JEDDAH, 30 August 2006 — Saudi Arabian Airlines announced yesterday that it would not employ Saudi women in the future as flight attendants, crewmembers, or as ground support staff.
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper mentioned in July that the carrier was studying the replacement of non-Saudis with Saudi women. But in an interview with Arab News, Saudia Director General Khaled Al-Mulhim said this would not happen. “We are studying the employment of women, but I do not think it would be as stewardesses or as employees working at airports,” he said. “The employment would be limited to departments which are ready to have women employees and not on-board flights or at airports.”
He said the privatization process was moving ahead in Saudia in four sectors: ground support, catering, cargo and maintenance.
Al-Mulhim also said the airline was reducing its overhead costs of operations in several areas, such as transactions in the IT Department. “We are already doing a lot of cost cutting, but what is more important than that is growth in revenue. This is what we are aiming for,” he said.
He said the carrier is mulling several new destinations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Six new local carriers are bidding to enter the domestic market, but Al-Mulhim said he viewed the new competition as a good thing for the market.
“We have been an airline covering the entire Kingdom in 23 local airports for decades,” he said. “The airlines that are coming in are what we call ‘low-cost airlines.’ They will present services that are less than what is offered by Saudia. Nevertheless, we look at the competition as a good thing. It will allow the passenger to chose the time, the price, and the services he wishes to apply for… The success of any institution cannot be measured without competition.”
He said the local market could accommodate carriers with different services. “You can run a premium airline and you can run a low-cost airline, or you can run a regional airline with very little service,” said Al-Mulhim. “Every airline or company has its own style and services according to its capabilities.”
Al-Mulhim brushed aside reports that customers in the Eastern Province bound for other Gulf destinations were traveling to Manama because of its proximity rather than the hub in Dammam.
“I think the airport in Dammam is actually closer to them if you bear in mind that the time you have to take to cross the border into Bahrain,” he said. “But I believe most passengers choose to travel there because of the services provided at Manama Airport which are unavailable at Dammam Airport.”
Aside from this, airports in Gulf states use a “feeder system” in which passengers board airplanes on a first come, first served basis, which is not the case with Saudi Arabian Airlines.
Asked how he believed the airline would incorporate the culture of service to customers, Al-Mulhim said Saudia was already working hard to provide optimum services to its passengers via training, activities, and improving the working environment. He refused to comment on why services such as international medical insurance for flight crew attendants are no longer provided to Saudia employees.
Al-Mulhim dismissed the idea of increasing domestic flights during summer rushes. “We are stretched as it is,” he said. “This is the maximum we can do. We run something like 200 to 370 trips a day.” He said that if the airline were to increase the number of domestic flights, things would start “breaking down” and problems would arise.
He said that what increased the heavy traffic this summer was the fact that the Umrah trips to Makkah and Madinah coincided with domestic trips.
Al-Mulhim denied that there were no special lounges in domestic airports for first class or business class passengers of Saudi Arabian Airlines as in other countries where services such as free drinks, food, and special seating are provided.
“These lounges are available in all domestic airports,” he said.
Commenting on complaints by passengers in the local press about the unfriendly attitude by some flight attendants on domestic flights, especially in the guest class, Al-Mulhim said these were “individual cases that cannot be generalized”.
He also refused to say whether the airline has taken any steps to ease the pressure on the toll free number for reservation in the Kingdom.
The director general also refuted charges that Saudia had not been providing snacks or meals to passengers whose flights were delayed after check-in. “That’s incorrect,” he said.
Al-Mulhim was born in Al-Ahsa in 1957. Over the years he had worked in several positions such as an executive director in Al-Maraei dairy company and then the director general of the Saudi Telecom. He was announced as the director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines by a royal decree on June 6 replacing Khaled Ben-Bakr.
