Latest news with #Wilk
Toronto Star
08-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Flair Airlines names permanent CEO
Flair Airlines has officially appointed Maciej Wilk, who served as interim chief executive officer over the past year, as the permanent head of the budget carrier. Wilk, who first joined the company as chief operating officer in 2023, has been at the helm of the Edmonton-based airline while it searched for a replacement for former CEO Stephen Jones, who retired last June.
Hamilton Spectator
05-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Leasing companies allege Flair failed to make rent payments, ignored default notices
Plane-leasing companies that seized four aircraft from Flair Airlines in 2023 are seeking damages from the budget carrier, alleging it failed to make rent payments by the deadline and ignored repeated default notices. The allegations were detailed in a statement of defence and counterclaim for US$30.9 million filed in Ontario Superior Court on June 26. In March 2023, Flair Airlines filed a $50-million lawsuit against Irish-based Airborne Capital Inc. and a trio of affiliated leasing corporations, alleging they 'secretly' found a better deal for the Boeing 737 Max aircraft with a third party and then set up Flair for default. Flair said at the time it received no notice over the 'unlawful' seizures, which took place at airports in Toronto, Edmonton and Waterloo, Ont., precluding the airline from alerting or rebooking customers. The airline then found itself down by more than a fifth of its 19-plane fleet, forcing it to cancel multiple flights. 'The lessors sent agents to seize the aircraft in the middle of the night as passengers were boarding planes for spring break vacations,' Flair's statement of claim said. But Airborne Capital has said that Flair 'regularly' missed payments over the previous five months, prompting the plane seizures, and that it had been in regular contact with Flair's representatives about its obligations. None of the allegations in Flair's lawsuit or the countersuit have been tested in court. In new court documents, the lessors deny any breach of contract or duty to act in good faith, saying the seizures were necessary to protect the value of the aircraft. They said the seizures took place at Canadian airports to avoid stranding passengers overseas and were timed overnight to prevent disruption during busier daytime hours. 'Flair's action is an attempt to recover self-inflicted losses arising from its own defaults,' the countersuit stated. 'For months, Flair failed to make rent and other payments when due under the leases. It ignored repeated default notices in which the lessors expressly reserved their rights and remedies under the leases, including to terminate the leasing of the aircraft and repossess the aircraft.' The leasing companies said they 'repeatedly advised that the continuing arrears were unacceptable.' They also denied that the seizures were related to a more profitable deal with a third-party. 'In fact, it took the defendants several months and significant cost ... to re-market and restore the aircraft to a suitable condition before they could be re-leased or sold,' the document stated. 'Two aircraft required major repairs because one or more of their engines were unserviceable due to defects uncovered post recovery from Flair.' In a statement, Flair CEO Maciej Wilk called the counterclaim a 'predictable response' to Flair's lawsuit. 'The company does not comment on active litigation, but would like to point out that the claims in question relate to events that occurred over two years ago,' Wilk said. 'Flair continues to maintain and cultivate productive and positive relationships with all of its stakeholders, including its customers, lessors and other industry partners and remains focused on executing its strategy and commitment to be Canada's most reliable and affordable airline.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025.
TECHx
02-06-2025
- Business
- TECHx
Gigamon Appoints Damian Wilk to Lead EMEA Markets
Home » C-Suite Watch » Gigamon Appoints Damian Wilk to Lead EMEA Markets Gigamon, a leading deep observability company, has announced the appointment of Damian Wilk as General Manager for EMEA Emerging Markets. The company revealed that this strategic move supports its goal of accelerating growth across the region. EMEA Emerging Markets are facing a rapidly evolving and AI-driven threat landscape. Gigamon reported that this has left many organizations exposed to growing cybersecurity risks. As a result, deep observability has become critical for securing and managing today's hybrid cloud environments. According to the Gigamon 2025 Hybrid Cloud Security Survey: 89% of Security and IT leaders agree deep observability is foundational for cloud security. The Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline helps eliminate blind spots, optimize network traffic, and improve tool efficiency by up to 90%. Wilk, based in Dubai, will lead efforts across the Middle East, Africa, and Southern Europe. Gigamon stated that his role includes accelerating customer growth, expanding channel partnerships, and driving adoption of the Deep Observability Pipeline. The appointment marks a strategic effort to enhance customer engagement and strengthen Gigamon's regional presence. The company revealed that the deep observability market grew 17% year-over-year in 2024. Mark Coates, Vice President of EMEA at Gigamon, said Wilk is a dynamic sales leader with deep customer understanding and a strong track record. Wilk shared that Gigamon is uniquely positioned to help organizations gain full visibility across hybrid cloud infrastructure. He emphasized the company's focus on customer-centric solutions that drive outcomes. Wilk brings over two decades of enterprise sales leadership across the UK and EMEA. His experience includes roles at Rubrik, Veritas Technologies, Good Technology, and Cisco, where he led strategic initiatives in cybersecurity and data management. Gigamon reported that this leadership change highlights its commitment to delivering greater value to customers and partners in key markets.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Poland, Romania lead a drone bonanza in Eastern Europe
WARSAW, Poland — As Poland's military is developing the Drone Force, its latest military component that was launched earlier this year, the Ministry of National Defence recently signed a deal to purchase the largest number of unmanned aerial vehicles in the country's history. The move comes as various Eastern European allies are advancing major drone purchases, drawing lessons from Russia's war against Ukraine. On May 15, the Polish ministry signed a framework agreement with local private defense company WB Group to buy some 10,000 units of the Warmate loitering munition. The contract foresees deliveries until 2035. 'This is a large-scale investment – 10,000 Warmate drones are becoming a fact,' Władysław Kosiniak Kamysz, Poland's deputy prime minister and defense minister, said at the official signing ceremony, as quoted in a statement. 'They will soon start being delivered to the Polish military. The next deals, which will be executive, will be signed in the near future,' he added. WB Group has been expanding its portfolio of UAVs over the past years. Some of the latest additions to the company's range include the Warmate TL-R reconnaissance system, FT5 mini tactical class drones in new variants, Warmate 20 loitering munition, and the extended-range Warmate 50. Warmate 20 has a range of 'several hundred kilometers' and Warmate 50's range exceeds that of Warmate 20, according to the company. Remigiusz Wilk, the head of communications at WB Group, told Defense News that, since the war's outbreak, the drone producer has observed a surge in interest in unmanned capabilities across the region. 'Drones are now considered an important protective measure for soldiers,' Wilk said. 'When combined, they allow to create complex aerial systems.' In the fighting between Ukraine against Russian invaders, sections of the front line have almost become devoid of human soldiers, with drones patrolling large swathes of land, ready to pounce on anything that moves. 'The more we push soldiers away from the battlefield and replace them with drones, the safer they are,' Wilk said. 'Drones have the potential to protect many lives, and the military appreciates this now more than ever before.' The Polish Armed Forces are showing an growing interest in buying new UAVs to develop their Drone Force, but WB Group is also using the company's expanding manufacturing capabilities to unlock additional markets. 'WB Group is currently building new facilities to produce more drones,' the spokesman said, listing countries in Europe and Asia, including South Korea and Malaysia, as clients. 'We have supplied drones to Ukraine's military since 2015, so we are in an optimal position to draw lessons from the conflict and continue to enhance our unmanned systems to respond to the evolving battlefield requirements.' At the same time, the Polish Drone Force will also comprise larger UAVs. In December 2024, the ministry signed a contract worth around $310 million to acquire an undisclosed number of MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones. The UAVs are to be delivered to Poland's military by the first quarter of 2027. Meanwhile in Romania, the country's economy minister, Bogdan Ivan, recently paid a visit to the factories of local drone manufacturers Carfil SA and IAR Ghimbav. During his visit to their facilities, Ivan announced Bucharest intends to use a significant portion of the European Union's funds for defense acquisitions by member states to buy drones for Romania's military. The Romanian minister was referring to the ReArm Europe plan, an initiative designed to bolster the EU's defense expenditure and capacities. Mobilizing up to €800 billion ($906 billion) through various means, the program is to stimulate higher national defense budgets and finance a new loan instrument available to member states to facilitate equipment purchases. Romanian officials hope the rising domestic drone production capabilities will allow to ramp up the military's unmanned capacities, but also enable local producers to sell a sizable share of their output abroad, according to the economy minister. 'When you have a production line that can make up to 3,500 drones annually, we will not only produce for the Romanian military,' Ivan said, as quoted by local daily Adevarul.
RTÉ News
15-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Inquest into death of Polish man adjourned for 14th time
Gardaí in Cork have thanked the city coroner for his patience and understanding as they sought a fourteenth adjournment of the inquest into the death of a man killed in front of his wife and children almost seven years ago, so that gardaí can get instructions on a murder file from the DPP. Sergeant Fergus Twomey told Cork City Coroner's Court that the inquest into the death of Polish national, Mikolaj Will had been first opened on 1 November 2018 when evidence of identification and of the cause of Mr Wilk's death were laid before the court. Mr Wilk, a Polish national worked as a landscape gardener. He was attacked by up to five masked men armed with machetes when they burst into his home, the Bridge House at Maglin near Ballincollig around 3am on 10 June 2018. Mr Wilk was repeatedly hacked in front of his wife, Elzbieta, who sustained serious slash injuries to her face, neck and hands as she sought to protect her husband. The couple's two children, who were both under six years of age at the time, were uninjured in the incident. A woman in her 30s, who was renting a room from the Wilks, managed to flee through a window at the rear of the house and ran to a nearby house to raise the alarm and gardaí responded finding Mr Wilk in a critical condition. Gardaí and HSE paramedics worked to try and stabilise Mr Wilk's condition before he was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where despite the extensive and horrific nature of his injuries, he survived for two hours before losing his fight for life. Re-opening the case today, Sgt Twomey said that the inquest had been mentioned 14 times including today since 1 November 2018 and he thanked Cork City Coroner Philip Comyn for his "patience and understanding" but he could now confirm that a file on the murder had been sent to the DPP. "This was a mammoth investigation with thousands of tasks and inquiries both within the State and in European countries with assistance from other police forces and a comprehensive investigation file has been forwarded to the DPP seeking directions." He said that as a consequence he was seeking another adjournment under Section 25 of the Coroner's Act 1962 to have the inquest adjourned until 15 November for mention to allow investigators to wait for the DPP's directions. Mr Comyn said that it was evident from what Sgt Twomey said that gardaí had made progress in their investigation into the murder of Mr Wilk and as a result he was willing to adjourn the matter to allow gardaí obtain directions from the DPP on the case. "I know this case dates from 2018 but I note that there has been a lot of work done by An Garda Síochána in the investigation and they have now forwarded a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions so I'm happy to adjourn it," he said, adjourning the matter until 15 November. A Garda Family Liaison Officer has been keeping Mr Wilk's wife, Elzbieta informed of developments. She and her children returned to Poland in June 2018 following the murder of her husband.
