Was the demise of Flyr inevitable
Of course not. Flyr could have been saved at many stages trough its short life.
By getting in top management that new what to concentrate on and what was not important during startup. And who had experience in which functions are needed and how many are needed in each function at each stage of fleet expansion.
The main blame lies with the Chairman who got in the wrong people to lead the company. People without any experience from the startup and/or growth of a profitable airline. Even though they are few and far between in Norway. First a spender that let themselves be blended by the role, went for to many fripperies and lured into to rapid sudden expansion and associated expences when there where at that stage not enough passengers to pay for it.
Then replacing that ceo with a person that had been there and had influence on the process the whole time and think that would make a difference. A person that stuck to the plan that hadn't worked so far, just with a few added token savings. A person that spent money Flyr didn't have planning for a future Flyr didn't reach. A person that when announced didn't move the stock price of the company one iota in the right direction. A stock price they at that stage where completely dependent on to sell the next planneed share expansion.
The last time Flyr could have been saved was when they got in 250 million nkr 2 months before Christmas 2022. The trouble they had getting that from investors should have told them to make a plan for no more investor money in the near future. Instead they where touting this plan for another 450 million nkr in and mentally unable to divert from it.
They where warned by commentators every time their new wet-lease announcements and plans for summer 2023 made the press that they needed to come up with something revenue generating immediately. Something that would bring in more passengers during Christmas 22 and for the following winter season. Instead they saved themselves broke. Actually not saved but spent money they couldn't afford preparing for a summer season that never came. Comiting not only to wet-lease contracts with no payment upfront but also diverting their concentration on getting an AOC for the US market. An AOC granted a week after Flyr went bust.
Yes they could eventually have got more money from investors. But that is easier if the investors don't think they need them. Flyr instead behaved desperately and that might work but only once. And that once they had already used. Careful managing of the ekstra 250 million could have got them to and through summer 23. Then, if their pricing had been better than summer 22 where they didn't manage to make money out of packed planes in any month, they could have gone into autumn with a token profit which is an easier sale to the stock market.
Flyr might have been liked by passengers, but not enough to pack the planes. It might also have been like a big family for the employees but that do not mean it was productive in the right way. Waffles sometime just leads to waffeling.
Comments
Post a Comment