OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 4.30pm.
SOUTH African Airway’s newly-appointed chief executive officer Coleman Andrews on Monday described the airline on June 15 this year as in a “very, very fragile” position, in desperate need of a clear and compelling vision of what its future could be.
Speaking before the National Assembly’s environment and tourism portfolio committee, Andrews outlined the key problems SAA’s business section over the last 15 to 16 months, despite the fact that 80% of its passengers are business travellers; “rudimentary” operating systems which are not at the levels required by a competitive international airline; spiralling costs; and operating non-viable routes. Andrews also said that another major problem is the excessively high price at which SAA has to buy its fuel — amounting to a R80-million a year.
“[SAA] is required to pay fuel prices which by any world standard are dramatically above market rates.” On a lighter note, Andrews said that SAA’s entire flight deck and cockpit crews are “ranked among the very best in Asia, Europe or the United States”. The airline also has a high technical proficiency, although costs in this area are too high, he said.