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By Alex Lennane
Maximus Air, the Abu Dhabi-based all-cargo carrier which grounded its Airbus fleet in June, has replaced president and CEO Fathi Buhazza.
He left on December 1 and commercial manager Samir Ramadan has taken the job on an interim basis. All references to Mr Buhazza seem to have been taken off the website.
Mr Buhazza, who had helped found Maximus Air in 2005, made the near-fatal decision to invest in A300-600 freighters. As Maximus won contracts with DHL and Etihad, the decision to undertake the conversion of young Airbus passenger aircraft turned out not only to be expensive, but they were hard to lease out on an ACMI basis. The aircraft were limited to operating in the Middle East, as Maximus had not registered them for ACMI in Europe or the US.
According to one source close to the carrier, three of the aircraft were sold a few months ago and negotiations on a fourth are progressing. The two oldest are stored in Abu Dhabi, the two youngest have gone to DHL in Leipzig and the remaining one is also due to be delivered to Leipzig, according to airline fleet site Planespotter.
Meanwhile, the company survives on its Russian aircraft fleet comprising two Il-76s and one AN-124, which operate on a Ukrainian AOC.
There had been some speculation that the AN-124 had not been well utilised in the past year and has had to undergo some long-term maintenance, but Maximus continues to operate – albeit with fewer staff than before.
The last results made public for Maximus by 95% owner Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA), for the quarter ending 31 March 2013, showed revenue of AED72.4m ($19.6m at today’s exchange rate), a 35% decrease on the previous year, resulting in a net loss of AED13.3m. The ADA directors’ report said this was due to “the lesser sales from private and ACMI, as well as charter lease payment cost for the AN124, which is under maintenance”.
Mr Buhazza, who founded the Care By Air scheme to promote the use of spare capacity for humanitarian work, reportedly had a difficult relationship at times with the rulers of Abu Dhabi, and ADA, after some disagreements over military work. While The Loadstar has been unable to verify this, sources disclosed that he “could be a divisive figure”.
Plans to fold Maximus into Etihad were said to have fizzled out after the passenger airline failed to see a benefit, and questions were raised over the ability of Etihad CEO James Hogan and Mr Buhazza to create a successful relationship.
It is believed that Mr Buhazza may go into the health business, where he has an interest in flotation therapy.
Comment on this article
Dr M
December 14, 2013 at 1:12 amI have had the privilege to serve this industry for 25 years and I still feel a sense of sadness when news like this reaches the market so suddenly that, most of the time, it has an immediate impact on the workforce, the clients and the partners of the given company.
In troubled times like these for aviation, a sudden change at the top level of any airline always raises an eyebrow and makes you wonder “…ok, now what?”
Having said so, and having had the opportunity to get to know Maximus Air, its management, its strategies and the managerial style very well from within, I must admit that such a decision from the shareholders of the airline is not unexpected nor surprising.
I am not aware whether Mr Buhazza could have been a “divisive figure” for shareholder ADA but, undoubtedly, he often showed an extremely overconfident character. Perhaps too much overconfidence given his relatively new presence in the industry.
I am not referring to the private, personal behaviour – I like the private man and his efforts for humanitarian projects, but specifically the approach given to his activity and his governance style. At least in a service company where the only assets owned are its people and its clients.
I consider Maximus a potentially excellent operation – despite my different views about the fleet composition and, especially, the commercial strategies behind it – its workforce is a small, but talented, bunch of people -an orchestra- too often managed
by a primadonna rather than an orchestra director.
Hopefully Mr. Samir will be able to guide the process and bring back a bit of confidence.
lama
March 29, 2014 at 9:41 pmI had the privilege to work with Mr Buhazza and it was the best days of my career life. I learned a lot from him. He was a leader with all means. He always thought out of box and he did his best to manage Maximus Air. It was difficult and never easy but he was pushing it to the edge. I respect this man and I feel sad with all the good things he did, people just criticise him and his way to lead the company. You don’t know him well enough to judge. I worked two years with them. A very good leader. Respect his people and for him wasn’t easy at all to let go. I wish him all the best. And what he did in the humanitarian field. I believe no one did it before. He did a business model to help people and always he was proud – today it’s a helping hand from UAE .