Sabena: bankruptcy 10 years ago

[luchtzak]

Tomorrow there will be a lot of people remembering the bankruptcy of Sabena (7th of November 2001), Sabena groups appear on Facebook and ex-colleagues are meeting up at the airport (old terminal) for a "in memorium Sabena", white flowers is the message. Press/television issue special articles/broadcasts/interviews.

I started working for Sabena as "weekendist" back in 1996 in the cleaning department (Sabena number 60021), in 1997 I started my career as flight attendant, 3 months Sabena then DAT. My very last Sabena flight I was working on was ..... BRU-LUX-BRU-LUX-BRU on the Schreiner Airways ATR72 !!!!

I still remember the last months before the bankruptcy as it happened yesterday, always in my heart always in my memory!

[sn26567]

I also worked for Sabena back in 1966. As a young graduate in chemical engineering, two weeks after getting my diploma, I had my first job at Sabena (with number 26567, beat that!) in August 1966. I was working in the laboratory of chemistry-metallurgy in building 22.

My first and rather funny assignment was to find insect killers in spray for planes coming from Africa that did not destroy or affect the metals used for the construction of aeroplanes.

The next assignment was more serious: make a map of the toxicity of every chemical used by Sabena in cooperation with the medical doctor of the company. This was the ancestor of the now very common Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).

After that, I had to go for my military duty and I only came back to Sabena as a customer, mostly very satisfied, and with a lot of interesting stories which I might develop in later posts.

I will always remember Sabena with great pride.

[crlhub]

I also worked for Sabena in the commercial dept at the Sabena House.My best and worst day was on 9/11,I will never forget it.Without the SR bankruptcy, we could have been saved as an agreement with BA Ceo was on the table of Ch Muller.BA was ready to take Sabena over in exchange for LHR slots mainly.The agreement collapsed.The government did not want to save Sabena by pure ideology.When we see how many billions(of euros not bef) have been given for banks for their greedy and irresponsible behaviour since 2008...a few BEF billions was almost nothing compared to that.10 years later we are still below the level of 21.5 millions pax at BRU which was the 2001 level.Sn still have a limited network mainly EUR/AFI based.Otherwise it is codeshares airline.
And once again we are not masters of our future as LH is the new owner of the place.Let's hope It will continue with LH on a better future and will not end up like with the swiss.

[wernerrav4]

Yes indeed 07th nov 2001 wa a very sad day for Sabena; I always thought that a company like Sabena would have always been rescued by the government,we were talking here about a monument! Never the less it did not happen and if we look now to the disaster of Dexia one wonders why all the effort for this and other banks and for Sabena no effort at all. The real reasons will be politically I suppose but never the less it was a shame in my eyes to drop Sabena and all those who ever worked for this very fine airliner.

[airazurxtror]

if we look now to the disaster of Dexia one wonders why all the effort for this and other banks and for Sabena no effort at all.

Let's be fair : the Belgian government has made up for the losses of Sabena for some 40 years in a row. And it stopped doing so only when the EU rules forbade it.
That is not what one could call no effort at all for Sabena.

[Squelsh]

Sabena was worth that money. Best flagship ever for our ountry. Forget all the Flemmish - Walloon stuff.. Made you feel proud as Belgian..

[DeltaWiskey]

Completely agree with airzurxtor, Belgian government paid for the losses all these years. It was inevitable Sabena would have gone bankrupt, sooner or later, as long as it was run by politicians...

A bankruptcy of any company that size is really sad, and ends up being a social bloodbath anyway.

And Sabena never made me feel proud as Belgian, but maybe that comes to my age, as I've never known the golden aviation years...

[cnc]

Let's be fair : the Belgian government has made up for the losses of Sabena for some 40 years in a row. And it stopped doing so only when the EU rules forbade it.
That is not what one could call no effort at all for Sabena.

so lets be fair, your boss should fire you because he's paying you every month and you never pay him back. the fact that he earns money due to your working is something we have to forget here since you do the same in the sabena case

[cathay belgium]

Hi,

rip sn

As any bankruptcy it's the only fault of the management,ie politicians!
Hostaged by swiss it's unbelievable how the belgian government fucked up sn!

I never had sabena feelings but I liked them as it was the only aviation thing we had that days that really had some glow/matters ?!
except slr but thats sn for me..
vlm,virgin,air belgium,.. isn't comparable..

Flown only the sn 747 farewell flight and send my cv but was refused haha..

But I hope we,belgians,did learn from sabena, but have a fear we didn't ..

But for now.. sabena is gone but not forgotten, won't pay the people a drink which still call
Brussels Airlines Sabena !!

Hope SN granddaughter (? - DAT/Virgin ?) Brussels Airlines can grow to a similar company like Sabena once was.. but with a positive financial result...

And indeed a company wich never made any money ( except one year ) isn't really worth surviving in my eyes.. but I strongly believe Sabena could have made money .. if she ever had a fair chance..
no politicians,no swiss,... just a real management !
But that's too late ! Miss ya !



CX-B

[airazurxtror]

And Sabena never made me feel proud as Belgian, but maybe that comes to my age, as I've never known the golden aviation years...

I have.
They were "golden" years for Sabena and its employees - not for the customers, who had to pay outrageous sums for a ticket.
And no other Belgian company was allowed to offer lower prices, it was forbidden !
Travel agents using other companies such as TEA, had to sell packages including transport and accomodation.
They had to resort to subterfuges such as the "Air camping" of Christophe Wirtz, for instance, in order to offer cheaper tickets. The "accomodation" was a place in a camping at destination - of course, nobody went to the camping ... I was amongst the first to use the "air camping" system, and at Wirtz they warned me : Sabena is trying to catch us, you may be asked by an inspector at the airport if you really go to the camping - say yes or they won't allow you to fly ! It was so humiliating ...
The good old days of Sabena !

[sn-remember]

Me too , I was lucky to know the golden age of aviation ...
In end june of 66 I stepped for he 1st time inside a Sabena 707 ... bound for EastAfrica.
1st clas (waouw and I was only 8 yrs old ...
Unforgettable .. it was the first flight of many, many others to come .. Later in eco class (more democratic he ? - of course -
I got the virus inoculated immediately, also we were staying in a sort of bungalow just opposite the EBB rway, the lake, the airport ... With my binoculars, i would observe the a/c landing, spotting them fomr very far on the lake, see every movement on the rway and on the apron, I could see the faces of pax disembarking .. imagine !!
I've lots and lots of memories from Uganda, Eafrica and also later from southern Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, etc Europe also.. all related to my youth and teens and student yrs, related to AFI, to aviation, to Sabena very much, and having one foot in AFI and the other in Belgium was soo special..
Sabena WAS linked to my youth's dreams and fgantasies since I was 8 !!!
From that time I gathered many infos on aviation rlated matters, timetables from every airline I could get my hands on, magazines, flight information, the famous ABC flight bible + the rlated magazine, books on a/c etc etc ..
But we share that passion on this website.. that's what is great!
Yes Sabena wasa great shining airline, recognised as such.. I think late 60ies-early 70ies was sort of a peak of glory for them. Afterwards it slowly declined ...
The fact that they were not profitable was not uncommon among airlines at that time as most (if not all) were public. Sabena was what Belgium was at that time (and hopefully still is) : nice .. just nice

[Passenger]

Let's be fair : the Belgian government has made up for the losses of Sabena for some 40 years in a row. And it stopped doing so only when the EU rules forbade it.
That is not what one could call no effort at all for Sabena.

so lets be fair, your boss should fire you because he's paying you every month and you never pay him back. the fact that he earns money due to your working is something we have to forget here since you do the same in the sabena case.

No cnc, this is not what happened. For more then 60 years, "the boss" has always paid you and he never asked you to pay back your salary. And for 60 years, "the boss" also paid all bills. And before that, "the boss" had already invested capital to buy aircraft and buildings and computers etc. But the biggest problem for "the boss" was that he had to borrow extra money each of those 60 years because there was never enough money to pay staff and suppliers.

On a more serious note : these are for me the 4 most important reasons why Sabena collapsed:

1. total collapse of the airline industry after Nine Eleven (2 months before the bankruptcy). Sabena had no financial reserves to absorb Nine Eleven.

2. refusal of the Belgian government for yet another input of tax payer’s money. This decision was facilitated by European legislation, by Nine Eleven and by the ongoing strikes. Filip Van Rossem may be a hero for many here, but he also made it easy for politicians to stop funding Sabena: the public opinion didn't accept another investment in a company of strikers.

3. holdup by Swissair, probably ment to save their own airline. How important was this? Some say it was the main cause, but this is still discussed in different courts.

4. ongoing strikes after Nine Eleven, chasing away the few passengers who wanted to fly when everybody was afraid to do so. The total lack of passengers legally forced the shareholder to declare bankruptcy.

[triple7]

Besides the news broadcasts which will undoubtedly speak about the 10 years anniversary, does anyone know about other programs on TV today (extra news, documentaries, etc) concerning the collapse of Sabena?

[airazurxtror]

On "La Trois" (RTBF 3) : an evening devoted to Sabena :
- at 21.05 : "Ce jour-là" : 7 novembre 2001, faillite de la Sabena - with, as guests : Raymond Langendries, Philippe Antoine, Waldo Cerdan, Tania Bauweraerts
- at 21.55 : rediffusion of an old "Mobile"
- at 22.10 : rediffusion of "1923-1973 : les 50 ans de la Sabena"
- at 22.35 : rediffusion of an old "Situation 76"

[Passenger]

Besides the news broadcasts which will undoubtedly speak about the 10 years anniversary, does anyone know about other programs on TV today (extra news, documentaries, etc) concerning the collapse of Sabena?

In Dutch : liquidator Christian Van Buggenhout - 7 Nov 2011 - radio interview 13 minutes with VRT, Radio 1, De Ochtend:
http://internetradio.vrt.be/radiospeler ... out-071111

If that link doens't work, click on "audio Christian Van Buggenhout 071111" in this link:
http://www.radio1.be/programmas/ochtend ... a-failliet

[sn26567]

Sabeniens are remembering the 10th anniversary of the demise of Sabena today with a flas-mob in the departure hall of Brussels Airport.

Tribute to Sabena: a DC-6B in Le Bourget in 1968: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Sabena/D ... 1407511/L/

[Ozzie1969]

SABENA was a disgrace from start to finish. I'm sure people who worked there have fond feelings about "the good old days", but SABENA was the prime example how NOT to run an airline, ever since it started way back in 1923.

[cathay belgium]

Ozzie1969,

Sorry, not completly right.. in the very early days and in the years later SABENA was indeed to be proud of,
they were amongst the first airliners in the world,setting standards and bringing aviation to Africa !
Always in the front rows of technology,destinations,..
So a disgrace is a bit over the top..

And don't forget running an airline like SN in those days in such ways was just common..
( where are the OLD KLM - SWISS - ALITALIA - IBERIA - BRITISH AIRWAYS - TWA - PANAM - now ? )
They're were all sold/integrated in other parts or went bankrupt !.. like Sabena.

That's just history..

But I agree it was a complete disaster in the last years,more politics than management and then those belgians who brought the head of SN to a swiss guillotine and even similing...

CX-B

[regi]

SABENA was a disgrace from start to finish. I'm sure people who worked there have fond feelings about "the good old days", but SABENA was the prime example how NOT to run an airline, ever since it started way back in 1923.

Harsh statement because it is true.
Well, as far as we may remember. But I doubt that there are still people who remember how the company was ran in 1923

I think that Sabena was the victim of its own model: a state run company. It seemed impossible to adapt it to the new times and even EU legislation. See what happens now with the Post and the Railways.

What the employees concerns: they always say we should feel sorry for them. But how many held a party member card? How many were aware about the flagrant abuses at the low levels ( purchasing luxury goods in the hotel shops, all billed on Sabena's account? I have witnessed this personally by being offered a design watch by a Sabena attendant )
I understand that personnel went numerous times on strike to protect the priviliges they would never get from a private company.
I had a chat with a young chap who is a trainnee train conductor. I asked him what his perspectives are now with the major financial problems at B-Cargo. Answer: Oh, we will go on strike.
A trainnee ! Already contaminated by the union's disease. Can you believe this? We pay taxes for this bunch of profiteering, maffiosi style of racketeering, how else can I call it?

And another remark: it surprised me that so many former Sabena employees were still unemployed after 10 years. No sorry: I have zero respect for peoples who live of my tax money for 10 ( ten ) years. If you want to work, look at http://www.vdab.be . At this moment, they have 7278 vacancies in Brussels alone.
Done.

[mad_fab]

On a aviation/spotting point of view, we should all miss Sabena and it's traffic (A340, 747,...) in BRU.

The rest doesn't really matters

I have zero respect for peoples who live of my tax money for 10 ( ten ) years. If you want to work, look at http://www.vdab.be . At this moment, they have 7278 vacancies in Brussels alone.
Done.

:sick: