Africa's premier airline heads south, fast. “I felt like a bum on the side of the road opening my tin of cold tuna and beans,” said one passenger of her flight nearly three weeks ago.
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SAA's "shocking" lack of control and concern
By IAG | May 11th, 2007 | Posted in american express, SAA, south africa | No CommentsSAA's blank check is going away
By IAG | April 5th, 2007 | Posted in SAA | No CommentsIn a positive sign that South Africa is fast realizing the idea of a government owned airline makes no sense, SAA has been sent a "confidential letter". Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin wrote that SAA "cannot and will not be supported at all costs."
This is great news for airline startups in South Africa that have been trying to get a level playing field. Moreover, a freer market will generate jobs in a country in need to many more jobs. State enterprises simply are not effective job creators no matter what the politicians say. In a trade off between crazy job creation at the expense of taxpayer burden, the latter deserves better treatment.
Witness Europe's experience in this matter. Protecting the taxpayer invariably ensures a rising tide that lifts the whole economy.
SAA's blank check is going away
By IAG | April 5th, 2007 | Posted in SAA | 1 CommentIn a positive sign that South Africa is fast realizing the idea of a government owned airline makes no sense, SAA has been sent a "confidential letter". Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin wrote that SAA "cannot and will not be supported at all costs."
This is great news for airline startups in South Africa that have been trying to get a level playing field. Moreover, a freer market will generate jobs in a country in need to many more jobs. State enterprises simply are not effective job creators no matter what the politicians say. In a trade off between crazy job creation at the expense of taxpayer burden, the latter deserves better treatment.
Witness Europe's experience in this matter. Protecting the taxpayer invariably ensures a rising tide that lifts the whole economy.
Kulula demonstrates its sense of humor
By IAG | March 19th, 2007 | Posted in kulula, mango, SAA | No CommentsSouth African LCC, Kulula has offered to host a party for its government owned competitor, Mango. The latter is owned by national carrier SAA. All Mango has to do is make a profit. Kulula is owned by Comair.
In other news, SAA's Chicago service has been delayed by a dearth of planes. The airline is apparently looking at taking over Thai Airways' A340-500s.
Kulula demonstrates its sense of humor
By IAG | March 19th, 2007 | Posted in kulula, mango, SAA | 1 CommentSouth African LCC, Kulula has offered to host a party for its government owned competitor, Mango. The latter is owned by national carrier SAA. All Mango has to do is make a profit. Kulula is owned by Comair.
In other news, SAA's Chicago service has been delayed by a dearth of planes. The airline is apparently looking at taking over Thai Airways' A340-500s.
Thai Airways seems to blame loss on Airbus
By IAG | March 14th, 2007 | Posted in a340, airbus, SAA, thailand | 1 CommentThis is amazing reading – link – the airline's management seems to be blaming Airbus' A340-500 for its huge loss. Further down in the story you see this – "The committee questioned whether it was commercially sound to fly Airbus A340-500 and Airbus A340-600 aircrafts on the two loss-making routes as they were extremely energy inefficient." Ouch.
Notice how the blame game starts. The planes were ordered under previous administration, so blame them. Rather than face up to reality, Thai's managers are fearful about large amounts of the airline's shares moving into foreign hands. This is amazing because instead of dealing with the losses head on, the airline's president Apinan Sumanaseni is only concerned he might lose his job under new owners. Given the way the airline has been run, new owners would do the company a favor by changing managers.
So playing the xenophobia card about foreigners is supposed to make the losses go away? There are strong rumors that the A340-500 fleet has been sold to South African Airways – another well run airline (joke). SAA could use the A340-500's long legs to reach the USA non-stop even though Johannesburg is very hot and very high. Cutting the Africa tech-stops will likely save a lot of money and over an hour.
But the plane does have issues with capacity. It has not lived up to its promise of long range flights with about 300 seats. If the rumor of the trade is true, SAA has likely done a "steal" of a deal. One cannot blame them for that. South Africa is experiencing a travel boom and the 747-400s are often too large for US routes but great for London year round. (Johannesburg-London traffic is equal to Singapore-London) If SAA can install over 250 seats on the A340-500s and manage JNB-ORD non-stop, they might be on to something since the capital cost of plane is likely severely discounted.
Thai Airways seems to blame loss on Airbus
By IAG | March 14th, 2007 | Posted in a340, airbus, SAA, thailand | 1 CommentThis is amazing reading – link – the airline's management seems to be blaming Airbus' A340-500 for its huge loss. Further down in the story you see this – "The committee questioned whether it was commercially sound to fly Airbus A340-500 and Airbus A340-600 aircrafts on the two loss-making routes as they were extremely energy inefficient." Ouch.
Notice how the blame game starts. The planes were ordered under previous administration, so blame them. Rather than face up to reality, Thai's managers are fearful about large amounts of the airline's shares moving into foreign hands. This is amazing because instead of dealing with the losses head on, the airline's president Apinan Sumanaseni is only concerned he might lose his job under new owners. Given the way the airline has been run, new owners would do the company a favor by changing managers.
So playing the xenophobia card about foreigners is supposed to make the losses go away? There are strong rumors that the A340-500 fleet has been sold to South African Airways – another well run airline (joke). SAA could use the A340-500's long legs to reach the USA non-stop even though Johannesburg is very hot and very high. Cutting the Africa tech-stops will likely save a lot of money and over an hour.
But the plane does have issues with capacity. It has not lived up to its promise of long range flights with about 300 seats. If the rumor of the trade is true, SAA has likely done a "steal" of a deal. One cannot blame them for that. South Africa is experiencing a travel boom and the 747-400s are often too large for US routes but great for London year round. (Johannesburg-London traffic is equal to Singapore-London) If SAA can install over 250 seats on the A340-500s and manage JNB-ORD non-stop, they might be on to something since the capital cost of plane is likely severely discounted.
