[Article] Troubled Skynet down to 15 staff

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2004/0521/skynet.html

Skynet services to return to normal
May 21, 2004 19:17

Skynet, an Irish registered airline which operates out of Shannon Airport, has had one of its planes impounded at Shannon airport.

The airline said:' arising from a dispute with the owners of an aircraft operated by Skynet, some passengers on today's flights to Amsterdam, were inconvenienced, which we regret.

However all passengers travelling to Amsterdam have been accommodated and Skynet Airlines will operate normal schedules from tomorrow May 22, 2004,' it added.


The company said they are committed to developing their hub operation at Shannon and are confident that new routes will be announced later this year".

The two year old airline employs 100 staff.

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0525/air.html

Skynet suspends flights at Shannon
25 May 2004 14:12

Skynet, which operates a daily service from Shannon to Amsterdam and Moscow, has suspended its flights at Shannon because of its failure to solve a financial problem with a leasing company.

Last Friday, one of its aircraft was grounded at Shannon when the problem first emerged.

Passengers were accommodated on other flights, and in a statement the company said services would return to normal on Saturday. However, plans to charter another plane to solve the crisis never materialised.

Today, the company said it has suspended its flights from Shannon while it continues to resolve the issue with the leasing company. People who had booked flights are being offered a refund.

The 100 staff employed as flight crew, call centre and administrative staff have so far not been affected by Skynet's difficulties.

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2004/0610/skynet.html

Troubled Skynet down to 15 staff

June 10, 2004 13:19
Skynet Airlines, which employs 100 people at Shannon, is reducing its staff by 85 to a core of 15 people because of continuing financial difficulties with its leasing arrangements.

The company, which operated flights from Shannon to Amsterdam and onwards to Moscow, ran into difficulties on May 21 last when it was forced to cancel its flights because of problems with the company from which it leased one of its aircraft.

That problem remains unresolved, and the company subsequently suspended its flights and stopped taking bookings.


The company said today it was cutting its staff at Shannon back to 15 as it tried to sort and rebuild its business. 20 of its 100 staff are to be made redundant and the remainder are taking 'unpaid leave'.

Victor

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/06/10/story151676.html

Skynet lays off 85 workers
10/06/2004 - 13:33:51

The troubled Shannon-based airline Skynet has laid off 85 of its 100 workers due to an ongoing dispute with the firm that owns the lease of its aircraft.

The company has permanently laid off 20 workers and has put 65 others on unpaid leave because of the dispute.

Skynet, which operated flights from Shannon to Amsterdam and Moscow, stopped taking bookings last month as a result of the matter.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/3367135?view=Eircomnet

Future of Skynet in balance after it cuts staff and says it has no aircraft
From:ireland.com
Friday, 11th June, 2004

The future of Shannon-based airline Skynet was in the balance last night after it reduced its staff by 85 and admitted it no longer had any aircraft to operate.

The airline has suspended all flights and is no longer accepting bookings. About 20 staff have been made redundant, while 65 have agreed to take unpaid leave. Only 15 staff are remaining on at this stage.

Asked would the airline survive its current problems, a spokesman said: "We are working very hard to stay in business, but there are no guarantees. But we are working very hard to re-grow the business".

The 15 staff remaining will now devote themselves to devising a future strategy for the airline. The airline was operating two leased Boeing 737s, but one was returned and another was grounded at Shannon following a dispute with a US leasing company.

This dispute remains unresolved and Skynet will not be able to use the aircraft, sources indicated yesterday. Aer Rianta is also owed almost €200,000 by Skynet for landing charges.

Skynet posted a €4.5 million pre-tax loss for 2002 and has found it difficult to stem losses on its two routes: Shannon to Amsterdam and Dublin to Moscow.

Skynet, while not operating any of its own flights, is promoting the services of Russian airline Pulkovo which is due to start services from Shannon/ Dublin to Moscow and St Petersburg next month. However a spokesman said Pulkovo was an entirely separate airline from Skynet.

The idea of a Russian-Irish airline was the brainchild of former Aeroflot Shannon station manager Mr Boris Krivechenko. He has advised Skynet in the last year, although the main investors are Irish, European and American. While Aeroflot has been a partner of Skynet, it has no equity in the venture.

Skynet is the latest in a series of airlines to struggle for survival in the Irish market and pressure on the company has increased in the wake of closures at Cork-based airline Jetmagic and at budget carrier Jetgreen.

Another airline, Freshaer collapsed last summer after it emerged that it was not correctly licensed and that its chief executive Mr John Lepp had a conviction in the UK for fraud.

One of the biggest shareholders in Skynet is Mr Thomas Kane, the American-born owner of Adare Manor in Co Limerick. One of the driving forces behind the airline in 2001, he initially held a one-third stake but later stepped down as a director and reduced that holding.