Chapter 869: Airline Recent Situation (Two in One)
Hong Kong Airlines.
Because of the appointment in advance, on Monday morning, Lin Baicheng, Bao Yugang, Guo Henian, and Hu Yinxiang came to the company together and held a meeting in the conference room.
In the conference room, in addition to Lin Baicheng and the other four, there was also the president and two vice presidents of Hong Kong Airlines. As for other management, there were more people and the level was not enough, so they did not attend this meeting.
Li Zhaofeng, born in 32, just turned 50 this year, is the president of Hong Kong Airlines. Lin Baicheng and others specially poached him from Cathay Pacific.
Li Zhaofeng is very talented and has worked in Cathay Pacific for many years. Unfortunately, because he is Chinese, he barely became a senior executive of Cathay Pacific by relying on his talent and qualifications. After Lin Baicheng and others invited him to become the president of Hong Kong Airlines, the high salary plus promotion made him agree to change jobs without much consideration.
Li Zhaofeng knew very well that he had touched the career ceiling at Cathay Pacific and it was basically impossible to move up. It's not that he hadn't thought about changing jobs before, but Cathay Pacific was the only airline in Hong Kong. As for foreign airlines, it would be impossible for a Chinese to be competent for a high position if he changed jobs there. Therefore, he could only continue to work in Cathay Pacific. Now that Hong Kong Airlines has found him and the salary is higher, he has no reason to refuse.
Hong Kong Airlines has four Chinese tycoons as big bosses, Lin Baicheng, Bao Yugang, Guo Henian, and Hu Yinxiang. Li Zhaofeng believes that the company will definitely achieve great things and his career may be able to reach a higher level.
White Brown, born in 1938, is the vice president of Hong Kong Airlines and a captain. He is responsible for managing the most core department, the flight department. He was also poached from Cathay Pacific by Lin Baicheng and others. However, White Brown did not work in Hong Kong before, but worked in London. Faced with the doubled salary and equity incentive promise of Hong Kong Airlines, he agreed without hesitation.
Ed Smith, born in 1934, is the vice president of Hong Kong Airlines. He is mainly responsible for managing the maintenance department, that is, the maintenance of aircraft. He is also an expert in this field.
Unlike Li Zhaofeng and White Brown, Ed Smith was not poached from Cathay Pacific, but recruited from the United States. He used to work at Boeing. Ed Smith was recruited to work in Hong Kong because of high salary and promotion. Otherwise, senior talents like Ed Smith would not come to work in a "countryside" like Hong Kong.
Yes, in the eyes of many people in Western countries, Hong Kong is a rural area in the East, poor and backward.
Therefore, it is difficult to invite senior talents from Western countries such as the United States to work in Hong Kong. You must offer a salary that is twice or even more than twice that of the local area to poach senior talents.
As an executive of an airline, you can't just find a few professional managers casually. They must be professional senior talents, and most professional managers are not competent.
Guo Henian asked: "Mr. Smith, the specific delivery time of the company's passenger plane is the last day of this month. Will there be any changes by then?"
"No, Director Guo."
Ed Smith, who was responsible for follow-up, replied: "I just contacted Boeing two days ago, and they said that the company's passenger plane must be delivered on time on May 31. At that time, Boeing will send a flight team to our company for three months according to the contract. There will be no charge during this period, but our company will pay the salary of the relevant personnel when they were in Boeing."
Hu Yinxiang asked after hearing: "Will both passenger planes be delivered at the same time, or will one be delivered first?"
Ed Smith replied: "One will be delivered first, and the other will be delivered about one to two months later. The specific delivery time is to be determined."
"One or two months is not much different."
Hu Yinxiang nodded.
Lin Baicheng looked at Li Zhaofeng and said, "President Li, after the passenger plane is delivered, the company will start formal operations. Have you made relevant preparations for the flight?"
Li Zhaofeng immediately replied, "President Lin, don't worry. All departments have made relevant preparations. The Hong Kong-Los Angeles route has been opened. It will definitely not affect the take-off of the aircraft and the company's operations." Passenger routes do not mean that you can fly wherever you want. You also need to communicate with the destination airport to open flights so that you can fly to the destination.
The first route opened by Hong Kong Airlines was between Hong Kong and the United States, choosing the city of Los Angeles.
In fact, Hong Kong is a British colony after all. There will be more personnel exchanges between Hong Kong and Britain. Many wealthy people in Hong Kong are British. If you want to make money, a better choice is to open a route between Hong Kong and London.
However, Cathay Pacific is a company under the name of Swire Group, and Hong Kong Airlines is Cathay Pacific's future competitor. Swire Group will certainly not let Hong Kong Airlines easily open a route between Hong Kong and London. Therefore, when Hong Kong Airlines applied, it was not approved. This is all the tricks of Swire Group.
With no other options, Hong Kong Airlines had to choose to open the route between Hong Kong and Los Angeles first.
"You are professionals in operations, so leave professional matters to professionals. We will not interfere with the specific work."
Lin Baicheng said to the three people: "After the passenger plane is delivered, before the company's flights officially start flying, we will hold a grand opening ceremony to let the people of Hong Kong know that in addition to Cathay Pacific, there is also Hong Kong Airlines. Therefore, there must be no mistakes in the first flight. You must ensure the safety of the flight and arrive and return on time."
Li Zhaofeng responded immediately: "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, we have made arrangements in all aspects and there will be no problems."
"It'll be fine if there's no problem."
Lin Baicheng nodded. He believed that Li Zhaofeng and others would get things done.
Bao Yugang also said: "The company has no reputation to begin with, so it hopes to expand its reputation through the opening ceremony. If something happens at the opening ceremony, it will be difficult for the company to develop in the future."
"That's what Director Bao said."
Li Zhaofeng certainly knew the importance of the opening ceremony to the company.
After saying something else, Lin Baicheng said: "I have something to discuss with several directors. We can talk about other things later when we find time."
"Mr. Lin. There are several other directors. You are busy."
After Li Zhaofeng heard this, he stood up and left with a wink. The other two vice presidents, who were naturally professionals in the workplace, resigned one after another.
After Li Zhaofeng and the others went out.
Lin Baicheng said to Bao Yugang, Guo Henian and Hu Yinxiang: "You three, there is something about the future of the company that I want to talk to you about."
"Lin Sheng, please speak."
Bao Yugang signaled, and the other two people also listened attentively.
Lin Baicheng said: "Last time I organized a delegation to visit the mainland and shouted the slogan of 'one country, two systems'. As China and Britain start negotiations on the ownership of Hong Kong, I will become more and more annoying on the British side. By then, the British side will It is very likely that my career will be suppressed, and the companies under my name may be suppressed. Even if they are not suppressed, the operation will definitely not be as smooth as before. "
"Xiangjiang Airlines, this company was established as a joint venture between me and three people, so I can't harm the interests of the three of them because of my own personal reasons."
"So, I want to give up control of Xiangjiang Airlines. I wonder if the three of you are interested in taking over?"
Xiangjiang Airlines has four people, Lin Baicheng, Bao Yugang, Guo Henian, and Hu Yinxiang. Lin Baicheng holds 55% of the company's shares and is the company's largest shareholder. He is also the company's chairman. Bao Yugang, Guo Henian, and Hu Yinxiang are just three of them. Director of Hong Kong Airlines.
"Lin Sheng, do you want to give up control?"
The three people who heard this couldn't help but frown, this was no small matter.
"good."
Lin Baicheng nodded and said: "For the sake of safety, it's better for me to give up control. As long as I don't have control of the company, even if I hold a certain number of shares, it won't have much impact. If it doesn't work, I'll give up the control when the time comes. Just quit the company.”
Bao Yugang spoke up: "Lin Sheng, you proposed the establishment of this company, and now you want to give up control. This makes us a little worried."
Guo Henian thought for a while and said: "Lin Sheng, how about you continue to serve as the chairman of the company, and we can discuss anything when the situation arises?"
"I'm just afraid that it will be too late by then."
Hearing this, Lin Baicheng said: "Once the company is suppressed, it will definitely affect its development. Originally, the company was far behind Cathay Pacific. If it is suppressed again, we don't know how long it will take to catch up with Cathay Pacific." ”
"Lin Sheng, I believe that even if there is suppression, it is temporary. I believe you can lead the company to grow bigger. Temporary suppression is nothing," Hu Yinxiang said.
"Lin Sheng, there is really no need to rush the company's change of controller."
Bao Yugang said: "What's more, the company's opening ceremony is about to begin, which is a critical time. Changing the controller at this time may cause bad effects within the company."
"Thank you three for your trust."
After thanking him, Lin Baicheng thought for a while and said, "I personally think that in order to avoid the impact on the development of Xiangjiang Airlines, it would be better for one of the three to serve as the chairman of the company. Of course, this matter is not that Urgent, I don’t mean to do it right away. Mr. Bao, you can think about it carefully and see if you are interested in developing Xiangjiang Airlines as its main business.”
"The prospects of Xiangjiang Airlines are visible, but whether it can develop and surpass Cathay Pacific is unknown. Therefore, the three of us must consider it carefully. After all, Xiangjiang Airlines' investment is not small."
In Lin Baicheng's plan, Xiangjiang Airlines' total investment is as high as 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the investment must be completed within three years.
When the company was first established, Lin Baicheng and others invested 100 million Hong Kong dollars. Later, they invested another 200 million Hong Kong dollars to purchase passenger aircraft. If the company develops smoothly, they will continue to invest, and it is estimated that a further 700 million Hong Kong dollars will be invested.
At this time, if Lin Baicheng transfers control of Xiangjiang Airlines and reduces the shareholding ratio, then the person who takes over will definitely buy Lin Baicheng's shares, and at the same time, more funds will be invested in subsequent investments.
As a result, the total investment of the person who takes over is likely to be as high as 500 million Hong Kong dollars, which is not a small amount. Even Bao Yugang must carefully consider whether this investment will lose money, what the return on investment will be, etc.
As for Guo Henian and Hu Yinxiang, it goes without saying that their net worth is not as rich as Bao Yugang. In addition, they have their own main business. It is not easy to spend hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars to open another main business. Easy things.
Cooperating with Lin Baicheng, establishing a company with Lin Baicheng as the main leader, and establishing a company with them as the main leader, these are two different concepts.
Bao Yugang said: "Lin Sheng, as you said, we will consider this matter carefully. We will get together to discuss it after a while."
"So fine."
Lin Baicheng nodded when he heard this.
Guo Henian and Hu Yinxiang also had no objections.
In fact, among the four, only Bao Yugang has a good relationship with British capital. Bao Yugang, who is mainly involved in shipping, has had many cooperation with British capital in the past. Bao Yugang himself is a small shareholder and director of HSBC. At least the relationship between Bao Yugang and HSBC is not bad.
Although the relationship between Lin Baicheng and HSBC gradually diverges, and Lin Baicheng and Bao Yugang have cooperated frequently, this does not affect the relationship between Bao Yugang and HSBC. The two parties are still close partners.
Therefore, it is most beneficial to Hong Kong Airlines for Bao Yugang to take over the leadership of Xiangjiang Airlines and become the chairman of Xiangjiang Airlines. Lin Baicheng also hopes that Bao Yugang can take over, so that Xiangjiang Airlines can develop more easily.
However, whether or not to take over Xiangjiang Airlines depends on Bao Yugang's own wishes, and it cannot be decided by Lin Baicheng in one sentence.
Lin Baicheng mentioned this matter in advance to give Bao Yugang time to think about it. If Bao Yugang was really unwilling to take over, he would also have time to find someone else.
Since meeting and receiving reminders from Mailihao, Lin Baicheng has been mentally prepared for the day when his company will be suddenly suppressed by the British. For this, he needs to prepare in advance.
Needless to say, the enterprises that are solely owned by Lin Baicheng can only be defended by soldiers to cover up the water and the soil. For other enterprises that are not wholly owned, Lin Baicheng is only prepared to keep the core and important enterprises, and let go of some enterprises or projects that should be let go.
For example, Hutchison Whampoa, Lin Baicheng attaches great importance to it. Therefore, even if it faces suppression and causes Hutchison Whampoa's operating difficulties, Lin Baicheng is not ready to let go. At most, he will let Hutchison Whampoa work hard for a few years and grit his teeth.
As for companies that are not very important like Xiangjiang Airlines, let them go if they should. After all, if too many companies are suppressed, Lin Baicheng is afraid that he will not be able to stop him.
After the chat, the four of them, Lin Baicheng, inspected Xiangjiang Airlines, drew pictures of the employees, and gave some words of encouragement.
In addition, Lin Baicheng and the others also met with the middle and senior management except the president and vice president to get to know them.
In fact, many of the middle and high-level managers besides the president and vice president belong to the four subordinates of Lin Baicheng and were sent to the company by them. It is impossible for them to be indifferent to this company and leave them all to professional managers. People management.
If the airlines were not relatively professional, they would prefer their own people for the positions of president and vice president.