Speaking to Arab News at the conclusion of the two-day meeting, which was attended by about 500 managers and top executives of the national carrier from across the world, Al-Hazmi said Saudia wanted to regain its position as a market leader in the region.

"We have recognized some of the issues and introduced intensive training programs for our frontline staff and retrain existing staff," he said when asked about measures taken to address increasing complaints about poor services.

"We have introduced a new program to carefully select frontline staff on the basis of certain criteria. We'll give them intensive training for six months before placing them in their positions," he said. Thousands of employees have already undergone training.

Asked whether the airline's management was taking any punitive measures against negligent staff, Al-Hazmi said: "Absolutely, if our customers face any difficulty with our staff, they have to call us or write to us. We will definitely take action."

He disclosed plans to transform Saudia's Haj and Umrah division into a strategic business unit considering the growing number of pilgrims. He also indicated plans to establish a special airline in the future for Haj and Umrah service, if it was found economically feasible.

Hazmi said the conference discussed industry developments at regional and global levels. "The managers who came from different parts of the world will share the conference's message with their team members in their respective areas in order to make action plans and achieve corporate goals," he said.
 

The conference gave the impression that Saudia is changing, a prerequisite to become a leading airline in the world, attract more passengers and increase revenue. Before the end of the conference, the participants held each others' hands and declared, "we are changing" in a symbolic gesture.

Khaled Al-Molhem, director general, opened the conference on Sunday and emphasized his organization's strategic plans to become a customer-oriented airline, by improving its services in all operation areas matching with SkyTeam alliance standards.

A number of international experts were present to motivate delegates. John Tschohl, called the "Guru of Customer Service" by USA Today, Time, and Entrepreneur magazines, gave a lecture on "Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service." There were presentations on the airline's privatization program as well as Skytrax project to win 4-star rating from the agency.

Shawgi Mushtag, executive vice president for privatization, said the project for the privatization of the core-airline unit has been presented to the government for approval. He said the privatization of the technical service sector and Prince Sultan Aviation Academy would take place in the third and fourth quarters of this year.