Wow Air CEO speaks for the first time since the bankruptcy

Skuli Mogensen, CEO and founder of Wow Air, spoke to RUV, an Icelandic public television channel. He spoke for the first time about his resentment and recounted the hours before the airline stopped all operations. The founder of Wow air also expressed his regrets and tried to understand what happened.

During its interview, Skuli Mogensen said he put everything he had in the airline (credits:RUV)

 Mogensen, former CEO of Wow Air, met with the Icelandic state channel RUV on Thursday morning, March 28. The former CEO of Wow Air tells the story of what happened behind the scenes at the Icelandic company, which desperately searched for an investor until the very last moment. In particular, he refers to the company's creditors. Here is the transcript of the interview, translated by Ingar Thordar for CNN:

Q: Why this big turnaround?

It is a very difficult issue, air transport is complex and we have many creditors. This was a good step forward when we were able to get bondholders to convert their debt into equity. But there were also other creditors and when so many people from so many countries need to get together and unfortunately we couldn't make it work.

Q: Were you too optimistic?

There is no doubt that some people will say that, but I would also like to say that I am very proud of the work that was done and the extraordinary staff that worked so hard.

We were pioneers in the field of low-cost airlines[in Iceland] and we have been very successful. We have made some mistakes, but we have corrected them. We all saw and knew that we were back on the right track, and that was the main reason why I was optimistic with others.
Air transport business this winter has been difficult, and many airlines have gone bankrupt, which has not helped. External circumstances are difficult. I still believe that if we had had a little more time, we could have saved the situation.

Q: Have creditors lost confidence in you?

No doubt some of them did, but first and foremost, it was very complicated and I wish it had ended differently.
1,000 people will lose their jobs, and of all the things that have happened, it is the one that will have the most consequences. They're an incredible group of enigmatic people. People who have united. It's amazing how they kept their heads up despite this devastating news. I would like to thank them all. They were absolute heroes.

Q: How many people had bought tickets?

I don't have the exact number of passengers, but it's about 1,000, probably a little more.

Q: What can WOW Air do for these people?

Unfortunately, this is no longer our responsibility. I'm really sorry, because these are the people who supported us and it's amazing how positive our passengers were from day one and I'm disappointed that we didn't live up to our commitments to these people.

Q: Was it irresponsible to continue for so long?

I believed and said in all conviction, as we were talking to many parties, that I intended to finish this and that I had this faith until 7 a.m.

The Wow air CEO interviewed by RUV (credits RUV)

The causes of a bankruptcy: « One thing leads to another »

Mogensen was asked about the causes of the bankruptcy. He acknowledges his mistakes and says,"What I should have done was to start this restructuring earlier." In particular, he regrets that the fleet was not optimized for cost reduction.

Q: Why this bankruptcy?

We talked to a few interested people until the early hours of the morning, which ultimately didn't work.
These parties were interested and we worked in good faith. We continued until 7am, but unfortunately it didn't go as planned.
We worked with all our aircraft rental companies for a while, but in the end, it didn't work. As usual, people thought we would get the investment. We have been very transparent, but that has not happened.

Q: Why did it happen so quickly?

One thing leads to another, when a piece starts falling, everything falls quickly - it's not just one thing that caused it. The creditors were impatient to see us close the investment.

Q: You said you would never give up:

I was forced to accept the facts. As I have said many times, it has been a fierce struggle. I am very grateful for the support and commitment from employees, people in the city[Reykjavik] and people from all over the world who told us not to give up. People trusted us and wanted us to continue. I am very disappointed and sad to let these people down because they trusted us.

Q: When did you know it was finished?

When the planes were grounded, it was finished.

"One of the fundamental essences of the low-cost model is to ensure that you maintain a simple and consistent fleet structure because it will very quickly complicate operations and therefore costs if you have multiple fleet types," says Mogensen.

"The second mistake we made, partly because of the A330, was that we started acting like a traditional carrier in that we added a high-end cabin," he said. "And once again, complicating our message, complicating our service delivery, complicating marketing, and we go back to our roots as a low-cost carrier.

Skuli Mogensen, CEO of Wow air (credits: Wow air)

"I put everything I had into this company," says the CEO of Wow.

Q: How much of your own money have you invested in this project?

I put everything I had into this company. I don't have the exact number and I didn't think about it, but I put everything I had into it.
There are still assets, but I don't know what they are right now.

Q: What now for you?

I would always work with this group of people again.

Q: Would they work with you?

I really hope so. I have never felt such support from this incredible group of people.

Q: How do you feel?

I'm still analyzing this. Still in shock. I've been awake for several days now. Don't think I took it 100%.

Q: Have you given up?

I didn't give up, but unfortunately this project is finished and I would have liked it to end differently... But I'm still here, so I didn't give up personally.

The original interview here