Two dozen pilots and stewardesses from the Russian airline Transaero observed a minute’s silence in the center of St Petersburg on Sunday for those who died in the crash of Metrojet flight 9268 in Egypt last weekend.
But the men and women in the dark blue coats were just as anguished over the fate of their own airline. They have joined protests against the looming bankruptcy of Transaero, Russia’s second-largest carrier and the country’s largest privately owned one.
Transaero has been fighting for its survival for months, as a weakened rouble and sliding disposable incomes in Russia have forced people to cut down on overseas travel, crippling the airline’s ability to service its debt of Rbs260bn ($4bn).
Chaotic attempts to rescue it have thrown a spotlight on the tangled ties between politics and business in Russia, which are complicating the government’s efforts to soften the economic and social fallout of the recession.
The latest and most dramatic episode began on Thursday, when Russia’s airline safety watchdog, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK), suspended flight certificates for all Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Russian airlines, a highly unusual step that requires Russian government officials to consider grounding aircraft.
Two people present at an emergency meeting convened on Friday to deal with the MAK’s move said they believed that Tatiana Anodina, the committee’s chairwoman — and mother of Transaero’s founder and largest shareholder, Alexander Pleshakov — had targeted the Boeings in a ploy to avert the airline’s bankruptcy.
“Threatening to ground more than 150 aircraft was an extreme move, but it is very much Tatiana’s style,” said an executive from a smaller Russian airline. “It would have hurt all airlines, so the hope was that she could force a deal on Transaero.”
In early September, state-controlled Aeroflot agreed to take a controlling stake in Transaero for the symbolic price of Rb1 — a deal arranged by a government anxious to secure the jobs of close to 11,000 Transaero staff and avoid stranding thousands of travellers. But the deal collapsed a month later.
Government officials then concluded that declaring bankruptcy was the preferred option for Transaero. In the meantime, they made Aeroflot assume responsibility for paying Transaero staff and keeping flights going.
But the Pleshakovs did not give up. They tried to seal another deal for the head of S7, Transaero’s private rival, to rescue the airline. This soon broke down, too.
“In principle, the state’s interest is in limiting the social and economic cost of the Transaero bankruptcy, but there are too many hands of the state here with conflicting interests,” said Denis Vorchik, an analyst at Uralsib Bank in Moscow.
Among Transaero’s creditors are the state-owned banks Vnesheconombank, VTB and Sberbank. Both VTB and Sberbank have filed bankruptcy claims against Transaero.
“For the state-owned banks, it’s easier to be in favor of letting Transaero go bankrupt because the state will come in to help cover loan losses,” said Mr Vorchik.
Privately owned lenders, by contrast, have been pushing for fresh rescue attempts. Executives of International Financial Club, a privately owned bank backed by the tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, have sided with the Pleshakovs.
Regardless of the possible motives behind MAK’s attempt to ground the Boeings, it did not save Transaero. At a meeting called on Friday by Rosaviatsia, the domestic airline regulator that would be required to give the actual order, it was determined that MAK’s demand had no merit.
Just minutes later, a person close to the Pleshakov family, said Valery Zaitsev, chief executive, had resigned. Ms Anodina did not even attend the meeting. A person close to Aeroflot said: “The curtain has fallen.”
In a statement published on its website on Sunday, MAK said it had decided to suspend the certificates because the US Federal Aviation Authority had earlier stated that Boeing needed to make improvements to the 737’s elevator to ensure continued safe operation of the aircraft. MAK said it was still awaiting a joint decision from Rosaviatsia and the FAA that Russian 737s were in a state for flying safely.
Ms Anodina could not be reached for comment. Transaero did not respond. Mr Pleshakov’s wife Olga, Transaero’s former chief executive who has spoken for the owners recently, did not respond to a request seeking comment.
Turbulent times
August 31 2015 Olga Pleshakova, co-owner of Transaero together with her husband Alexander Pleshakov and her mother-in-law Tatiana Anodina, resigns as chief executive of the airline
September 1 Deal announced under which Aeroflot is to acquire a controlling stake in Transaero for the symbolic price of Rbs1
September 7 Aeroflot executive Dmitry Saprykin is appointed Transaero chief executive
October 1 Aeroflot announces that the takeover deal has collapsed because Transaero shareholders failed to present a proposal for the acquisition of 75 per cent plus one share
October 26 Transaero loses its license and is forced to stop all flights. Aeroflot is given many of the company’s most profitable routes
October 27 Transaero says it has replaced Mr Saprykin with his deputy Valery Zaitsev
October 30 Regulator Rosaviatsia insists Mr Saprykin is still chief executive. Olga Pleshakova insists that Mr Zaitsev is CEO
November 5 Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) says it has suspended flight certificates for all Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Russian airlines. Russian media report that Mr Zaitsev has tendered his resignation
November 6 MAK retracts its letter to Rosaviatsia demanding the grounding of all 737 aircraft of Russian airlines
Original article can be found here: http://www.ft.com
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