RJ convenes its 41st Annual Commercial Conference

The conference was attended by around 300 RJ employees, among whom 50 area managers and general sales agents (GSAs) from all over the world.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of RJ Dr. Umayya Toukan reviewed, at the conference, the overall performance of the company during 2005 and discussed the challenges RJ faced in 2005, the most significant being the surge in fuel prices. This greatly impacted the company's revenues and profits, even though there was a remarkable growth in demand to travel on board RJ aircraft. It is anticipated that the airline will attain positive financial results in 2005 similar to those of 2004.

He added that the board of directors has approved and is closely following up on and supporting the new RJ regional strategy in order to help the airline overcome the challenges of the air transport industry. This strategy is based on making Jordan a regional hub, and the introduction of regional jets into the fleet is underway. The airline thus hopes that this strategy will establish RJ as the airline of choice. This choice is based not on the size of the aircraft, but rather on the frequency of the flights operated.

"The Jordanian government, the owner of the airline, has commenced the process of the privatization program. It is planned that by year end a good part of the process would be underway. Again, this process should make RJ even more challenged and more productive,"

concluded Toukan.

President/CEO Samer Majali tackled the airline's strategy for the coming years, which involves modernizing the fleet and reviewing the route network, particularly in view of the fact that RJ has been invited to join the leading global airline alliance-oneworld. He also highlighted the projects implemented for the purpose of seeing the company progress, those concerning investment in human resources and information technology, and improving on board and ground services RJ offers its passengers.

Majali also said: "At the beginning of 2005 we were very optimistic in duplicating and even exceeding the excellent results of 2004. In fact, our traffic and revenue growth were impressive but could not totally compensate for the huge increase in fuel prices which doubled over an 11-month period both in Jordan and worldwide. This resulted in an operating profit lower than 2004, even though we are optimistic that net profits in 2005 will be similar to the previous year."

He added that the airline's management has been heavily involved last year in building up foundation for implementing the five-year-corporate strategy that was outlined in last year's conference. He said that the board of directors approved the new mission and vision of the airline, the new strategy and fleet plan, RJ's new headquarters, and merging the regional (formerly Royal Wings') network with RJ at QAIA and re-designating the role of RW as the charter subsidiary of RJ. New routes were opened to Alexandria, Milan, Erbil and Basra. The strategy also included restructuring of the schedule to improve connectivity and negotiating the introduction of seven new regional jets. Over and above, Royal Jordanian was invited to join the oneworld airline alliance in October, 2005. The airline also joined the Arabesk Group of Middle Eastern airlines. RJ's management decided to invest in new integrated systems starting with passenger inventory, departure control, revenue accounting and pricing and revenue management as well as the frequent flyer system.

Vice President/Commercial Hussein Dabbas reviewed this year's marketing plan envisaged for RJ's 51 stations worldwide. The plan aims to boost RJ's standing and increase its market share in the countries it has access to. It also entails urging area managers to exert more efforts in sales and promoting Jordan as an investor and tourist attraction.

Moreover, the participants discussed the company's 2006 strategic operational plan. The number of passengers and amount of freight depend on the number of stations and flight frequencies to several destinations; therefore, RJ contemplates increasing the capacity on board its aircraft, especially now that new aircraft was added to the fleet and Royal Wings' operations were transferred to Royal Jordanian which works off QAIA.

During the evening working session, three working groups gathered area managers according to regions, to discuss their stations' performance and future plans. They also discussed, along with RJ's management, the challenges they face and tried to find solutions to the problems and improve the work flow through the implementation of the e-ticketing system.

On Jan. 22, 2006, the participants took part in a workshop headed by Michael Blunt, vice president public relations at oneworld airline alliance. He underlined the importance of belonging to oneworld, mentioning that RJ is the first Arab airline invited to join the alliance. He also referred to the requirements needed for an airline to become a partner in the eight-member alliance.

The participants later attended a lecture by one of the specialists in the field of customer care under the program "Change Begins with Me", already attended by 1,200 RJ employees and all front line staff in Jordan and abroad. The program focuses on the psychological, social and economic factors and personal needs of the public and targets the employees in order to create excellence in service and bring the personal touch when dealing with passengers.