The past year "marks the rebirth of Flybe", says chief executive Saad Hammad, referring to the stricken budget airline's return to profitability after a year of hard cost-cutting and rebranding. Flybe (FLYB) first announced its turnaround plans in January 2013, and reiterated the plan in May before "immediate actions" were enforced in November last year by the newly arrived Mr Hammad, a former executive at easyJet (EZJ).
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These actions involved cutting 1,100 staff, dropping fares and reducing the number of aircraft bases from 13 to seven. Annual cost savings of £47m were duly booked in 2013-14, while a further £71m should be removed from the cost structure this fiscal year.