Royal Jordanian born again

When Royal Jordanian (RJ) airline was a losing concern, I did not hesitate to call for its liquidation to save public finance and avoid throwing good money after bad.

Now that the government and the Social Security Corporation injected tens of millions of public money into its capital, failure becomes prohibitive. The airline has no choice but to recover, succeed and take off again.

For five decades of operation, RJ as a business witnessed many setbacks and successes. It overcame difficulties and survived. Now it has to meet the present challenges and prove itself a survivor, as it did in the past.

RJ is not an ordinary company about whose performance only its shareholders care. 

Ordinary companies make or lose money, according to circumstances. RJ is a Jordanian establishment, a national carrier and a prominent symbol of the country.

Despite the privatisation of the company several years ago, the bulk of the paid-up capital now belongs to the government and Social Security Corporation, which, for all practical purposes, makes the company effectively a public corporation owned by all Jordanians, another reason to urge all concerned to help make it a success and a profitable concern.

In order for RJ to be turned around to profitability, two conditions must be met: a competent high and middle management and public support.

There is no justification anymore for a Jordanian citizen to travel on board a foreign airline if RJ serves the same destination.

In this respect, a fact must be understood: money paid by Jordanian passengers to foreign airlines when buying their tickets will be transferred at the end of the month to their head offices abroad, which creates pressure on the Jordanian economy and its balance of payments.

On the contrary, money paid by Jordanians to the national carrier when buying tickets will be spent within the country in the form of salaries, wages and other services, which creates jobs and supports the economy in many ways,

Some people, especially businesspeople, prefer foreign products due to their quality. This by no means applies to air travel.

RJ operates the most modern airplanes, while European airlines put their oldest airplanes on the route to Amman.

Service on board RJ is superior to the service offered by most advanced airlines. Its record of on-time departures and arrivals is up to the standard.

The recent cash injection into RJ’s capital should represent a rebirth of an airline with a long history. It should represent a new stage of achievements.

RJ management should prove itself and its ability to overcome difficulties and challenges. RJ should be transformed from a burden and liability to an asset and supporter of the national economy.

But the faith I expressed here — incidentally, I worked for RJ as vice-president finance between 1972 and 1985 — in the future of RJ is conditional; it is a trust advanced to the RJ management in its new phase of development that will be withdrawn if management fails to rise to the standard needed to face the present hurdles and push forward.