2004 Annual Report ACE Aviation Holdings Inc

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

2004 Annual Report ACE Aviation Holdings Inc 2004 Annual Report ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. Successor Company Predecessor Company - Combined (2) Predecessor Company - Highlights ACE (1) Air Canada Air Canada Period ended Three months ended Period ended Twelve months ended December 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 2004 2003 2004 2003 Financial (CDN dollars in millions except per share figures) Operating revenues 2,062 1,977 8,900 8,373 Operating income (loss) before reorganization and restructuring items (3) (77) 117 (684) Reorganization and restructuring items - (560) (871) (1,050) Non-operating expense (67) (132) (315) (282) Loss before foreign exchange on non-compromised long-term monetary items and income taxes (70) (769) (1,069) (2,016) Income (loss) for the period 15 (768) (880) (1,867) Operating margin before reorganization and restructuring items (0.1)% (3.9)% 1.3% (8.2)% EBITDAR before reorganization and restructuring items (3) 193 227 1,146 690 EBITDAR margin before reorganization and restructuring items 9.4% 11.5% 12.9% 8.2% Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) 1,632 670 1,632 670 Cash flows from (used for) operations (426) (20) (66) 139 Weighted average common shares used for computation - diluted (4) 90 120 - 120 Earnings (loss) per share - basic and diluted (4) $ 0.17 $ (6.39) - $ (15.53) Operating Statistics (mainline-related) (5) (6) % Change % Change Revenue passenger miles (millions) (RPM) 9,252 8,878 4 41,653 37,888 10 Available seat miles (millions) (ASM) 12,189 12,409 (2) 53,767 51,340 5 Passenger load factor 75.9% 71.5% 4.4 pts 77.5% 73.8% 3.7 pts Passenger revenue yield per RPM (excluding Aeroplan) (cents) (7) 15.6 15.8 (2) 15.4 15.9 (3) Passenger revenue yield per RPM (including Aeroplan) (cents) (7) 16.0 15.8 1 15.5 15.9 (2) Passenger revenue per ASM (excluding Aeroplan) (cents) (7) 11.8 11.3 4 11.9 11.7 2 Passenger revenue per ASM (including Aeroplan) (cents) (7) 12.1 11.3 7 12.0 11.7 3 Operating revenue per available seat mile (cents) 14.9 13.9 7 14.6 14.3 2 Operating expense per available seat mile (cents) (8) 15.0 14.5 3 14.3 15.4 (7) Operating expense (net of cargo and other non-ASM revenue) per available seat mile (cents) (8) (9) 12.2 11.9 2 11.8 12.9 (9) Average number of employees (thousands) 28.2 29.2 (3) 28.7 31.5 (9) Available seat miles per employee (thousands) 432 425 2 1,873 1,628 15 Operating revenue per employee (thousands) $64 $59 9 $273 $232 18 Aircraft in operating fleet at period end 199 214 (7) 199 214 (7) Average aircraft utilization (hours per day) (10) 10.6 10.4 1 11.0 10.3 7 Average aircraft flight length (miles) 1,284 1,212 6 1,308 1,218 7 Fuel price per litre (cents) (11) 54.3 35.2 54 45.9 37.1 24 Fuel litres (millions) 738 754 (2) 3,240 3,101 4 Operating Statistics (consolidated) % Change % Change Revenue passenger miles (millions) 9,681 9,289 4 43,427 39,565 10 Available seat miles (millions) 12,815 13,115 (2) 56,536 54,160 4 Passenger load factor 75.5% 70.8% 4.7 pts 76.8% 73.1% 3.7 pts Passenger revenue yield per RPM (excluding Aeroplan) (cents) (7) 16.9 17.3 (3) 16.7 17.3 (3) Passenger revenue yield per RPM (including Aeroplan) (cents) (7) 17.3 17.3 (0) 16.8 17.3 (3) (1) References to “Successor Company” refer to ACE and its susidiaries' results for the period ended December 31, 2004, which represents three months of operations. Refer to the MD&A for additional information. (2) Annual Supplementary Non-GAAP Combined Information (Combined) which is the combination of Air Canada's (Predecessor Company) operations and financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 added to ACE Aviation Holdings Inc.'s (ACE) (Successor Company) operations and financial results for the period ended December 31, 2004. (3) EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and obsolescence and aircraft rent) is a non-GAAP financial measure commonly used in the airline industry to view operating results before aircraft rent and ownership costs as these costs can vary significantly among airlines due to differences in the way airlines finance their aircraft and asset acquisitions. EBITDAR is not a recognized measure for financial statement presentation under GAAP and does not have a standardized meaning and is therefore not likely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other pub- lic companies. EBITDAR before reorganization and restructuring items is reconciled to operating income (loss) before reorganization and restructuring items as follows: Successor Company ACE (1) Predecessor Company Air Canada Combined (2) Predecessor Company Air Canada Period ended December 31 Three months ended December 31 Period ended December 31 Twelve months ended December 31 2004 2003 2004 2003 ($ millions) ($ millions) ($ millions) ($ millions) Operating income (loss) before reorganization and restructuring items (3) (77) 117 (684) Add back: Aircraft rent 111 210 632 1,008 Depreciation, amortization & obsolescence 85 94 397 366 EBITDAR before reorganization and restructuring items 193 227 1,146 690 (4) Refer to Note 20 of the 2004 Annual Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on Earnings Per Share. (5) Includes the operations of Air Canada, Aeroplan, Air Canada Technical Services, ACGHS, AC Cargo, Air Canada Capital, Destina, AC Online and SIMCO. (6) Mainline-related operating statistics exclude Jazz operations and capacity purchase arrangements with third party carriers. (7) Beginning in October 2004, Aeroplan redemption revenues related to points redeemed for air travel on Air Canada are reflected in passenger revenues. Prior to October 2004, these revenues were recorded in “other” rev- enues. Refer to the MD&A for additional information on the Loyalty Program. (8) Before reorganization and restructuring items. (9) Represents the net cost of the passenger transportation business after deducting the revenue impact of cargo and other non-ASM businesses. (10) Excludes maintenance down-time. (11) Net of fuel hedging and includes all fuel handling expense. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Message from the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. ______________________ 2 Preface ________________________________________________________________ 4 Management’s discussion and analysis of results ____________________________ 5 Consolidated financial statements and notes ______________________________ 67 Board of Directors / Senior Management Team ____________________________ 132 Investor Shareholder Information 1 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACE AVIATION HOLDINGS INC. Air Canada has weathered the perfect storm and emerged with a strong balance sheet and enhanced liquidity, significantly lower costs and a dynamic new business model. Our new fares offer great value. Customers are embracing them. And there is more to come. Having been reborn as ACE Aviation Holdings, Air Canada has transformed itself into something unique: the full value airline that can compete aggressively on price with low-cost discounters and on service and amenities with anyone else – and do it profitably. Air Canada’s restructuring under CCAA creditor protection that began on April 1, 2003 followed the SARS outbreak, the Iraq War, spiking fuel prices and rapid expansion by domestic-low cost carriers. Our 18 months under CCAA were extraordinarily challenging. Air Canada’s employees, lessors, suppliers and other stakeholders made major sacrifices, but what we accomplished together is also extraordinary. ACE is now a company with assets of $9 billion and with less than $5 billion of debt, most of that future aircraft lease obligations, making Air Canada one of the least leveraged major airlines anywhere. By grouping all Air Canada operations into subsidiaries of ACE, we are remaking each as a separate business with financial and operational benchmarks, sensitive to both internal and external customers and with a mandate to contribute more to the overall profitability of the Corporation. While this structure will make it somewhat easier to monetize some of the true value of these operations, our goal is to grow them regardless of whether we own part or all of their shares. Air Canada has turned into an ideas factory. Some of the concepts coming out of our commercial group deviate sharply from how traditional full-service airlines – legacy carriers - have been doing business for decades. Simply put, Air Canada is no longer a legacy carrier and the world’s airlines and our customers are noticing. We are changing the value the customer perceives in our product and how the customer interacts with the airline at every step of the process from booking a flight until baggage pickup. We are making customer empowerment (self-service) a virtue by offering enhanced website booking features, web check-in, expanded kiosk check-in, Aeroplan online reward redemption, and much more. The old legacy fare structure with its dozens of fare types is complicated, full of restrictions and hides inequities. Air Canada’s new fare grid is simple, transparent and based on one-way fares so customers don’t have to jump through hoops like Saturday stayovers. Customers can travel the way they want and pay for the services they value, and given our consistently strong load factors, they are responding. This year, the same one-way fare structure is being introduced internationally. The international marketplace holds enormous potential for Air Canada as the country’s principal international carrier, as shown by our successful expansion into Latin America and the preference of many travellers to make 2 connections in Toronto rather than at US airports because of visa and security issues. We look to the Canadian government and the airport authorities to further streamline the passenger processes and procedures and reduce costs to make Toronto and Canada even more competitive hubs in the coming months.
Recommended publications
  • Netletter #1399 | September 23, 2018 C-FACP
    NetLetter #1399 | September 23, 2018 C-FACP - Boeing 737-200 Photo by Sebastian Kasten Welcome to the NetLetter, an Aviation based newsletter for Air Canada, TCA, CP Air, Canadian Airlines and all other Canadian based airlines that once graced the Canadian skies. The NetLetter is published on the second and fourth weekend of each month. If you are interested in Canadian Aviation History, and vintage aviation photos, especially as it relates to Trans-Canada Air Lines, Air Canada, Canadian Airlines International and their constituent airlines, then we're sure you'll enjoy this newsletter. Our website is located at www.thenetletter.net Please click the links below to visit our NetLetter Archives and for more info about the NetLetter. Coming Events Reminder! ACRA Badminton in Prague 2018. If you enjoyed the ACRA Badminton in Liverpool UK in 2017, why not join the crowd in Prague. For more fun and games from Thursday, October 11 through 13, 2018. www.acrabadminton.org.uk But if you missed the photo op in Liverpool (left), join us in Prague and get included. Air Canada News Air Canada was affirmed as North America’s Only Four-Star, Full Service International Carrier by the Independent Research Firm Skytrax. Full article at Canadian Aviation News. Reader Submitted Photos Shirlee Schacter has sent us this report and photos - Marquee "Welcome to Pionairs". Sixty (60) AC Pionairs from Central Ontario District received a personal greeting on the racing marquee at this year’s Woodbine “DAY AT THE RACES” on Saturday June 16, 2018. It was a fun-filled afternoon of dining, exciting horse-racing and gaming.
    [Show full text]
  • Crash Survivability and the Emergency Brace Position
    航空宇宙政策․法學會誌 第 33 卷 第 2 號 논문접수일 2018. 11. 30 2018년 12월 30일 발행, pp. 199~224 논문심사일 2018. 12. 14 http://dx.doi.org/10.31691/KASL33.2.6. 게재확정일 2018. 12. 30 Regulatory Aspects of Passenger and Crew Safety: Crash Survivability and the Emergency Brace Position Jan M. Davies* 46) CONTENTS Ⅰ. Introduction Ⅱ. Passenger and Crew Crash Survivability and the Emergency Brace Position Ⅲ. Regulations, and their Gaps, Relating to the Emergency Brace Position Ⅳ. Conclusions * Professor Jan M Davies MSc MD FRCPC FRAeS is a Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine in the Cumming School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary. She is the chair of IBRACE, the International Board for Research into Aircraft Crash Events. (https://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Board_for_Research_into_Aircraft_Crash_Events) Amongst other publications, she is the co-author, with Linda Campbell, of An Investigation into Serial Deaths During Oral Surgery. In: Selby H (Ed) The Inquest Handbook, Leichardt, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press; 1998;150-169 and co-author with Drs. Keith Anderson, Christopher Pysyk and JN Armstrong of Anaesthesia. In: Freckelton I and Selby H (Eds). Expert Evidence. Thomson Reuters, Australia, 2017. E-Mail : [email protected] 200 航空宇宙政策․法學會誌 第 33 卷 第 2 號 Ⅰ. Introduction Barely more than a century has passed since the first passenger was carried by an aircraft. That individual was Henri Farman, an Anglo-French painter turned aviator. He was a passenger on a flight piloted by Léon Delagrange, a French sculptor turned aviator, and aircraft designer and manufacturer.
    [Show full text]
  • Meeting of Shareholders and Management Proxy Circular
    NOTICE OF 2008 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS AND MANAGEMENT PROXY CIRCULAR WHAT'S INSIDE NOTICE OF 2008 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING.......................................................................................2 MANAGEMENT PROXY CIRCULAR.......................................................................................................................3 VOTING YOUR SHARES ...........................................................................................................................................4 BUSINESS OF THE MEETING.................................................................................................................................10 THE NOMINATED DIRECTORS .............................................................................................................................12 STATEMENT OF GOVERNANCE PRACTICES.....................................................................................................21 COMMITTEES ...........................................................................................................................................................27 COMPENSATION OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE OFFICERS...................................................................................31 REPORT ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION BY THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE .............................................................................................................................................................37 PERFORMANCE GRAPHS.......................................................................................................................................41
    [Show full text]
  • Air Canada Montreal to Toronto Flight Schedule
    Air Canada Montreal To Toronto Flight Schedule andUnstack headlining and louvered his precaution. Socrates Otho often crosscuts ratten some her snarertractableness ornithologically, Socratically niftiest or gibbers and purgatorial. ruinously. Shier and angelical Graig always variegating sportively Air Canada Will bubble To 100 Destinations This Summer. Air Canada slashes domestic enemy to 750 weekly flights. Each of information, from one point of regional airline schedules to our destinations around the worst airline safety is invalid. That it dry remove the nuisance from remote flight up until June 24. MONTREAL - Air Canada says it has temporarily suspended flights between. Air Canada's schedules to Ottawa Halifax and Montreal will be. Air Canada tests demand with international summer flights. Marketing US Tourism Abroad. And montreal to montreal to help you entered does not identifying the schedules displayed are pissed off. Air Canada resumes US flights will serve fewer than submit its. Please change if montrealers are the flight is scheduled flights worldwide on. Live Air Canada Flight Status FlightAware. This schedule will be too long hauls on saturday because of montreal to toronto on via email updates when flying into regina airport and points guy will keep a scheduled service. This checks for the schedules may not be valid password and september as a conference on social media. Can time fly from Montreal to Toronto? Check Air Canada flight status for dire the mid and international destinations View all flights or recycle any Air Canada flight. Please enter the flight schedule changes that losing the world with your postal code that can book flights in air canada montreal to toronto flight schedule as you type of cabin cleanliness in advance or longitude is.
    [Show full text]
  • MONTRÉAL, June 22, 2007 ACE AVIATION HOLDINGS INC
    MONTRÉAL, June 22, 2007 ACE AVIATION HOLDINGS INC. PARTNERS WITH SAGEVIEW CAPITAL AND KKR ON ACTS Unless noted otherwise, all figures referred to in this press release are in Canadian dollars. ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. (ACE) announced today that it has agreed to sell a 70% interest in its wholly owned maintenance, repair and overhaul subsidiary ACTS LP (ACTS) to a consortium consisting of Sageview Capital LLC, a private investment firm, and KKR Private Equity Investors, L.P. (Euronext Amsterdam: KPE), the publicly traded fund of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (“KKR”). ACE will retain a 30% equity interest in ACTS and Air Canada will remain its largest customer. The transaction implies an enterprise value of approximately $975 million for 100% of ACTS on a cash and debt free basis. “This transaction is an important step in ACE’s strategy of unlocking the value in all of our businesses,” said Robert Milton, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACE. “ACE’s retained 30% ownership of ACTS in partnership with Sageview and KKR is in line with our strategy of generating additional value for our shareholders by furthering the development of ACTS as a stand-alone, profitable entity. Among their many successes, KKR and Sageview have a track record of helping businesses that were once part of large conglomerates to become bigger, stronger and more competitive as independent organizations. Prime examples include Shoppers Drug Mart, Yellow Pages Group, and ITC, the former transmission business of Detroit Edison. They bring a long-term approach to creating lasting value, and together with them we believe great things will happen with ACTS.” “This investment brings us closer to our goal of establishing ACTS as the leading independent aircraft maintenance provider in the Americas,” said Chahram Bolouri, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACTS.
    [Show full text]
  • Air Transport
    The History of Air Transport KOSTAS IATROU Dedicated to my wife Evgenia and my sons George and Yianni Copyright © 2020: Kostas Iatrou First Edition: July 2020 Published by: Hermes – Air Transport Organisation Graphic Design – Layout: Sophia Darviris Material (either in whole or in part) from this publication may not be published, photocopied, rewritten, transferred through any electronical or other means, without prior permission by the publisher. Preface ommercial aviation recently celebrated its first centennial. Over the more than 100 years since the first Ctake off, aviation has witnessed challenges and changes that have made it a critical component of mod- ern societies. Most importantly, air transport brings humans closer together, promoting peace and harmo- ny through connectivity and social exchange. A key role for Hermes Air Transport Organisation is to contribute to the development, progress and promo- tion of air transport at the global level. This would not be possible without knowing the history and evolu- tion of the industry. Once a luxury service, affordable to only a few, aviation has evolved to become accessible to billions of peo- ple. But how did this evolution occur? This book provides an updated timeline of the key moments of air transport. It is based on the first aviation history book Hermes published in 2014 in partnership with ICAO, ACI, CANSO & IATA. I would like to express my appreciation to Professor Martin Dresner, Chair of the Hermes Report Committee, for his important role in editing the contents of the book. I would also like to thank Hermes members and partners who have helped to make Hermes a key organisa- tion in the air transport field.
    [Show full text]
  • 2012 Annual Information Form
    2012 Annual Information Form March 22, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXPLANATORY NOTES ............................................................................................................................................................. - 2 - CORPORATE STRUCTURE ......................................................................................................................................................... - 3 - INTERCORPORATE RELATIONSHIP ....................................................................................................................................... - 4 - REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................................................................... - 5 - TRADEMARKS ............................................................................................................................................................................. - 11 - INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................... - 12 - THE BUSINESS ........................................................................................................................................................................... - 17 - RISK FACTORS ........................................................................................................................................................................... - 41 - MARKET FOR SECURITIES ......................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Air Canada Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results
    Air Canada Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results • COVID-19 Mitigation and Recovery Plan nearly complete • Total passengers carried declined 88 per cent due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions • Deferral and/or cancellation of Boeing 737-8 and Airbus A220 deliveries • Reduction of capital expenditures by about $3.0 billion over 2020-2023 period MONTREAL, November 9, 2020 – Total revenues of $757 million in the third quarter of 2020 declined $4.773 billion or 86 per cent from the third quarter of 2019. The airline reported third quarter 2020 negative EBITDA(1) or (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), excluding special items, of $554 million compared to third quarter 2019 EBITDA of $1.472 billion. Air Canada reported an operating loss of $785 million in the third quarter of 2020 compared to operating income of $956 million in the third quarter of 2019. Total revenue passengers carried declined 88 per cent in the quarter compared to last year’s third quarter. Unrestricted liquidity amounted to $8.189 billion at September 30, 2020. “Today’s results reflect COVID-19’s unprecedented impact on our industry globally and on Air Canada in what has historically been our most productive and profitable quarter. From the outset, we have made the health and safety of our customers and employees our chief concern. Our airline has been a leader in introducing progressive layers of protection, such as our comprehensive suite of biosafety measures, Air Canada CleanCare+, and we continue to explore new technologies and processes to further assure travellers and regulators. Amongst the various science-based measures we have been advocating, testing at airports is by far the most significant, as demonstrated by the McMaster HealthLabs’ study of international travellers arriving at Toronto-Pearson.
    [Show full text]
  • 2012 Management's Discussion and Analysis of Results Of
    2012 Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition 2012 Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition February 7, 2013 2012 Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Highlights ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Introduction and Key Assumptions .................................................................................................................................................. 3 3. About Air Canada ................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 4. Strategy .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6 5. Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 6. Results of Operations – Full Year 2012 versus Full Year 2011 ............................................................................................... 14 7. Results of Operations – Fourth Quarter 2012 versus Fourth Quarter 2011 ......................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2020 Management's Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations
    2020 Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition February 12, 2021 2020 Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Highlights ...................................................................................................... 1 2. Introduction and Key Assumptions ............................................................... 3 3. About Air Canada .......................................................................................... 6 4. Strategy and COVID-19 Mitigation and Recovery Plan .................................. 8 5. Results of Operations – Full Year 2020 versus Full Year 2019 ..................... 16 6. Results of Operations – Fourth Quarter 2020 versus Fourth Quarter 2019 . 22 7. Fleet ............................................................................................................ 26 8. Financial and Capital Management .............................................................. 28 8.1. Liquidity .............................................................................................. 28 8.2. Financial Position ................................................................................ 29 8.3. Net Debt .............................................................................................. 30 8.4. Working Capital ................................................................................... 31 8.5. Consolidated Cash Flow Movements ...................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | Management’S Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition
    2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition 1. HIGHLIGHTS The financial and operating highlights for Air Canada for the periods indicated are as follows: Fourth Quarter Full Year (Canadian dollars in millions, except where indicated) 2018 2017 (1) $ Change 2018 2017 (1) $ Change Financial Performance Metrics Operating revenues 4,246 3,820 426 18,065 16,252 1,813 Operating income 122 133 (11) 1,174 1,371 (197) Income (loss) before income taxes (216) 20 (236) 405 1,286 (881) Net income (loss) (231) 8 (239) 167 2,029 (1,862) Adjusted pre-tax income (2) 68 77 (9) 952 1,165 (213) Adjusted net income (2) 54 60 (6) 677 1,145 (468) Operating margin % 2.9% 3.5% (0.6) pp 6.5% 8.4% (1.9) pp EBITDAR (excluding special items) (2) 543 521 22 2,851 2,928 (77) EBITDAR margin (excluding special items) % (2) 12.8% 13.6% (0.8) pp 15.8% 18.0% (2.2) pp Unrestricted liquidity (3) 5,725 4,181 1,544 5,725 4,181 1,544 Net cash flows from operating activities 360 389 (29) 2,695 2,738 (43) Free cash flow (2) 141 (43) 184 791 1,056 (265) Adjusted net debt (2) 5,858 6,116 (258) 5,858 6,116 (258) Return on invested capital (“ROIC”) % (2) 12.6% 15.3% (2.7) pp 12.6% 15.3% (2.7) pp Leverage ratio (2) 2.1 2.1 - 2.1 2.1 - Diluted earnings per share $ (0.85) $ 0.02 $ (0.87) $ 0.60 $ 7.31 $ (6.71) Adjusted earnings per share – diluted (2) $ 0.20 $ 0.22 $ (0.02) $ 2.45 $ 4.11 $ (1.66) Operating Statistics (4) % Change % Change Revenue passenger miles (“RPM”) (millions) 20,801 19,396 7.2 92,360
    [Show full text]
  • Skipper, Leadership and Vessel Safety
    Skipper, Leadership and Vessel Safety William Strassberg, MD January, 2021 Introduction by Ralph Naranjo: Advocates of the phrase, “leaders are born not made,” discount expertise and dwell on behavioral traits such as charisma, compassion, extroversion, boldness, etc. These personality attributes certainly play an important role in acquiring allegiance within a group. But when it comes to the complexity of command at sea and the risks linked to offshore racing and cruising, the inverse is true—leaders, or should I say, good leaders are made not born. The recipe for success includes sea time in challenging situations, an ability to weigh variables and a sense to steer toward effective outcomes. Sharing this wisdom requires communication skills and an ability to inspire others. Doctor William Strassberg’s paper “Skipper, Leadership and Vessel Safety” delves into Crew Resource Management (CRM) and defines how essential leadership skills can be developed— improving every skipper’s ability to handle challenges at sea. A Skipper’s Leadership Skills are Significant Skipper leadership and vessel safety are inevitably linked, as effective leadership enhances vessel safety. Safety practices aboard a small vessel at sea interface safety protocols and gear, captain and crew, and effective leadership integrates these components and translates vessel operating practices and rules and the safety culture they represent into practice: effective leadership empowers and enhances vessel practices. Ralph Naranjo has written in his book, The Art of Seamanship: “A proficient skipper must be as multifaceted as possible, not just in breadth of knowledge but also in the kind of wisdom that’s acted out on the pitching deck of a vessel at sea.” and continues with the following: “The final challenge for any skipper is the transition involved in becoming a leader” (Naranjo, 2015).
    [Show full text]