Romanian state-owned airline Tarom’s board of directors decided yesterday to end Belgian CEO Christian Heinzmann’s management contract.

The board has also removed Tiberiu Ticlea, the company’s administrative director and appointed Gabriel Stroe as interim general manager.

Christian Heinzmann was the first manager of a local state-owned company named after an international selection process. He started his term in November 2012, and had a four-year contract.

He failed to increase the company’s number of passengers and bring it to profit, which were his main two objectives. Tarom had losses of almost EUR 25 million in 2014, and EUR 9.3 million in 2015.

Moreover, a control report published yesterday by the Ministry of Transport shows that Tarom has had many cancelled or delayed flights in recent years, which lowered its operational revenues and caused some USD 1 million worth of penalties, reports local Mediafax. The report also shows that the company hasn’t been respecting the labor code and that the employees have been doing a lot of extra time.

editor@romania-insider.com