South African Airways' new structure is built on the guiding principles of profit, patronage and people, says chief executive officer Khaya Ngqula.
He told members of parliament serving on the public enterprises portfolio committee on Wednesday that the days of loss-making by the state-owned entity were over.
He said the entity - which is expected to release financial results in two weeks - "will not lose another R8bn again."
SAA reported a loss of over R8bn in the 2003/04 financial year, up from a loss of just over R6bn in the previous financial year. The entity slipped into an operating loss in the 2001/02 financial year when it reported a R870m.
Acknowledging a record of losses, he told MPs that from April to September last year the entity went back into the black - notching up a R365m profit.
Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin recently hinted - at the World Economic Forum's African Economic Summit in Cape Town - that SAA would report improved financial results for the 2004/05 financial year.
He acknowledged it still had a "weak" balance sheet, but said he was smiling.
Ngqula said if his team - which took over from André Viljoen last year - could not turn SAA around, "you have every right to ask us to walk".
He said the team had created "full transparency on roles and responsibilities." It had also established clear accountabilities and was avoiding duplication of responsibilities.
"We have consolidated all customer service functions in a dedicated unit to provide consistent excellence in service delivery," he said.
Referring to the entity's exit from the umbrella parastatal Transnet, he said a draft SAA Bill had been completed, legal and tax due diligence had been carried out and pension fund related obligations had largely been quantified.
The government news agency BuaNews reported Ngqula as citing Africa as the most profitable area of SAA's business.
He was reported as saying that the airline intended to invest more on the continent, by, for example, providing business lounges at key African airports.
A risk management unit has been established, as well as an internal audit department to watch the airline's revenue income of R17bn a year, the CEO said.
Next month, new routes to Washington DC, Livingstone and Zanzibar were being launched. (As if that will help) :o
Daily flights to Accra (they are never full why try ?) , Lagos and Luanda were being eyed, and the airline planned to re-establish the Johannesburg-Bangkok route, which will also move the airline closer to the Chinese market.
BuaNews, meanwhile reports that the airline is to cut costs without retrenching any of its 11 000 employees.
Instead, staff will be
retrained to provide "consistent, high-quality service throughout the travel experience", according to Ngqula.