Belgian premier in crisis talks with Sabena unions
November 06, 2001 05:44:00 AM ET
By Katie Nguyen
BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt held crisis talks with union leaders from national airline Sabena [SAB.UL] on Tuesday as the debt-laden airline's services disintegrated ahead of expected liquidation.
Union officials said management had told them to expect the parent company to be put into liquidation after Sabena's board meets on Tuesday evening, but efforts continued to salvage at least part of the airline's operations under a subsidiary.
Sabena check-in desks at Brussels' Zaventem airport were deserted as travellers queued in vain to check in for flights that may never take off. Flight information boards showed some but not all Sabena flights cancelled.
Arriving passengers faced long waits at baggage caroussels as luggage handlers stopped work amid the uncertainty.
Employees of the crisis-stricken airline, which has made a profit only once since 1958, staged wildcat strikes to demand assurances on their fate. Clusters of staff walked out of the airport building.
"It's scandalous. No one knows what's going on," said Trui Weerts, 39, who said she had worked six years with Sabena at the check-in and reservations counters.
FLIGHTS TO BE SUSPENDED
Government sources said Sabena would suspend all flights on Wednesday amid growing expectations that it will file for bankruptcy this week, leading to the loss of more than half of its staff.
Verhofstadt and Public Enterprises Minister Rik Daems met union leaders representing Sabena's 12,000 employees to discuss ways to compensate the majority who are set to lose their jobs.
The prime minister earlier held crisis talks with Finance Minister Didier Reynders.
The unions were to meet the airline's management later in the day. Sabena's regional subsidiary, DAT, is expected to carry on limited flight operations if it can reach a deal with budget airline Virgin Express (VIRGY).
The collapse of Sabena would be Belgium's biggest bankruptcy and a blow to national pride at a time when the country holds the European Union's rotating presidency.
Brussels travel agents said they were strongly advising travellers not to book flights on Sabena even though tickets were still on sale in theory.
The airline's Web site had no information on cancellations of flights by 1000 GMT on Tuesday.
The government has bolstered security at Zaventem to prevent disgruntled Sabena employees from sabotaging operations or trying to seize planes.
The Sabena spokesman's office carried a recorded message in French and English on its answering machine, saying the airline had no comment on all press reports. "We will keep you informed if there is something to be announced," the message said.
Unions said Sabena had warned them of the likelihood that the airline's holding company, excluding its subsidiaries, would be put into liquidation this week because it had failed to find new investors.
BRANSON IN TALKS WITH SABENA
British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has held meeting with Sabena and government officials about possibly merging his Brussels-based discount airline Virgin Express with DAT.
Delta Air Transport (DAT) flew 37 percent of Sabena's European flights last year and carried about a quarter of its passengers. It employs some 1,000 staff, but management has told the unions the number could rise to 2,600 in a new airline.
Sabena, 50.5 percent owned by the Belgian state, obtained bankruptcy protection in early October after ailing co-parent Swissair reneged on a pledge to inject more cash.
Both Sabena and Swissair, owner of Sabena's other 49.5 percent, were in trouble before the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States plunged the entire industry into crisis.
Although the European Commission has approved a 125-million-euro bridge loan from the Belgian government to Sabena, it has warned the airline not to use it to restructure the airline. REUTERS
© 2001 Reuters
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