59: Preparing for delisting

Bo Yiqun was taken away.

But the storm he brought had just begun, and the frontline staff who didn't understand the situation at the Group headquarters were all panicking.

They only heard that Xinghe Group, which had just taken over the company, had almost sent all the senior executives to prison on the day of the board meeting, and even many shareholders didn't escape.

This made these frontline staff full of worries about the future, unsure of their own prospects.

Regardless of the situation on the front lines, Jiang Chen, Ji Jun, Xu Minghao, and others had officially begun the work of taking over Cathay Pacific Airways.

On this day, Jiang Chen called Ji Jun, Xu Minghao, Yang Fan, and Li Ziyan to the Chairman's office on the upper floor to hear about the current status and problems of Cathay Pacific Airways.

Yang Fan was the first to stand up and report, holding the completed asset report, he said, "Chairman Jiang, let me first report to you on the current assets of Cathay Pacific Airways."

Jiang Chen nodded.

After receiving Jiang Chen's signal, Yang Fan began his report;

"The assets are as follows: first, the Cathay Pacific Airways Building we are in, which is worth approximately 8.7 billion Hong Kong dollars.

There are 236 operational passenger and cargo aircraft, including 107 Airbus aircraft, 52 Boeing aircraft, and 77 cargo planes. Most of these are wide-body aircraft, with a small number of narrow-body aircraft. These are important fixed assets within Cathay Pacific Airways."

Yang Fan felt his throat a little dry, so he took a sip of tea to moisten his voice and continued;

"Cathay Pacific Airways' overall revenue last year was 104.7 billion Hong Kong dollars, with a net profit of 9.1 billion Hong Kong dollars. In the first half of this year, revenue was 54.3 billion, with a net profit of 3.7 billion. Currently, the company's account has approximately 7.9 billion Hong Kong dollars in liquid funds, and there is no debt."

"Chairman Jiang, this is a general overview of Cathay Pacific Airways' assets and funds."

Yang Fan put down the report in his hand and looked at Jiang Chao as he spoke.

"Oh?"

Jiang Chen was surprised, he didn't expect Cathay Pacific Airways' liquid funds to be quite substantial, and most importantly, there was no debt, which was very commendable.

Although last year's annual revenue was as high as 100 billion, airlines have too many places to spend money.

It should be known that Cathay Pacific Airways ranks fifth in the world for the number of passengers, and the daily flight departures are considerable (mainly because there isn't an accurate number). The daily maintenance, repair, and refueling costs for aircraft are astronomical figures, and this is just for the aircraft. The salary expenses for frontline personnel and others are also a considerable cost. It's quite impressive that Cathay Pacific Airways can achieve a net profit of 9 billion.

Jiang Chen nodded to indicate he understood, then he looked at Li Ziyan.

Li Ziyan was always paying attention to Jiang Chen, and seeing him look over, she picked up her report and stood up;

"Chairman Jiang, I will report to you on the current personnel situation at Cathay Pacific Airways, as well as the problems I have encountered."

"Mm."

Jiang Chen motioned for her to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Li Ziyan held the report and began: "Currently, Cathay Pacific Airways has approximately 35,000 employees worldwide, including about 3,000 employees in mainland China, with frontline employees accounting for over 95%."

"Due to the almost complete collapse of the senior management through corruption, we are severely lacking in management. The personnel we brought in are only a stopgap measure due to the tight schedule. A portion of middle-level personnel also did not escape unscathed. We are currently just barely maintaining the company's operations..."

In summary, Li Ziyan's words conveyed only one meaning: a shortage of people.

Hearing this, Jiang Chen waved his hand, interrupting Li Ziyan's report.

"General Manager Li, if the entire Group cooperates with your work, I need you to tell me how long it will take to fill the senior management positions? And how long will it take for the Group headquarters to resume normal operations?"

Li Ziyan thought for a moment and then gave a number: "One week, it should be able to resume normal operations in about a week."

This was the most ideal number she calculated based on the actual situation. The work of frontline employees was not greatly affected; only the Group headquarters was impacted and temporarily ceased operations.

She continued, "Although our Xinghe people are temporarily maintaining operations, we ultimately lack experience in aviation. We are unable to fill some management positions that require relevant experience, and they will eventually leave."

"If we receive full support from the Group and recruit a large number of talents worldwide, I believe we can resume normal operations in about a week."

Jiang Chen frowned slightly upon hearing this. "About a week" meant it could potentially exceed a week, which was too long. This was not his ideal number; he wanted to resume normal operations as quickly as possible.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Chen's dissatisfaction, she gritted her teeth and guaranteed decisively: "No, I guarantee it will be back in operation within a week."

"Good."

Jiang Chen was very satisfied with her answer and couldn't help but praise her.

Then Jiang Chen did not forget his original intention, the Cathay Pacific Airways discrimination against mainland passengers last year.

Jiang Chen's fingers unconsciously tapped on the table, and he spoke his general thoughts, saying to Li Ziyan;

"General Manager Li, I also need you to do one more thing. You must strengthen ideological education for all employees, especially frontline service personnel. A patriotic ideological education must be emphasized and incorporated into assessments. They should be assessed every month. Then, find those flight attendants involved in the previous incident and fire them, to make an example of them. Let's see if they dare to have similar incidents happen again in the future."

"I don't want any discrimination to occur in my industries in the future."

Li Ziyan nodded solemnly upon hearing this. She knew how much Jiang Chen valued this matter. Li Ziyan spoke, "I understand, Chairman Jiang. Please rest assured, I will strictly control this aspect and formulate a new assessment plan."

Then Li Ziyan seemed to want to say something: "Chairman Jiang..." She said half a sentence, then closed her mouth again.

Noticing Li Ziyan's apprehension, Jiang Chen said to her easily, "General Manager Li, do you have any concerns? Just speak your mind. This isn't my personal domain; I called you all here to discuss problems."

Upon hearing this, Li Ziyan no longer hesitated and spoke her thoughts;

"Chairman Jiang, regarding this assessment and the dismissal of those few flight attendants, perhaps we should hold off for now? Stability is still the priority. The grassroots staff are already panicking, and many have submitted their resignations. Could we wait until the Group headquarters is operating normally and our people have integrated into the grassroots before starting?"

Li Ziyan's question caught Jiang Chen's attention. After their recent upheaval, Cathay Pacific Airways' Group management had severe vacancies. If any further accidents occurred at the grassroots level at this time, it would affect the entire company's operations.

This was something he did not want to see.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Chen decided to adopt what Li Ziyan said; this matter indeed was not urgent.

Thinking of this, he nodded to Li Ziyan and said, "General Manager Li, you are right. Let's proceed as you suggested for now."

"Understood, Chairman Jiang."

Seeing Jiang Chen agree, Li Ziyan also smiled and nodded in response.

"Please sit."

Jiang Chen smiled and motioned for Li Ziyan to sit down, then remembered her earlier point about the frontline staff being in a state of panic.

Then Jiang Chen spoke to Li Ziyan again: "Oh, General Manager Li, there's one more thing..."

Seeing that Jiang Chen still had something to say, Li Ziyan, who was about to sit down, helplessly stood up again and said with a smile, "Please speak, Chairman Jiang."

Jiang Chen continued, "Regarding the issue of frontline employees, you should immediately issue a notice to all employees in the name of the Group's board of directors. The general content should state that the recent senior management change is a normal adjustment of the internal structure, and they should not worry, just do their jobs. Their treatment and benefits will not change, and the Group will not conduct unwarranted layoffs. You should have someone draft the specific announcement, give it to General Manager Xu for review, and once he confirms it's fine, send it out."

"Yes, Chairman Jiang."

After speaking, Li Ziyan left the meeting room to carry out Jiang Chen's instructions. She only needed to know Jiang Chen's general requirements to know what to do.

After Li Ziyan left, only Jiang Chen, Ji Jun, Xu Minghao, and Yang Fan remained in the meeting room.

Jiang Chen looked at everyone, handed each of them a cigarette, and then spoke his own thoughts: "We have now completed full control over Cathay Pacific Airways. Next, I want to delist it directly. What do you all think?"

He posed the question to the three of them. Jiang Chen was not a dictator, which is why he brought it up to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. Ji Jun, Xu Minghao, and Yang Fan had far more experience than him, and sometimes, by communicating with them, Jiang Chen could learn a lot.

Ji Jun, Xu Minghao, and Yang Fan held their cigarettes, looking at each other, and finally Ji Jun spoke;

"Chairman Jiang, I think your idea is fine. Delisting is good for us. We don't lack funds, and delisting can better control its development."

"General Manager Xu, General Manager Yang, don't you agree?"

Xu Minghao and Yang Fan also nodded, agreeing with Ji Jun's statement.

Their Xinghe Group completely lacked no funds, and they had never been listed. Delisting Cathay Pacific Airways also aligned with their Xinghe Group's strategic policy. Previously, when Old Xu led them, they would also delist other companies they acquired.

"Okay, if you all agree, that's fine."

Seeing that the three had no objections, Jiang Chen then assigned the task, saying;

"General Manager Yang, you will be responsible for the delisting aspect."

Yang Fan stood up without the slightest hesitation, his voice full of vigor;

"Yes, Chairman Jiang!"