The end of the road for South African Airways

rpm said:
The end of the road for SAA

South African Airways business rescue practitioners – Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana – have tabled a proposal to terminate the entire workforce of the airline by the end of April.
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Where can I get the odd 20 years of saa-handouts back I had to pay?
 
It took the business rescue practitioners, who do not have political mandates to fulfill as their primary objective, to do the obvious, logical thing, namely to put SAA out of its misery once and for all.

Who knows, maybe a Phoenix may be reborn out the ashes. A lean, fit for purpose Phoenix. And no, Dudu, you won;t be part of it
 
I would've thought they'd spin off Mango as a going concern and perhaps kept 4 or 5 key international routes...
 
quovadis said:
I would've thought they'd spin off Mango as a going concern and perhaps kept 4 or 5 key international routes...
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I'm also not sure.. I know all SAA staff were given the notice but thought Mango was being spun out.. I guess it depends on what "Mango" owns and if anyone wants to buy it.. keep in mind it was doing ok. This and the technical servicing team will likely be spun into a new business if a suitable buyer is found with the deep pockets needed.

SAA & SA Express though.. bye bye.

PS.

SA Express is gonna make travel into some African countries a bit trickier and hopefully another airline takes its routes up. Travel into Southern Africa is always pricey and timing flights was always sucky.
 
If the whole airline industry is crumbling because of COVID-19, what is the likely-hood that other airline operators will buy up SAA assets at anything close to what they are worth? SAA should have been put to rest months ago before all the useless bailouts and the current pandemic killed the value of their assets.
 
The sooner the assets land up in the hands of more capable owners the better for everyone involved.

Government is by nature a very poor manager of any business, and the moment SAA's coercive monopoly was ended (remember Flitestar?), the writing was on the wall.

Since the 1970s (yes, long before the ANC government) SAA has been a lossmaker requiring massive bailouts from its shareholder, who simply passed the expense on to the taxpayer.

I'm heartbroken for the many pilots and aviation professionals who've sunk their lives into the airline.

As a taxpayer and citizen who execrates state ownership of and meddling In business, I am relieved.

I wish one could wave a magic wand to get the State out of all the other business they run with ruthless monopoly power, from electricity generation and distribution to mail delivery and the dozens of other businesses they mismanage while banning competititon.
 
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system32 said:
Rather spend the taxpayer money or feeding our poor people.
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10/10 for compassion. 0/10 for helping people stand on their own two feet. It's a recipe for disaster, especially for those who become dependants on the State.

The road to hell is paved, etc.

Still, I suspect the economic catastrophe following lockdown will make your wish come true. But only for as long as there are taxpayers to milk.
 
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