Reading threads like this and others about SAA it seems there is a common feeling that if SAA would just dissapear then the other carriers would just make such a great sucess of themselves we would be just such a happy country.
A question, who would fill the void? Domestically maybe things would be ok but do you think Comair/Nationwide/1Time will be able stand up to the likes of Virgin/BA/Lufhansa/Emirates etc etc-on the international stage? forget it! they would be slaughtered. I know this will offend all sorts of sensibilities but they just dont have the know how to pull it off. Im not referring to the operation itself- its all the little things that that bite you. By the time these guys have paid all their school fees they would be long out of business.
SAA's role is a strategic one- its mere presence keeps other carriers serving a route remain competitive and thereby the prices passengers pay should reflect that. Would that Virgin ticket to London be that cheap if they dint compete with SAA?
So the point to all this- dont wish SAA away- wish that it could be privatised and in so doing enable itself to shake off the eneficiencies that come from being a state owned enterprize. BA was in exactly the same position and the look how it has performed since it was privatised.