LOT offered a parachute, but will it get off the ground?

What they suggest are changes in leasing contracts, the cutting of costs and new investments in plant. The trade union also suspects that the management is planning to withdraw from chartering, which at present brings in no profits to the company. However, the pilots' union believes LOT should instead fight more aggressively on the market to win more charters, which flies in the face of what industry experts say. "Such an activity in Poland is very risky and might bring losses to the company," affirmed Michał Morawski, a former LOT representative at IATA. The pilots have criticized the recent purchase of small, short-haul Embraer aircraft and claim that the management's policy of closing long distance flights is unwise. How many of the union's ideas the company's management will take on board is uncertain, as its program for restructuring the company, which would allow LOT to cut its costs by zł.500 million by 2006, is currently all ready for take off and should be presented next month. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) A.F.