Sorry RT – only just saw your question.
I’ve obviously touched a nerve somewhere – but to try and clarify :-
If by “you guys” you mean the hangar guys I’d guess it’s because some of them have CAA issued licence that say’s “Aircraft Maintenance Engineer”.
Fluffy gave a “price tag” whereas a lease rental has actually little to do with the “price tag” – it’s more to do with profit for Lease company / length of lease / amount of MR vs likely drawdown etc.
My impression is that SAA pilot get paid a sufficient – taking into account what they do and the conditions within the country – I did say I’ll be fascinated by the result of the survey.
I have worked with pilots from and in many countries and some I belive are overpaid whilst others underpaid and some sufficiently paid – to me the SAA guys I have dealt with seem sufficiently paid.
Personally I’m a Consultant – who used to be a Mechanic (and still have a valid Cert saying so) and a Technician (as some countries I worked in called me this) and an Engineer (s other countries called me this)
IR Pirate
The US definition of Flag carrier is
Flag operation means any scheduled operation conducted by any person operating any airplane described in paragraph (1) of this definition at the locations described in paragraph (2) of this definition:
(1) Airplanes:
(i) Turbojet-powered airplanes;
(ii) Airplanes having a passenger-seat configuration of more than 9 passenger seats, excluding each crewmember seat; or
(iii) Airplanes having a payload capacity of more than 7,500 pounds.
(2) Locations:
(i) Between any point within the State of Alaska or the State of Hawaii or any territory or possession of the United States and any point outside the State of Alaska or the State of Hawaii or any territory or possession of the United States, respectively; or
(ii) Between any point within the 48 contiguous States of the United States or the District of Columbia and any point outside the 48 contiguous States of the United States and the District of Columbia.
(iii) Between any point outside the U.S. and another point outside the U.S.
(from FAR 119)
So they have more than one Flag carrier.
A simpler version is “the National Airline” – ie BA is the UK’s Flag carrier – I belive SA needs an International Airline and for better or worse right now SAA is it – it gives the Country a world wide presence and should be a symbol of how good the Country is (not saying all are doing this well) – ignoring status symbols etc a Country with no Flag carrier is just too dependant on others.
BTW – I know SAA isn’t the only International airline we have – but it’s the one with the routes.