From Sabena website (date December 2000):
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Blue Sky plan firmly implemented
Released last October, the recovery plan Blue Sky presented a series of measures aimed at improving Sabena Group’s performance by 14.4 billion BEF (357 million EUR), divided into 12.2 billion BEF (305 million EUR) from management measures and 2.2 billion BEF (52 million EUR) from social measures.
Negotiations with unions on social measures resulted in an initial agreement on an audit that will be the starting point for peaceful social negotiations, based on mutually accepted financial data.
On the management measures side, more than 120 people inside the Sabena Group are actively involved in the recovery plan, and more than 90 projects have been launched. About 20 measures have already been implemented, the impact of which will be perceptible early in 2001.
Examples of recovery measures are: early suspension of the Newark destination as of January 15, 2001, as well as of the Johannesburg destination as of January 29, 2001, and the sale of buildings in New York and Bujumbura.
Among the positive elements regarding Sabena product, first there is the electronic commerce’s (e>commerce) acceleration, thanks particularly to Sabena’s new web site http://www.sabena.com, which attracted 1.8 million visitors between July and November and enabled revenue from e>bookings during the same period to reach 70 million BEF (1.74 million EUR). Secondly, there is the traffic increase, which saw 10.1 million passengers travel with Sabena from January to November, representing an increase of 10% compared to the same period in 1999. And finally, external studies demonstrate that passengers appreciate the increase in Sabena customer-oriented service, particularly as a result of Welcome Now training taken by all Sabena personnel over the last two years.
‘In this difficult and crucial period for Sabena Group, we still receive encouraging signs about the quality of our product,’ commented Christoph Müller, Sabena President & CEO. ‘Notably, at the end of November we were awarded "Airline of the Year" by Belgian travel agencies. It demonstrates that, should we succeed in continuing to develop a quality product, while improving our cost structure, we will be able to achieve a lasting recovery.’