From the Cockpit with Bluebird Nordic’s Audrone Keinyte

Iceland-based Bluebird Nordic has continued to renew its 737 fleet with NextGen conversions and recently diversified its 737-800F fleet with the addition of Aeronautical Engineers Inc. (AEI) 737-800SFs. The airline, which is rebranding to BBN Airlines Nordic, also reached an agreement with Dominican Republic-based Sky Cana to provide ACMI services. In February the rebranded carrier began flying a 737-800BCF for the Caribbean airline, which began offering its own air cargo services in 2021 with an ATR-72-200F. [caption id="attachment_56861698" align="alignright" width="450"] Bluebird Nordic CEO Audrone Keinyte. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] BBN soon will increase its operational presence with the introduction of its new cargo airline in Indonesia . Cargo Facts sat down with BBN Chief Executive Audrone Keinyte for a fireside chat at Cargo Facts EMEA in Dubai to discuss the airline’s recent developments and the industry. What follows is an edited version of the conversation. Cargo Facts : Based on your first ten months as CEO, what do you feel were the biggest surprises? Audrone Keinyte: I would really like to apply one quote, which says that “knowledge without practice is useless and practice without knowledge is dangerous.” That’s definitely true in aviation. There were a lot of surprises, but I would like to mention a few of them. First of all, I did not really imagine that the industry is so heavily regulated. There is so much paperwork to be done to ensure full compliance and to ensure that you are operating according to the regulations. A lot of industries are regulated, but I think aviation and maybe a few others are some of the most regulated. The second surprise was how international it is. Tourism is also very international, but I would say that in aviation there are definitely no limits. You are not isolating yourself to certain regions, and the whole world is in front of you — through the team that you have, the business opportunities, your partners, suppliers, etc. It is extremely international. The third biggest surprise for me was the welcoming support for newcomers. For me, without having the knowledge, I really received full support, and this is why I think I can ask any question. It’s normal to ask questions, because there is no one person in aviation who will know everything. CF : What are the challenges? AK: First of all, the regulations — which are the basics for the operation in terms of how to balance your business decisions in line with regulations — to be able to run a sustainable business financially, plus making sure you are fully compliant and never compromise with safety, which is the most important in aviation. The second is human resources. I think that every industry is now facing the challenge of human resources and I think it will be long-term. In aviation, there are some specific competencies, which means that when the world is facing the crisis of human resources, this problem becomes even greater. And the third is that I still think there is huge room in aviation for more optimization. I believe digitalization is one of the initiatives that the industry has to take, and I agree with my colleagues that there is no integrated data sharing, which is very important. But even within an airline’s operations, there are a lot of different special models of products and software that you can use for specific areas. To have it integrated and easy-to-use is a challenge, and this is why I think that we should go in this direction. In this case, we might need less pure technical manual workers, but to really search for the talent who would do the valuable jobs and would feel that they can realize themselves. CF : Help us understand more about your operation, Bluebird’s history and development into what it is today and its services to its customers. AK: Bluebird Nordic was established in 1999 and in 2000 gained its AOC in Iceland. Since then, it has operated quite a stable fleet of six 737 aircraft until 2020, when it was acquired by Avia Solutions Group. Since then, I would say there were some good changes in the company’s development and expansion. A very important step is that in 2021, the airline started taking delivery of new aircraft: new-generation 737-800s. So, the fleet is being renewed and we are aiming to renew our fleet within the next two years to have only the NGs. We specialize in cargo, so our fleet is just freighters and we are also just concentrating on type. We mainly operate 737s — whether -400s or -800s — which gives us the possibility to reach the maximum possible operational efficiency and quality. Since we are not diversifying ourselves that much in the fleet, we can focus on the operation. On the other hand, commercially, we are very much diversifying ourselves and are looking for expansion to other regions by opening new AOCs or gaining clients in different regions. CF : What are your thoughts on the overall cargo market right now, particularly from the perspective of ACMI and charters? AK: I would say that the balance between the capacity and the demand is very important and needs to be very well looked after, especially in the last few years when we had the unpredictable worldwide situation in terms of everything: production, logistics, inflation, economy, geopolitics. That’s why in turbulent times it is important to not lose the opportunity to fully expand but on the other hand to mitigate your risks by calculating the market demand very well. We need to be sure that we are making proper business decisions so as not to shrink and to keep on expanding, but also not to expose ourselves to high risks. It's important to look into other regions outside Europe: Latin America, Asia, Africa. This is where we still have an unsaturated air cargo situation. The second thing is that whatever crises exist in the world there could be losses — but it also could be an opportunity. We should recognize and seize the opportunity, like what happened during the pandemic when air cargo saw a huge increase in demand. CF : What do you intend to do with your current 737 Classic freighters when you renew the fleet, and what are your widebody plans? AK: The -400s are gradually phasing out either due to the end of the lease agreements or due to the end of life. They are being replaced with the new aircraft and we are increasing our fleet with the additional 737-800Fs. This is the main strategy, but we are also very much open to any kind of business opportunities like widebodies or passenger operations. Honestly, widebodies are a different product. It requires very significant operational preparation, so I would say that it is in the plan, but we are very cautious in preparing for this and I think it’s another segment of the market that we would approach for this freighter type. CF : Why did Bluebird Nordic decide to set up an airline in Indonesia? AK: It is still in the development stage. We see growth opportunities by expanding to other regions, not only commercially, but also by having our footprint as an airline. With Indonesia we will be able to cover Southeast Asia, which also makes the traffic rights in Indonesia quite attractive. That’s more or less the basis for this decision. When planning our expansion, we are very much looking into two main factors: the geographical region that we will be able to cover with the traffic rights of the specific country, and of course the overall business environment in this country. CF : It’s no secret that the aviation industry — and specifically air cargo — has little gender diversity in title jobs. From your perspective, what must happen to change this? AK: I actually looked into the statistics and, worldwide, there are women in only 3% of managerial positions in aviation — and only 5% are women pilots. So, the statistics unfortunately show that it is a very much male-dominated industry. I believe that there are some very serious reasons for this. Aviation is very technical, it’s very dynamic, very challenging, very stressful. Historically, and in general, I would say that men are more into technical jobs, and in the past there were more men taking the challenge than women. On the other hand, I see and believe that a lot of women worldwide would be willing to do the work and are capable of doing it. Maybe in some cases, they are feeling a little reluctant to do it, because they don’t know how much they will be welcomed into the industry. I think that by not attracting more women, the industry will lose more talent and a more balanced approach in management and leadership. There are initiatives that are being taken now and this question is being raised more often. IATA has taken an initiative called “25 by 2025” and we are aiming to reach 25% of women in aviation, which is very ambitious but very realistic. With such initiatives, more and more women will join the industry and share their experience and positive feedback. I think that this is very much needed. Cargo Facts Asia, the essential event for stakeholders in Asia, will take place in person April 17-19 in Singapore. Register today to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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