Hello Bakela.
I have often been tempted to write something in answer to your continued slagging of SAA, but realised that the obvious resentment you feel, and freely express, have a deep-rooted cause, and my comments would probably be wasted.
However, it is now time.
You profess to have been a senior manager at SAA. A Flying Type senior manager? I have my doubts, as your comments show but a shallow understanding of the SAA situation, and the aviation industry as whole.
If you were really a senior manager at SAA, you would clearly understand the way a government organisation is run. You would understand that the hedging losses experienced by SAA and reflected in the financial statements were a consequence of a Transnet (i.e. Government) decision to base future costs and earnings on a Rand at about R14. Some confidence in the economy shown by the government - but that is another story. If the government tells you to hedge at a certain rate, you do so if you are owned by them!
Had the rand gone to R15 to the dollar, SAA would have made a handsome profit and the government and all the managers would have been patting themselves on the back. But it did not, and here we are with SAA being blamed for something it had nothing to do with.
Right, that out of the way.
If you were really a manager, you would clearly understand the rationale behind the purchase or lease of a new fleet of aircraft. Airbus supplied SAA with a really good deal, well beyond what Boeing could supply. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, there were a large number of kickbacks given to the government to sugar the deal. The B747 Classics and the B737-200s, while doing a good job, were beyond their economical shelf life, and in need of replacement. For info, an A340-600 burns about 25 tons less gas on a JNB to HKG sector, and carries about 30 tons more payload. On a full flight, that will translate to almost R500 000 more profit on a round trip as compared to a Classic or -400. And, believe me, the flights are full. Work that out over a year and see what you get. A new aircraft, mate.
If you were a manager, you would understand that Operating Profit translates to health of the company. Yes, the balance sheet is incredibly poor, but have a look at operating profit to get an idea of how the actual operations of the airline are functioning.
If the government says that SAA must fly over the Union Buildings during the inauguration ceremony, or do a fly past of a sports stadium, then SAA does it. How pays the costs? SAA does. Are you blaming SAA for this?
If you were a manager , you would know that SAA does not have all the say in where it operates to. An economically challenged route into Africa, for example, does not make sense, but if the government is intent on opening up tourist and trade markets, then SAA has to go there. Who covers the cost? Guess. If the policy of the government of the day is to put a very expensive cadet pilot scheme into place, and train a whole heap of designated group pilots for the good of the country, who do you suppose covers the costs. If you were a manager, you would know!
Operationally, SAA is sound. Fortunately the cost-cutting measures have not yet affected the training of the crews nor the flight operations of the company. I say yet, as the costs and resources associated with training are enormous, and may yet be the target of future austerity measures. Until then ….
So, Bakela, I resent your continual lambasting of SAA as a whole. You obviously have a grudge against the company and/or its management or employees (or all of the above). Perhaps you did not succeed in the organisation? Perhaps, if you were a flying type, you could not make the grade?
In any event, PPrune encourages outspokenness, and this is why it is so successful. But verbal pollution is bad for the overall tone of the forums, and I see your name on every forum in the African Aviation group, and just about ever posting tells everyone how you would rather walk than fly SAA. Great, I am really happy for you. Judging by the sound of your postings, you CAN walk on water.