Word: gobert
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Sabena needed a partner to survive. The fateful deal with Swissair was signed in May 1995, after Sabena's attempts to ally itself first with SAS, British Airways, KLM and finally Air France collapsed. The Belgians were delighted. "Swissair was seen as a flying bank," says Gérard Gobert, a commission member. Under the agreement, Swissair took a 49.5% stake in the Belgian carrier with an option to increase that later. At the time, Swissair was embarking on an aggressive expansion, later dubbed its hunter strategy, which involved making alliances with and taking equity stakes in other small airlines...
...even threatened a Swiss withdrawal if the decision went against Airbus, according to several testimonies. The board signed off on the 34-plane order at its Nov. 17, 1997 meeting, even without seeing the paperwork. One month later, directors finally received a business plan justifying the higher number. Gobert says that document has the words "Please destroy earlier versions" written on the front cover. The financing was also highly problematic. Minutes of the board meeting say "it was proposed" that Swissair would help pay for the planes; a separate financing company that would acquire the planes and lease them...