Barbara Cassani's first job as Vueling chairwoman is to sharpen up the Spanish airline's financial management to drag it into profit, she said on Tuesday as she stepped into her new job.
Cassani, who founded low-cost airline Go in 1998, took over from Jose Miguel Abad Silvestre who resigned on Monday along with two directors representing Vueling's main shareholder, Hemisferio, over strategy disagreements. Cassani, 47, said Vueling's management was on the right track and the company needed evolution, not revolution, to make money after three years of losses, a profit warning in August and a 64 percent slide in its shares so far this year.
"I'm really happy with the customer service, the people, the branding ... but now it's time to run the company on the inside in a way that delivers profitability," Cassani told Reuters in a telephone interview from Vueling's base in Barcelona.
"The only question I have is how fast we are going to see the results and I'm not sure yet." Cassani made her name by starting Go with a 25 million pound ($50.3 million) investment by British Airways before leading a management buyout in 2001 and selling the company to easyJet for 374 million pounds in 2002.
She declined several invitations to return to the sector, instead leading the start of London's successful for the 2012 Olympic Games. But she felt things were different with Vueling and joined as an independent director in July.
"These guys are the spiritual successors of what I was trying to do. There's a special pride in the brand and the people, that reminded me of my time at Go," she said.
Cassani said she would work with the senior team for one or two days a week to sharpen up financial management. "It's in that final upping of management's game that you go from being a great brand into a company that makes money." Cassani said she had no idea what Hemisferio - the Lara family's investment vehicle - planned to do with its 15.9 percent stake now that its representatives had left the board.
"There was no mention of them selling the shares at the board meeting, though obviously as our largest single investor we are happy for them to remain as one of the shareholders." Cassani said the split between Hemisferio and independent directors emerged over a range of strategic issues such as slowing down new route growth.
The airline has had a torrid 2007 since listing in December. In June private equity group Apax Parners sold its 21 percent stake and in August Vueling had to issue a profit warning as competition in the Spanish market sparked a price war.
Cassani said the market was not likely to do Vueling any favours any time soon. "My model is the UK, and I tell you, I think it is going to be tough here for a long time," she said. She also said Vueling needed to move away from an almost total reliance on Internet sales. "If we begin to build sources of revenue through the corporates and selected travel agencies as well we will have a broader reach into the marketplace," she said.