From CEO to Chairman

“Captain Savy still has his place at Air Seychelles” (Rising Sun 19th March)

Captain David Savy DAVID Savy's press conference recently to explain his 'strategic' self promotion to Chairman of the Board gave an insight into how the SPPF runs the affairs of the people of Seychelles. They treat everyone with contempt and they all rule their little empires as they see fit. Air Seychelles is owned by the people of Seychelles and yet, it is ruled as a little kingdom, where even the government of the day (who is supposed to be the guarantor of people's interests and assets) does not even have a say. In normal circumstances, the office of the President should have been the body to announce the changes at Air Seychelles.

The Chairman now wants to play a more 'strategic' role to deal more with the global trends such as monitoring of oil prices coupled with more PR actions to get closer to the staff and customers. Pretty soon you can see the Chairman popping in to personally check you in. Be present to face the music when passengers get disgruntled. He needs to share his wisdom and therefore will also take up lecturing. All the activity and revenue happen outside, so he will be more in touch with that side and increase his overseas frequencies to perhaps escape the local glare and limelight… In a nutshell, the guy is already a self- made man in the field of aviation and can now take on a 'mentor' role.

Since he loves uniforms, he will don his Captain's garb and catch up on the mandatory flying hours so that he can personally fly the first Dreamliner to Seychelles (what a PR coup this will be in 2010!). His passion for the costume runs so deep that he will not give up the army regalia.

What a strategic move indeed! The day-to-day running of the affairs of the airline (role of the CEO) has now been entrusted in his protegé, the bright star of aviation of the Indian Ocean, Mauritian - Mr. Rajiv Brisseur. Savy touts that he is the only person in the region with a PhD in Airlines Strategy. Well and good! So why has Air Mauritius not taken him on board to lead their airline? It really shows poor planning on the part of the new Chairman. Proper planning would have meant that a bright Seychellois should have been given the opportunity to bring back a PhD in this field. But this is not how the SPPF government operates. They chase the brains away so that they can replace them with people that have no other choice but to tow the line.

Let us not forget that we had a Mauritian Governor of the Central Bank as well as a Mauritian Chief Justice. Today we know what they have contributed to our economy and democracy. To add insult to injury, the CJ even departs with a golden forex hand shake of a few thousand Euros!

David Savy has had 11 years at the helm of OUR national airline. This is ample time to identify a talented and hard working Seychellois(e), with the opportunity to obtain a PhD, and understudy the Captain for the eventual takeover. Since his tenure at the joy stick, Captain Savy has presented good news on a yearly basis. With a domestic network that has taken a beating over the past years, poor decisions on a newly acquired full economy (plus a small premium) 767 which is now the butt of joke.

The presentation of the 2007 Accounts and Performance assessment of the airline will not be very encouraging. The mishaps at the end of the year have further tarnished the reputation of Air Seychelles. The new CEO will have the task to paint this new picture of the airline that will take the people in the Globalisation era with a light from the Dreamliner at the end of the rainbow.

Air Seychelles has turned out to be a good proving ground for young budding Mauritians. One came on board via the Beachcomber connection as a marketing guru. Another one was billed as an economic planning genius and went on to become Minister for the Economy back home. The ex-Governor of the Central Bank was also on the board at one time.

Good luck Mr. Briseur! May your tenure bring more 'accountability and good governance' as per Captain Savy's wish (one wonders what he was doing in this domain for the last 11 years!). May the tenure bring you the right baggage which will guarantee a safe passage back home where a key post might await in the next government in the 'pays des dalons.'