easyJet told 'run on time or change your name'
22.07.10
easyJet has been told it has 90 days to improve its flight punctuality, or it will have to change its name, SKY reports. Lawyers for Sir Stelios Haji-Ioanou, the airline's founder, major shareholder and owner of the easyGroup empire who licences the easy brand to the airline gave the warning yesterday. Sir Stelios is currently in dispute with the airline over its expansion strategy and failure to pay dividends.
In a letter to easyJet's legal team, easyGroup's lawyers said recent flight punctuality statistics, particularly those at Gatwick, generated ‘serious and unfavourable’ headlines in the press. It referred to an article in the Times, which reported that figures from Gatwick showed that over half of easyJet flights departed late - a worse record than Air Zimbabwe - in June.
easyGroup lawyers said the ‘embarrassing comparisons’ had the ‘potential to cause irredeemable harm to the reputation of the airline and to the more general 'easy' brand’ if continued for a period of time’. They said easyGroup did not accept easyJet's excuse that air traffic control problems were behind the widespread delays, arguing instead that they believed poor management and staffing were the cause.
The deadline comes at a bad time for the airline, as the busy summer holiday period puts further strain on its tight flight schedules, and with more strikes by European air traffic controllers planned (there has been one in France and one in Spain so far this week). If easyJet does not meet easyGroup's demands by October 17, it will be forced to undertake a costly rebranding exercise.
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