DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Gulf Air's new CEO said Monday the Bahraini state carrier is reevaluating its entire business and may need to adjust orders for nearly 60 Boeing and Airbus aircraft as it struggles to turn itself around.
Chief Executive Samer Majali said the money-losing airline may look to partner with other carriers to stay competitive in what he described as the toughest operating climate ever for the aviation industry.
A comprehensive review now under way aims to look at "every aspect of the business," he said.
"We do not yet know what size or shape Gulf Air will take following this review," Majali said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "It may be necessary for us to look at our fleet orders with our suppliers and to adjust them according to the airline's newly defined requirements."
Gulf Air last year sealed a deal worth up to $3.9 billion at list prices to buy as many as 24 Boeing 787 aircraft, making it one of several carriers in the oil-rich Gulf to back the Chicago-based company's newest model.
The airline also has agreed to purchase 35 Airbus A320s and A330-300s. That deal is worth approximately $5 billion, according to Airbus' 2008 price list.
Majali, a Jordanian who is credited with turning around and privatizing Royal Jordanian Airlines, is the latest in a series of chief executives who have been brought in to revitalize Gulf Air.
The carrier's last full-time CEO, Bjorn Naf, painted a bleak picture shortly after his arrival in 2007 when he announced the carrier was losing some $1 million a day. He stepped down in July, the third CEO to leave in less than three years.
Bahraini lawmakers have been critical of previous executives' inability to stem losses at Gulf Air despite earlier calls for turnaround efforts.
The airline was left solely in Bahraini hands in 2007 after joint Gulf owners Abu Dhabi and later Oman pulled out in favor of developing their own national airlines. Despite boasting roots leading back to 1950, the airline is now eclipsed by larger regional rivals like Dubai's Emirates and Qatar Airways.
