Ravn Alaska, a regional airline based mostly in Alaska (and likewise the mother or father firm of New Pacific Airways) is restructuring, and has simply laid off over one-third of its employees. I can’t assist however surprise what this implies for the way forward for each Ravn Alaska and New Pacific Airways.
Ravn Alaska lays off 130 workers
On Friday, February 23, 2024, Ravn Alaska knowledgeable workers of a serious restructuring, because the airline laid off 130 of its roughly 350 workers. Ravn Alaska CEO Rob McKinney acknowledged that the airline isn’t “giving up or dropping by the wayside,” and can “emerge a stronger firm” on account of this restructuring.
McKinney blames the scenario on inflation, labor shortages, and “surprising competitors.” As he explains:
“That is like what so many different airways have gone by means of to turn out to be a viable service that may then start to develop anew. The laborious reality is that we by no means actually left oldco [old company] previously. As a result of must restart as rapidly as we did, we ended up adopting many practices and insurance policies which might be inefficient at finest.”
“Regardless of our greatest efforts with schedules, pricing, and former makes an attempt at proper sizing, we nonetheless weren’t hitting the profitability mark.”
To date this has solely been communicated internally, so it stays to be seen what the airline will say publicly, and the way operations can be impacted. In spite of everything, for those who lay off such a big proportion of your employees and are restructuring, it’s laborious to think about that it will likely be enterprise as typical for passengers.
The under collection of posts on Twitter/X sums up the Ravn Alaska scenario extra concisely than I ever may, and displays what a journey the corporate has had up till this level. As you possibly can see, many individuals aren’t stunned by this improvement.
What does this imply for New Pacific Airways?
With the restructuring of Ravn Alaska, one large query is what precisely this implies for New Pacific Airways (previously often known as Northern Pacific Airways). Whereas Ravn Alaska has operated turboprops round Alaska, New Pacific Airways is the corporate’s new enterprise, whereby the airline flies Boeing 757s.
The preliminary plan was for the airline to fly to Asia by way of Anchorage, although someway that enterprise mannequin has advanced into the airline flies almost empty 757s from Ontario to Reno and Nashville, as one does.
I’m undecided how precisely the funding scenario works between the 2 corporations, however I can’t think about that both operation is earning money. If Ravn Alaska restructures with out giving up (or one thing) on New Pacific Airways, then one actually has to surprise what the motives are for conserving that firm alive.
It’s unhappy the extent to which Ravn Alaska’s administration has been targeted on making New Pacific Airways a factor, slightly than being targeted on the core enterprise of creating Ravn Alaska worthwhile.
When Ravn Alaska’s CEO talks about how the airline has tailored some practices and insurance policies that “are inefficient at finest,” does that embrace spending hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on a lounge for New Pacific Airways at Anchorage Airport, which hasn’t seen a single buyer thus far?
Backside line
Ravn Alaska is present process a restructuring, as 130 workers on the firm have been laid off. Ravn Alaska has had a slightly tough journey independently, and administration’s big concentrate on launching New Pacific Airways hasn’t helped both. With Ravn Alaska restructuring, I can’t assist however surprise what this implies for the way forward for New Pacific Airways.
What do you make of those adjustments at Ravn Alaska, and what do you assume they imply for New Pacific Airways?
