New CEO of Romanian airline Tarom: Possible contract with Mitsubishi for new airplanes and back to profit in 2016

Romanian national airline Tarom might sign a contract with Mitsubishi by 2014 in order to change the old airplanes for new, according to the company’s new CEO Christian Edouard Heinzmann. Moreover, the national airline’s new management expects the company to enter profit from 2016, or even earlier. “We intend to sign a contract with a major producer, from Airbus to Boeing, Embraer and Mitsubishi, in order to replace the current fleet with airplanes from the same manufacturer, to standardize the fleet, through an operational leasing contract," said Christian Edouard Heinzmann. He added that a deal could include pilot training and that a standardization of the company’s fleet would mean saving 30 percent in fuel costs alone. The Romanian airline’s new management plan will mainly focus on increasing revenues and decreasing costs, on getting profit from maintenance services that the company could provide to other companies, and on renegotiating contracts considered wasteful to the company. “We are now renegotiating 30 to 40 of the company’s contracts, from those with OMV and BP, to the ones with Alpha Rocas for catering, Globe Ground, and the contracts for the ticketing system, which is very expensive. I think we could save few million euros through renegotiation,” said Tarom’s CEO, quoted by Agerpres. Tarom might also renegotiate some of the contracts for the company’s offices in major cities such as Paris and London. Moreover, the company may look at staffing levels, which currently numbers some 2,100 employees. Christian Edouard Heinzmann’s four year contract as Tarom’s new CEO started in November 2012. Heinzmann has 25 years of experience in the airline industry, and previously implemented a restructuring strategy at Luxair. He also worked with Albanian Airlines and GMG Airlines in Bangladesh. His CV is here. The National Romanian Air Transport Company Tarom was established in 1954, and operates under the Ministry of Transport. The company has been member of the SkyTeam Alliance since June 2010. Tarom currently owns a fleet of 23 airplanes, including nine Boeing 737s, four Airbus A318-111s, one Airbus A310-325, seven ATR 42-500s and two ATR 72-500s. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com