As skyvan said, we are all entitled to an opinion, so here's mine. Up until yesterday, the only "facts" of the matter were those put out by SAA. I know the victor gets to write the history books, but perhaps a little bit of honesty would not go amiss here.
As jumbo says, SAA led the management of Sun Air up the garden path with promises (mentioned by jumbo) that were just too good to believe. Perhaps management was naive to believe them, but perhaps they never considered possible the events that ensued. SAA was the instigator of a vicious price war that sparked an anti-competitive court case against it by Sun Air, Comair and Nationwide. Sun Air had up until this year always returned a profit, but this price war dragged on for nine months, and Sun Air suffered. SAA showed interest in an equity agreement with Sun Air, but was obviously not going to get into bed with a company that was sueing it. Sun Air withdrew from the court case and SAA got three months exclusivity in which to have a look at Sun Air. This also served to keep the other suitor, Virgin, out of the picture.
SAA decided to buy Sun Air out, and within minutes shut it down. Rethabile, who had incompetently attempted to run Sun Air, had sold the staff down the river. They have apparently made a tidy profit from this deal.
The mythical rescuer, the magical Mr SAA, is not helping all of the Sun Air pax. Only gold and silver aireward members are having their tickets honoured, the rest must go on standby for flights that are totally overbooked. Apparently SAA was going to put on extra flights to cater for the additional pax; there was little evidence of this. And why not help them? As they can no longer fly Sun Air, these frequent flyers will be a welcome boost to an airline which could really give lessons on making a loss!
I agree that it was all just good old hard business from CA at SAA, and if you are an SAA employee, to be applauded. The almost 800 employees of Sun Air who have nothing more than promises at this stage, it is a little more difficult to swallow. As far as jobs for staff go, the only ones who seem to be in luck are the cabin attendants, as they are to be interviewed. Once again, why not? Sun Air's cabin crew were a vital ingredient in making it the best domestic carrier for so many years in a row. Also, by giving these staff one month contracts, doesn't it take them out of the loop nicely if the liquidation does not go through.
I'm sure SAA will attempt to put the entire situation in as favourable a light (to it) as possible. It would seem though, that the press is slowly waking up, as more unbiased pieces have started appearing since yesterday.
Make no mistake, it is only a matter of time before the whole truth of the matter comes out, and I think it is going to be a tale of double-dealing and back-stabbing to rival "Dallas".
[This message has been edited by Banoi (edited 20 August 1999).]