South African Airways

Or is it just normal for this time of year?

No, but regards to South African Airways, the one good thing that they've done post-COVID and post their restart is they've been very disciplined when it comes to their route network planning.

They've not gone into many long-haul markets.

They don't

And in both cases, the port authority case, And in the rail infrastructure case, it's complicated.

But in order for people to understand how it would work, if you imagine yourself a life where, for instance, African Airways and AXA was the same company, it's putting them apart.

The SAA becomes the operator that can now compete with other operators.

And AXA becomes something like what the port authority should be.

One of the most important stories we discussed this week was what's happening at SAA and the fact that some workers received their salaries late, salaries were paid in a staggered way, in other words, not in the usual way, and how and why that happened.

MP Lord Lamini is the executive for Group Corporate Affairs at South African Airways.

He explained what, in his view, is going on at SAA at the moment.

Thank you so much, Stephen, and good evening to your listeners.

And I must say and confirm to you now that they are willing and interested in supporting us.

Because we have a bankable strategy, they can see where we are going.

There is future in South African Airways.

This company is open for business.

The airline, FlySafe Air, has to compete against Lyft.

It competes against SAA.

It competes against Semeo and Airlink.

So there's not a lot of room for it to set prices.

in terms of total seat supply.

So, yeah, they are the dominant force in the market.

But the other day, I booked a flight from Cape Town to Joburg, and I found, actually, much to my concern, that SAA was the cheapest.

So they haven't got the ability to just randomly set prices here.

Thank you so much, Nosipo, and good evening to your listeners.

I guess just to pick up, of course, on the issue around the salaries, Bilo, because SAA has staggered salary payments for two consecutive months now.

But help us understand what exactly is happening with the airline's cash flow and how concerned should employees be about its financial position?

I think, let me just contextualize it and say that the liquidity pressures that you are experiencing as an airline emanate from the global aviation pressures that all airlines are going through as a result of the impact of the geopolitics that happened, especially in the Middle East, that caused the sharp rising cost, especially of aviation, if you will.

So the impact has only been on pilots as well as management.

So I needed to actually clarify that as well.

And I guess the big question then, Bilo, that most people will have on their minds is given the salary delays and the pressure on cash flow, Is SAA essentially going back to government for additional financial support? How much money does the airline need to keep operating comfortably, given the pressures that you outlined? And what is the plan then to ensure that it can fund itself without repeatedly relying on the state?

I think I can, let me just answer the latter part of your first question around the staff, should they be concerned.