[AMcWhirter]

Following on from the previous SAA thread

SAA 'is on verge of bankruptcy'

the Swiss website CH-Aviation has just reported that SAA will downsize.

The chairman of the SAA pilots association, Jimmy Conroy, told Moneyweb that the fleet could be reduced by up to 20 per cent.

It’s expected that numerous domestic and international (but not to Europe) will be axed.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/59278-saa-to-cut-fleet-by-almost-20-in-latest-restructuring-plan

[LuganoPirate]

They may cut routes and aircraft, but they won’t cut staffing levels, so unlikely to save them much. That’s the problem with SAA, it’s overstaffed: As quoted from Fin24:

The number of workers per aircraft is a simple measure of an airline’s efficiency. SAA, with just over 10 000 employees and 61 aircraft, according to its 2011 annual report, therefore has 164.8 employees per aircraft compared to Kenya Airways with 104.7, Ethiopian Airlines with 126, Qantas in Australia with 109, American Airlines with 86.7 and United Airlines with 71.

Comair, which operates British Airways and kulula.com in South Africa, has 74 per aircraft.

Further, it overpays on all its services, from food to aircraft, so the pockets of certain people can be well and truly lined!

[Alex McWhirter]

More information reported by Reuters today. It would appear that none of SAA’s European routes will be cut.

https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKCN1BO0U4-OZABS

[capetonianm]

It would appear that none of SAA’s European routes will be cut

There isn’t much to cut. They only serve FRA, MUC and LHR if I remember correctly and I understand that the JNB-LHR rotations will be cut to 1 daily because they can’t make it pay, hardly surprising when they give away the premium seats to the extent that the fare paying public don’t want to sit with a bunch of ANC bumlickers and SAA staff on free rides.

Odd that BA can profitably fill a 747 and a 388 every night out of JNB, and up to 4 flights a night in the peak season between LHR/LGW and CPT, even with their scruffy old 747s.

I remember the old days when SAA served pretty much every major capital city in Europe, and their service was excellent.

[LuganoPirate]

You hit the nail on the head there Capetonian, it gives away so many free (business class of course) seats to Parliamentarians and ANC officials it can never run at a profit. Further, an MP can demand to be flown, and if necessary they will remove or downgrade a fare paying passenger.

I was once on the CPT-JNB 1530 flight with the A330, a favourite with the political class. Sitting next to someone I knew he told me the whole cabin were MP’s, joking if the flight went down the ANC’s majority would be cut! He also said as I was a European going onwards with Swiss and a Gold card holder, they would never downgrade me as that could risk their membership of Star Alliance.

[openfly]

@Capetonianm BAs JNB is double daily A380 from next month!

[AlanOrton1]

I wonder where BA’s services to JNB and CPT sit in their profitability ranking.

With a now near monopoly on these routes you can almost see WW and AC rubbing their hands with glee at their good fortune.

The fact both (now) a380’s spend all day sat at JNB before flying back to LhR makes you think the route is a cash cow and SAA are beyond negligent.

[LuganoPirate]

The CPT and JNB routes are cash cows Alan. I regularly use three airlines, Swiss, Lufthansa and Edelweiss and occasionally BA and EK, and all flights have been full from front to back.

In addition ex Europe the airports are served by KLM, AF, Virgin, and of course the ME3 plus Turkish, Egyptair, Ethiopian and Kenya airways. Fares are quite high in comparison to other routes though good prices can be had and all the carriers seems to have pretty full flights.

Just a shame SAA cannot make it pay!

[Alex McWhirter]

Many years ago I remember BA boasting that its flights to South Africa were the most profitable on its entire network.

LP – Also there is service with SIA from SIN to both JNB and CPT while Cathay Pacific flies into JNB from HKG. Both services are feeders for travellers bound for Asia and Australasia.

[openfly]

The South African government have voted to give SAA R13,000,000,000 support, to ensure that government ministers, and their family and friends, continue to fly for free in First Class.
The money should pay for the operation for the next year, hopefully, and then SAA will need more money.
It’s a disgrace in a “third world” country with so much poverty. Witness the thousands of informal settlements of shacks for miles around Cape Town airport.
One has to ask how much the UK government gives South Africa in “aid”.

[SimonS1]

I thought I read that Citibank had demanded repayment of credit lines on 30th September.

[capetonianm]

Easy come, easy go. That ‘government’ money is taxpayers’ money. South Africa has one of the narrowest tax bases in the world, with less than 25% of the population registered as taxpayers. Of those, less than half actually pay tax. Roughly 2% of the population pay over 50% of total tax collection. Not to mention VAT and other taxes on expenditure.

They are those who work the hardest, are the most successful, and provide employment. Needless to say they are mostly white, and are supporting the shack dwellers, many illegal, who leech off the public services.

Most of the successful and hard working people I know in South Africa won’t fly SAA or its sidekicks (Mango, Sax, Airlink) because they don’t want to support the ANC, therefore they fly with other carriers who have to make their way without state (i.e. taxpayer) funded life support.

And people say Apartheid was ‘unfair’!

What we have now is worse, with the majority of the poor (i.e. black) population worse off while the pilferati of the ANC get richer with their corruption and nepotism.

[openfly]

@capetonianm Exactly!

[AMcWhirter]

The Treasury has agreed a R10 billion bailout for SAA.

Treasury grant a R10bn cash injection to South African Airways

[capetonianm]

capetonianm
Participant
>> This reply has been reported for inappropriate content. >>

Easy come, easy go. That ‘government’ money is taxpayers’ money. South Africa has one of the narrowest tax bases in the world, with less than 25% of the population registered as taxpayers. Of those, less than half actually pay tax. Roughly 2% of the population pay over 50% of total tax collection. Not to mention VAT and other taxes on expenditure.

Might I ask why? Is this is a mistake, or some snowflake objecting to the truth about ‘democracy’ in South Africa?

[Author]

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