Salman Al Musallam has resigned from the position of Gulf Air’s chief executive, it has emerged.
In a statement, the airline said yesterday that the board of directors has accepted the resignation.
Gulf Air did not say why he was quitting or who would succeed Mr Al Musallam.
When asked why he resigned, the outgoing chief executive told the GDN, “No reason. I would like to retire as I have been with Gulf Air for seven plus years.”
The statement by Gulf Air quoted Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister and chairman of Gulf Air’s board Zayed Al Zayani as saying, “On behalf of Gulf Air’s board of directors and the airline’s executive management team and workforce, I extend my sincerest thanks to Mr Al Musallam for his invaluable contributions and achievements delivered during his tenure with the airline. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
On the 18th of last month, the airline announced the appointment of a new board of directors led by Mr Al Zayani as chairman.
Besides him, the board includes Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Dr Dawood Nassif Dawood, Jameel Ali Al Matrook, Essa Mohamed Najibi, Jean-Christophe Durand and Jassim Abdulaal. Directors on the seven-member board serve a three-year term.
Mr Al Musallam was appointed to the position of chief executive in May last year, after nearly four years as acting chief executive, since December 2012.
He had joined Gulf Air as deputy chief executive after completing a 35-year career with the Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF).
During his tenure at the RBAF, he held a number of high-ranking positions including Squadron Commander and Wing Commander where he was responsible for the daily management and emergency deployment of over 10 operational units including flying, maintenance, logistics and administration.
As acting chief executive and chief executive, Mr Al Musallam led Gulf Air’s executive management team in implementing the 2013 restructuring strategy delivering record reduction in annual losses.
The national carrier’s 2015 financial and operational results posted in June last year reveal a fall of almost BD40 million in annual losses from BD62.7m in 2014 to BD24.1m in 2015 – equivalent to a 62pc reduction.
This translates to a reduction of 88pc from losses of BD196m in 2012.
The airline said in May that “future plans are geared towards realising a broad spectrum of positive developments as it achieves full commercial sustainability and increasingly focuses on managing and further investing in its ongoing growth, development and long-term expansion capabilities”.
During the Bahrain International Air Show 2016, the airline announced new aircraft orders worth a combined total of $7.6 billion, “geared towards providing Gulf Air with the requisite expansion capabilities for extensively studied future network requirements”.
The new incoming fleet comprises 45 aircraft including 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, 17 Airbus A321neo and 12 Airbus A320neo aircraft with deliveries commencing in the second quarter of 2018.
Gulf Air says it is among the biggest national companies in Bahrain in terms of employment, in addition to being one of the largest employers of a national workforce with 90pc Bahrainisation at the airline’s headquarters.
Former Gulf Air unionist Mohammed Mahdi told the GDN that in his personal opinion, Mr Al Musallam was not given enough “authority to do all that he wanted to do to improve the airline”.
He also said that the airline’s claims about “loss reduction since the restructuring needed to be independently verified”.
The airline’s management could not be reached for comment.
Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/219555/Gulf-Air-chief-executive-Maher-Al-Musallam-resigns
