In an effort to cut costs, RIM is putting one of its two company jets up for sale.
Despite RIM CEO Thorsten Heins recently assuring everyone that "There's nothing wrong with [RIM] as it exists right now," Bloombergs is reporting that one of the two company jets is up for sale. Reportedly the sale of the nine-passenger Dassault Aviation SA F50EX – similar to the one pictured above – will bring in between $6 and $7 million dollars. The second plane, a 14-passenger Dassault F900EX – has a longer range of about 4,500 miles and is not being put up for sale at this time.
According to Bill de Decker of jet consulting firm Conklin & de Decker, the F50EX costs about $2.1 million per jet to maintain, while the F900EX will run a company about $2.2 million.
While it makes sense to bring in some cash flow and reduce costs, the sale of its private planes comes at an odd time for RIM. Currently the company is having to look more and more to developing nations for growth, which means that executives are having to travel more to meet with potential partners. In a statement to Bloomberg, a company representative said, "We're looking at options with both our aircraft costs and finding ways to reduce our travel while still making sure we keep in close contact with our partners around the world." They went on to add, "It's all part of the effort to find ways to reduce costs and drive efficiencies that Thorsten Heins has talked about."
[via Bloomberg]
