[Blog] Air Mauritius : message du chairman aux employés

Le chairman du board d’Air Mauritius, Kishore Beegoo a adressé un message aux employés de la compagnie d’aviation nationale le 22 janvier. Son premier constat depuis qu'il a pris ses nouvelles fonctions : “The Head Office is a Chinese wall. I am not using a metaphor but in the true sense of the word. If somebody would survey the number of walls and doors of the offices in the building, we would probably have the biggest castle in Africa. Everyone has carved a corner sitting on a throne with so many corridors, walls and doors that reaching him or her is a ‘parcours de combattant’. Yet, we are supposed to be in a highly competitive Customer-focused, agile industry requiring exchanging ideas & moving at lightning speed. To visualize what I am saying, take 326 passengers sitting in one of our A350 aircraft and 326 staff in the Air Mauritius Head Office with plus 2000 square metres of walls”.

Voici son message dans son intégralité :

22 January 2025

Dear Colleagues,

I am confirming most of the points we discussed & or raised by you / me in the different groups I have met since my appointment as Chairman. Since last week, I have been having numerous meetings to understand the financial situation of the Company, unravel the ownership structure, convince our shareholders to support us and it has all been more than a fiery hectic start. When one of Mauritius's biggest and vital enterprise has not yet had its financial statement for the year ended March 2024 signed by its auditors, it must already ring alarm bells. The figures cannot be released until we have the audited ones, but at first sight, they are extremely alarming. We are in desperate need of cash injection as equity, not loans. As the link between the Company and the shareholders, since 3 weeks I and a team working with me have spent our time to secure financial support for the Company so that we start on a good footing and a strong balance sheet. Hopefully, we shall be able to breathe soon.

My first few days with you has been to understand, get briefings and decision papers to support Management to take some urgent major decisions which are required to positively impact our next BOP and the future.

My first impression.

The Head Office is a Chinese wall. I am not using a metaphor but in the true sense of the word. If somebody would survey the number of walls and doors of the offices in the building, we would probably have the biggest castle in Africa. Everyone has carved a corner sitting on a throne with so many corridors, walls and doors that reaching him or her is a ‘parcours de combattant’. Yet, we are supposed to be in a highly competitive Customer-focused, agile industry requiring exchanging ideas & moving at lightning speed. To visualize what I am saying, take 326 passengers sitting in one of our A350 aircraft and 326 staff in the Air Mauritius Head Office with plus 2000 square metres of walls.

It sums it all up. Some of us have lost the sense of ‘appartenance’ to a family and the drive is not to fight for the Company but for oneself, protecting one’s boundaries from intrusion by our internal and external customers. We have been doing the wrong things right. I understand the frustration some of you have ,when you find people with less capabilities than you, have been parachuted over your heads with such salaries and solid contracts that must make the beneficiaries themselves ashamed. We shall be tackling them as soon as time permits.

Some words about myself:

I was an Executive Director of Air Mauritius till 2001, when I had had to resign because I had refused to do what some politicians wanted me to do. In 2005 I was called back as Board Director by the Government and stayed till December 2014.

In 2015, I was politically targeted to be killed financially / mentally / reputationally with the press splashing an alleged scam of Rs 320 million through my company Cargotech with a ‘rapport bidon’ fuelled by some of our own staff. It is good for you to know that I was never called by the Police even though I offered to go to the ‘Casernes Centrales’. I took the matter legally before the Arbitration Tribunal where Air Mauritius offered and agreed by me, for a settlement . An agreement was signed in October 2018.

Again I have now been asked to come back as Board Director and Chairman. Though I was at first reluctant, I was convinced by the shareholders and agreed to take up the challenge.

I have already made, as I had also done in the past, a ‘Declaration of interests’ as Managing Director of Cargotech & EV Cargo in Mauritius and Madagascar and will not participate in Board sessions when there could be a perception of conflict of interest. Furthermore, I have asked the Company Secretary to ask me to withdraw from sessions in meetings he feels such perception may arise. This is exactly as required by the laws of the country.

So, I am here now working with Management and liaising with the Board and shareholders. I have also had meetings with the different units within the Commercial Department which is at the centre of our existence. I was more than badly surprised at its alarming decrepitude with each unit sitting in its well defended silos. Remember profit is to business what breathing is to life. I shall spend more time supporting Management and the Commercial units to become super aggressive instead of waiting to be shot by our competitors.

However, history must be looked into to understand how, why and what brought this Company to its knees which is impacting the employees, families, customers, shareholders, and the Mauritian public at large. Each major past decision will be investigated so that we understand why such decisions were taken and their impact on our future.

Last item. The Board.

There are questions on social media platforms about the number of Board Directors. The number of Board Directors is written in the constitution of the Company, and we must abide by the Constitution to have a quorum to run the Board. On remuneration, an Air Mauritius Board Director is among the lowest paid based on the size of the Company and the responsibility.

I hope that I have been able to impart some of my thoughts and how the Board under my Chairmanship, Management and employees intend to work together in cohesion as a family. Those who will not fit in or not work towards the common goal for the good of the whole Air Mauritius family will have no place in the organisation. Therefore, I appeal to you that before you make any request to Management, ask yourself the question:

Will this be beneficial for my own selfish group at the detriment of the whole MK family ?

We cannot continue to work as a legacy airline continually demanding State financial support. Asking the Government for cash means we are taking the Mauritian public money. We must make sure that public money does not continue to go in a black hole. Together, we must garner energy, enthusiasm, willingness, drive and defend with as much firepower we can muster, so that we become part of a viable airline and to be viable, we must be profitable.

I am sure with the support of each team member we shall soon be back flying high and proud to be part of the MK family.

Thank you

Kishore Beegoo

Chairman