Gulf Air considering bringing routine maintenance in-house

Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali said at the IATA annual general meeting in Berlin, that the airline had arguably engaged in "too much outsourcing" in its past.

Since the break-up of Gulf Air from the four government ownership, the Bahrain carrier has relied on outsourced MRO providers.

In an interview at the IATA gathering Majali said the airline’s management team was considering   “bring strategically important functions back in-house”.

“Engineering has to come back he said. “it gives the airline greater control of its aircraft records and increase the value of its assets.”

Gulf Air – and its parent company Mumtalakat – currently partners with Singapore Airlines Engineering Company (SAEC) for heavy maintenance and Majali said the heavy maintenance role would remain outside of the company but routine maintenance activity, possibly including A-checks, should return back to the carrier’s area of responsibility.

Outsourcing has its place, says Majali. But he adds: "The strategic downside has to be evaluated besides the purely financial view."

Like many others at IATA’s annual meeting, Gulf Air has a close focus on cost and labour relations.

The airline has cut its workforce by about 20 percent in the past six months with the headcount down to 4,300 through tight control on recruitment and contract renewal, as well as a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Majali   said the carrier had avoided compulsory redundancies so far, but said added there is probably room to take the headcount below 4,000. “There is a general acceptance that something serious had to be done,” he said.