Monarch Air collapse triggers repatriation of 110,000 fliers
HR forum sees role for digital technology
BRITISH short-haul carrier Monarch Airlines ceased trading suddenly yesterday following a financial collapse, the biggest failure of its kind in Britain, prompting the government into emergency action in returning home 110,000 stranded passengers.
Monarch and its holidays business entered administration, with KPMG appointed to oversee the financial chaos that has left about 2,100 staff likely having to find new employment.
The airline had been struggling financially for a while and won a cash injection a year ago that allowed it to continue flying holidaymakers and fund growth plans, as the sector faced turbulence from Brexit and terrorism.
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority described yesterday’s events as “the biggest ever UK airline failure”, adding that “all future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been cancelled and are no longer operating”.
It added in a statement that “the government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them”.
Passengers are being flown back from numerous countries, including France, Greece, Israel and Turkey on aircraft leased by the CAA.
In total, about 410,000 customers are affected by Monarch going into administration, including 300,000 with future bookings, the CAA said.
Qatar Airways had sent A320 aircraft on request by the CAA to repatriate holidaymakers, according to online flight- tracker Flightradar24.
The government said that it was overseeing what it said was the biggest repatriation since the end of World War II.
“This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK,” Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement.
“That is why I have immediately ordered the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad.”
He added: “This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation.”
But the Unite union hit back, saying ministers rebuffed requests by Monarch – Britain’s 10th largest airline according to Euromonitor International – to provide a bridging loan.
“Monarch’s workforce has worked tirelessly and loyally, with great sacrifice, to try and turn the airline around in the last year,” said senior Unite official Oliver Richardson.
“Their hard work has been undone by a government seemingly content to sit on its hands and allow one of the UK’s oldest airlines go into administration.”
The first plane to arrive back in the UK carried 165 passengers from Ibiza.
Affected parties used social media to get their messages across, mirroring a situation a week ago when Ryanair cancelled thousands of flights while battling a shortage of pilots.
“Monarch customers in the UK: don’t go to the airport. There will be no more Monarch flights,” the budget carrier said on Twitter.
KPMG partner and joint administrator, Blair Nimmo, said “mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have con- tributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses”.
Monarch’s collapse meanwhile boosted the share prices of bigger rivals.
“Usually what’s bad for one airline – higher fuel costs, terror attacks, air traffic control strikes – are bad for the sector,” noted Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital.
“But the failure of Monarch is good news for rivals. Shares in Ryanair and EasyJet both rose about 3 percent in early trading as the market reacted to the news of the demise of Monarch after 50 years in business.” BUSINESSES should embrace digital strategies that can improve the speed and efficiency of human resource management activities, speakers at a conference on the impact of digital transformation on human resources said yesterday.
The two-day conference, hosted by the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (Camfeba), addressed ways in which digital technologies can be used to improve the management of human resources and raise the skill and productivity of workers.
Camfeba Vice President Teh Sing said it was important for local companies to observe and learn from the experiences of international companies that have used digital technologies to improve HR management.
“Each company is unique and has its own challenges, but there are overarching themes that we should all consider to promote a progressive, productive and healthy working environment that can respond to globalisation,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Camfeba board member Eng Sopheap explained that digital technologies have the potential to transform the way human resources are managed, benefitting all industries.
“All members in our HR community can learn about new techniques and innovations from international HR trainers and then apply them to their company though digital technologies, which are more effective than traditional practices,” she said.
Sopheap explained that some digital strategies for human resource management include using smartphone applications that collect real-time information of an employee’s activities while tracking individual movements and productivity. For example, she said, an app could be loaded onto an employee’s smartphone that would measure the productivity of fieldwork by utilising the phone’s GPS tracking system, or monitor their attention span on particular tasks.
Pich Sophoan, secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, said it was important for Cambodian companies to enhance their HR department’s capacity to compete with the efficiency of those in neighbouring markets.
“When employee salaries keep rising yet their skill capacity remains limited it will be challenging to compete in the labour market,” he said. “We need to change how employees are managed and collect all relevant information through digital processes to improve their abilities.”