Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[richard winterbourn]

Very peculiar... I cannot specifically answer your question other than to say that recently in a photo op at BHX a man by the name of Simon Richards was identified as the 'acting managing director'.

Now what that means i do not know. For a few months now i have speculated that the role of chief executive officer (CEO) may have been dropped after Paul Kehoe left and at some stage he would be replaced by a managing director.

Whether Simon Richards will fill that role or someone else will be appointed only the airport's board of directors will know.

After well over a year since Kehoe left it is not unreasonable to think that the role of CEO has been abandoned. However, as far as i know, there is still a chief operating officer (COO).

Like everyone else who has an interest in BHX i am keen to know what is going on within the management structure there. And for the airport's future and success, i think there needs to be some transparency....

 

[BHXsupporter]

Why are posts duplicating on the site please? (Ian F's recent post also).

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Why are posts duplicating on the site please? (Ian F's recent post also).

I've removed the duplicate. This happens from time to time on many of the F4A forums. When I see a duplicate I remove it.

 

[Brum X]

I've removed the duplicate. This happens from time to time on many of the F4A forums. When I see a duplicate I remove it.

Thanks Yokel

 

[Ianbutty]

Very peculiar... I cannot specifically answer your question other than to say that recently in a photo op at BHX a man by the name of Simon Richards was identified as the 'acting managing director'.

Now what that means i do not know. For a few months now i have speculated that the role of chief executive officer (CEO) may have been dropped after Paul Kehoe left and at some stage he would be replaced by a managing director.

Whether Simon Richards will fill that role or someone else will be appointed only the airport's board of directors will know.

After well over a year since Kehoe left it is not unreasonable to think that the role of CEO has been abandoned. However, as far as i know, there is still a chief operating officer (COO).

Like everyone else who has an interest in BHX i am keen to know what is going on within the management structure there. And for the airport's future and success, i think there needs to be some transparency....

Acting Managing Director either means what it says on the tin or they tried for a CEO and for whatever reason could not get one. Given the ownership of the airport I wonder if the local authorities are acting like local authroities and putting pressure on to protect the purse strings rather than consider the big picture. After all a successful airport with economic growth equals business rate growth which is how councils will be largely funded from 2020 onwards.

Isnt it about time that the authorities sold off their stock? Let the airport fly. As I say, they can collect and keep the business rates growth which is probably more than any profit share. Maybe MAG will buy it......

 

[bargoose]

Anyone got any idea what Norwegian bhx to madrid is playing at this evening Monday 6th Aug?
Outbound from bhx it banks left over B'ham, proceeds over Bromsgrove as they often do, but then maintains an altitude of 6000 ft and does an erratic tour of mid wales at around 250 mph. then climbs to 15000 and heads over Bristol channel, but speed drops to 167 mph!! Stalling speed surely to God?! By 10 pm , an hour and ten minutes later it's finally over the tip of cornwall at 20000 ft and 300 mph. Never seen anything like it before, I honestly thought it was going down into the Bristol channel.

 

[Jerry]

Anyone got any idea what Norwegian bhx to madrid is playing at this evening Monday 6th Aug?
Outbound from bhx it banks left over B'ham, proceeds over Bromsgrove as they often do, but then maintains an altitude of 6000 ft and does an erratic tour of mid wales at around 250 mph. then climbs to 15000 and heads over Bristol channel, but speed drops to 167 mph!! Stalling speed surely to God?! By 10 pm , an hour and ten minutes later it's finally over the tip of cornwall at 20000 ft and 300 mph. Never seen anything like it before, I honestly thought it was going down into the Bristol channel.

Possibly trying to fix a problem in the air maybe? Or the pilot fancied the scenic route!

 

[Coathanger16]

Anyone got any idea what Norwegian bhx to madrid is playing at this evening Monday 6th Aug?
Outbound from bhx it banks left over B'ham, proceeds over Bromsgrove as they often do, but then maintains an altitude of 6000 ft and does an erratic tour of mid wales at around 250 mph. then climbs to 15000 and heads over Bristol channel, but speed drops to 167 mph!! Stalling speed surely to God?! By 10 pm , an hour and ten minutes later it's finally over the tip of cornwall at 20000 ft and 300 mph. Never seen anything like it before, I honestly thought it was going down into the Bristol channel.

If it's been at BHX for maintenance they may be doing some flight tests to make sure everything is working OK. There isn't much controlled airspace over Wales so they don't get in the way of commercial traffic.

I saw one of the Air Austral 787's do something similar a few weeks ago. Flew out of the Bay of Biscay, then all the way down to the Pyrenees before heading up to Paris.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Air Test, not going to Madrid, decending again now by Bristol !

 

[IanFarquharson]

Landed BHX at 2258

 

[Jerry]

Hurtigruten will offer Northern Lights fly cruises to Bergen from Birmingham on
30 November 2019
26 February 2020
01 April 2020

 

[rollo]

Jerry do you know who the airline is? and are they dedicated flights which I imagine they will be.
My wife booked a fly cruise from BHX to Malta last week for a significant birthday next June. I cannot work out the airline but P&O say it's likely Tui or Thomas Cook.

Cruise flights are a growing market around the U.K.

 

[Jerry]

Jerry do you know who the airline is? and are they dedicated flights which I imagine they will be.
My wife booked a fly cruise from BHX to Malta last week for a significant birthday next June. I cannot work out the airline but P&O say it's likely Tui or Thomas Cook.

Cruise flights are a growing market around the U.K.

I don't but if i remember correctly this year's flight from Cardiff was with Germania so it's possible it could be them again but i also wouldn't rule out Enter Air or Titan Airways as well.

 

[rollo]

Thank you.

 

[smithy108]

A not very upbeat release and no news on senior team other than the last changes cost nearly £0.5m !

Airport expects more turbulence after drop in profits
Birmingham Airport expects another “challenging year” after profits fell 10% last year.

The airport has seen passenger numbers fall in the wake of Monarch’s collapse last autumn, which contributed to a difficult second half of its financial year.

Profits in the year to March were down £3.6m to £34.5m despite turnover increasing by nearly £10m to £155.5m.

Passenger numbers last summer reached record levels, with August 2017 the busiest month in the airport’s history. However Monarch, which was the airport’s third-largest carrier, went into administration in October and the loss of Norwegian Airlines, United Airlines and Icelandair also reduced activity.

Although Jet2, Thomas Cook and TUI have helped to “partially mitigate” the loss of Monarch, the airport has faced further problems this summer with Primera Air suspending its operations from Birmingham.

Birmingham Airport said “2018/19 is set to be another challenging year as the Airport continues to recover lost traffic and deliver future growth following the demise of Monarch Airlines.


Birmingham Airport’s monthly passenger figures had shown like-for-like growth for more than three years until November 2017:

An exceptional charge of £1.8m arose from “changes to the airport’s executive team, an update of the Airport’s master plan and the demolition of an obsolete building”.

£1.15m was paid for restructuring costs, of which £426,000 was compensation paid to directors for loss of office.

Departures during the year included chief executive Paul Kehoe, who left in July 2017 after nine years in charge and is yet to be permanently replaced, and chairman John Hudson, who stepped down at the same time.

Dividends for the year increased 8% to £30.3m. This resulted in seven councils – Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton – which collectively own 49% of the airport, sharing £16.1m. Airport Group Investments, a company owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Victorian Funds Management, holds 48.25% while employees have a 2.75% stake.

 

[smithy108]

MAG have just published their July numbers with Stansted leading the way with 7.4% growth but Manchester managed just 0.5% growth and interestingly a decline of 2.1% at East Midlands
Previous posts have suggested that BHX will be about same decline as last few months trend with a reduction of c.7/8%

 

[richard winterbourn]

I think the figures highlighted above can provide an interesting discussion point.

For while it would be reasonable to assume that the fall in monthly passenger figures for BHX can be almost wholly attributable to the demise of Mon, the fall in pax for East Midlands seems less easily explained.

MAN has always had East Midlands as it buffer between north and south and an airport that while it progressed in terms of passenger growth could act as a buffer in growth at BHX. After all the airports are only half-an-hour away from each other by car.

This leaves me believing that MAN would be more worried about East Midlands' loss than that at BHX. Therefore with East Midlands' seemingly inexplicable decline,there must now be the opportunity for BHX to grab what it can in the coming months and years to establish itself as the prime airport for the whole of the Midlands region, both east and west.

Also, given East Midlands' decline it would be very interesting to know how much of a part Jet2 has played in this and it would be interesting to see how this airline develops vis-a-vis BHX - East Midlands in the short term.

 

[58terminus]

£1.15m was paid for restructuring costs, of which £426,000 was compensation paid to directors for loss of office.

Departures during the year included chief executive Paul Kehoe, who left in July 2017 after nine years in charge and is yet to be permanently replaced, and chairman John Hudson, who stepped down at the same time.

Does this mean that the people named did not leave to better themselves elsewhere but were forced out with a compensation package. If so why?

 

[smithy108]

Payments are not normally made as compensation unless you have either sacked a director or you have forced someone out and the speak tends to be 'by mutual agreement'. Often it can be due to a difference within the board in strategy or operational direction. I guess we will never find out the real reason as often the leaving party is prevented from speaking publicly as part of the deal.
These amounts may be to one or more individuals with often directors fixed term contracts being paid up to the end of the term

 

[richard winterbourn]

I have maintained for some time now that there will not be a new appointment of a CEO at BHX. Maybe this can be explained by the £1.5m listed as restructuring costs.

If the position of CEO was deemed to be 'redundant' in a restructuring exercise then the person who held that post would be in line for a very substantial redundancy payment which would include a payment which reflected any outstanding period of his contract. And in such high profile cases there will no doubt be a no disclosure (public comment) clause.

Now, if that were the case in terms of PK, the board of directors at BHX would then not be able (i think by law) to re-appoint a person into that position. Thus, instead of having a CEO in future, BHX may have decided to have an MD. And as we have seen recently in a photo opportunity we were introduced to an 'acting' MD, Simon Richards.

Whether he will become MD i have no idea, but that is just my take on what may have happened and what may well happen. I could well be proved wrong but time will tell.