Former Etihad CEO Now A Global Airlines Shareholder: Are We Being Trolled?

I’ve written extensively about bizarre Airbus A380 airline startup Global Airlines, which will somehow apparently have a couple of one-off flights later this month. Every time that I think Global Airlines can’t become stranger or more ridiculous, they just find a way to exceed my expectations. I don’t think I’ve ever been this entertained by an “airline” in my entire life.

James Hogan becomes Global Airlines advisor & shareholder

Global Airlines has today announced that it has appointed Knighthood Global as a strategic advisor, to support the next stages of its development, and as part of this, the firm will become a shareholder in Global Airlines.

Knighthood Global is an investment firm founded by former Etihad CEO James Hogan, and former Etihad CFO James Rigney. These are the guys who led the company’s Etihad Airways Partners strategy, where we saw Etihad invest in airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, and Jet Airways.

In the history of the airline industry, we’ve never seen such a bad return on investment on an equity investment strategy, as airberlin and Jet Airways liquidated, Etihad walked away from its stakes in Air Serbia and Alitalia, and Etihad sold its Air Seychelles stake to the government of the Seychelles for $1. “Invest billions, get a dollar,” isn’t exactly a great strategy. Hogan ultimately left Etihad after the airline lost nearly $5 billion in three years.

So these guys then started an investment firm, and now they’re going to be Global Airlines shareholders. I mean, I guess all of this tracks. I’m just confused, was Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland not available?

Of course if you look at Hogan’s bio on the Knighthood Global website, it paints a very different picture:

He previously served as Group President and Chief Executive of the Etihad Aviation Group where he oversaw the development of Etihad Airways from a USD 300 million airline and its transformation into a travel and tourism group valued at more than USD 20 billion, achieving the mandate from his shareholders to build a world-class diversified aviation and travel group, and securing profitability for five consecutive years from 2011 to 2015.

I don’t even know which part of that statement is most outlandish, but I’ll just focus on one. He transformed Etihad into a company valued at more than $20 billion?!?

Etihad has hugely improved its financial performance in the eight years since Hogan left the company, and Etihad is now considering an IPO with a $5 billion valuation. But we’re supposed to believe that the company was worth $20 billion eight years ago, at a time when it was losing $5 billion in three years?

Don’t worry, big things are coming for Global Airlines!

Here’s how the Global Airlines press release describes the plans, now that Hogan and Rigney are onboard:

Global Founder and CEO, James Asquith, will work closely with Knighthood industry veterans, James Hogan and James Rigney, who will provide key strategic advice and support, adding significant executive experience across Global’s finance and operations divisions, and supporting Global in raising finance. Knighthood will also become a shareholder in Global and will focus on the strategy for the next chapters of building the Global business, while progressing the UK AOC application.

Global intends to introduce further widebody aircraft in 2025 before announcing a timeline for scheduled operations. During the past year, Global has successfully inducted one A380 into service, and is now progressing with the acquisitions of further A380 aircraft scheduled for entry into service.

The appointment of the Knighthood Global team as key partners and strategic advisers to the board and executive team at Global highlights another key milestone in building the best team in aviation to drive the ambitious Global vision in the years ahead.  As the first Global owned A380 prepares to take to the skies with its first passengers, the Global team and partners have achieved what many thought was impossible and are now focused on the next phase of development.

Global Airlines now expects to expand its fleet beyond one A380? I mean, how many times can you announce the same thing? Roughly two years ago, in 2023, Global Airlines claimed it had entered into an agreement for four A380s, to launch scheduled operations in the spring of 2024:

Global Airlines, the world’s newest long-haul airline, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a further three A380s. With the purchase of these aircraft, the airline’s fleet development reaches a new milestone with four A380s now lined up for the start of operations in Spring 2024.

Bottom line

Knighthood Global is now an advisor to and shareholder of Global Airlines. The people behind that company are James Hogan and James Rigney, who led Etihad’s investment strategy, which lost the airline nearly $5 billion, and ended in complete failure. Fact really is stranger than fiction, eh?

What do you make of this development?