SA Airlink to be dumped by SAA
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SAX is not owned by SAA. It belongs to Transnet, the same parent company of SAA. In order to originally operate on the SAA code and in SAA colours, both SAX and Airlink had signed contracts with SAA. When SAX's contract came up for renewal about a year ago, SAA chose not to renew it and is continuing with the codeshare on a month to month basis. Airlink had a 25 year contract with SAA which could be cancelled by either party with 6 month's notice. Apparently concerns about an anti-competitive investigation by the Competition Commission caused SAA to give Airlink notice. CAN ANY SAA OR AIRLINK MANAGEMENT READING THIS VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF MY INFO?
Join Date: Mar 1999
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Don't be silly, SAA management only read what is filtered by their secretaries, so they only get to read Dilbert and Hagar the Horrible!
Besides, even if they responded, how many Ppruners would actually believe them?
Besides, even if they responded, how many Ppruners would actually believe them?
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Dont know if this means anything, was hoping someone could share some light...
The Jetstream out of FACT today - the livery did not say South African Airlink but rather Swaziland Airlink.
Very interesting...
The Jetstream out of FACT today - the livery did not say South African Airlink but rather Swaziland Airlink.
Very interesting...
Paxing All Over The World
I think that you will find that partnership has been around for many moons. Someone will tell us exactly how long. It is the way to get the deal to operate into that country by sharing the operation in some areas.
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I think this whole saga is rather sad actually.
The relationship between Airlink and SAA has been mutually beneficial- SAA has manged to maintian a a presence on very thin routes- mainly the coastals, Bulawayo etc and Link have been able to make more money.
Airlink did not initiate this at all- The reason? They have no distributive mechanism to sell their inventory, they have no revenue accounting capabilty, they have no customer database, they dont have handling capabilties in a large number of the airports they serve. In otherwords as things stand now they are only half an airline. Given this why would you dump SAA? Nope, SAA is the initiator of this.
The core issue is the competitions comission- SAA have definitely mismanaged this particular relationship and are now being carefully watched. SAA appointed a chief risk officer recently- you figure the rest out.
The future of Link? I really dont think the deal is dead with SAA, it will definitely have to be rewritten with Link taking more control of issues like pricing on shared routes (HLA CPT) so as not to invoke the ire of the comission. I know that this is an issue of survival for Link and therefore they are making all sorts of moves to cover themselves- emotions are running high at the moment but I still belive their best course of action is to cut a new deal with SAA- who want to do this by the way.
BA/Comair- no chance, franchise fees are too high and you essentially have the same problems regarding growth as you do with SAA, anyway Comair wants to dump the BA brand and focus on the Kalula brand long term- Airlink does fit into this stratergy as they are a hub and spoke feeder- the LLC model only focuses on point to point.
Virgin- maybe, franchise fees again are the issue as well as the fact that all Virgin really brings is a sexy brand- all of the support services you need (see point above on revenue management, check in etc etc)are in the UK and will cost BIG bucks!!! ask Comair about this when they launched their BA franchise.
Go it alone- probabaly the cheapest option and the quickest to impliment but frought with difficulties- the biggest problem is that Airlink doesnt even know who their customers are- they all sit on SAA's Voyager database. Plus you need to go out and buy all manner of IT systems to handle all the functions SAA currently fullfil as well as recruit and train a whole host of staff etc etc.
Cool heads need to rule here, Airlink must press for a new deal with SAA. This is the only way they will remain viable long term- the alternatives reqire a lot of captital and most probably a retink of the fleet- not easy at the moment!
Last point, SAA really gains very little by kicking Airlink out, SAX are not really able to fill the gap in the alliance route network as a large number of Airlink routes are suited to the J41 and not Dash 8's so SAX would also have to go out and buy aircraft- dont think they have the appitite for this at the moment!
Its in both Airlink and SAA's interest to keep the deal alive, what is important here is that the main men at Airlink negociate their way out of this with SAA.
The relationship between Airlink and SAA has been mutually beneficial- SAA has manged to maintian a a presence on very thin routes- mainly the coastals, Bulawayo etc and Link have been able to make more money.
Airlink did not initiate this at all- The reason? They have no distributive mechanism to sell their inventory, they have no revenue accounting capabilty, they have no customer database, they dont have handling capabilties in a large number of the airports they serve. In otherwords as things stand now they are only half an airline. Given this why would you dump SAA? Nope, SAA is the initiator of this.
The core issue is the competitions comission- SAA have definitely mismanaged this particular relationship and are now being carefully watched. SAA appointed a chief risk officer recently- you figure the rest out.
The future of Link? I really dont think the deal is dead with SAA, it will definitely have to be rewritten with Link taking more control of issues like pricing on shared routes (HLA CPT) so as not to invoke the ire of the comission. I know that this is an issue of survival for Link and therefore they are making all sorts of moves to cover themselves- emotions are running high at the moment but I still belive their best course of action is to cut a new deal with SAA- who want to do this by the way.
BA/Comair- no chance, franchise fees are too high and you essentially have the same problems regarding growth as you do with SAA, anyway Comair wants to dump the BA brand and focus on the Kalula brand long term- Airlink does fit into this stratergy as they are a hub and spoke feeder- the LLC model only focuses on point to point.
Virgin- maybe, franchise fees again are the issue as well as the fact that all Virgin really brings is a sexy brand- all of the support services you need (see point above on revenue management, check in etc etc)are in the UK and will cost BIG bucks!!! ask Comair about this when they launched their BA franchise.
Go it alone- probabaly the cheapest option and the quickest to impliment but frought with difficulties- the biggest problem is that Airlink doesnt even know who their customers are- they all sit on SAA's Voyager database. Plus you need to go out and buy all manner of IT systems to handle all the functions SAA currently fullfil as well as recruit and train a whole host of staff etc etc.
Cool heads need to rule here, Airlink must press for a new deal with SAA. This is the only way they will remain viable long term- the alternatives reqire a lot of captital and most probably a retink of the fleet- not easy at the moment!
Last point, SAA really gains very little by kicking Airlink out, SAX are not really able to fill the gap in the alliance route network as a large number of Airlink routes are suited to the J41 and not Dash 8's so SAX would also have to go out and buy aircraft- dont think they have the appitite for this at the moment!
Its in both Airlink and SAA's interest to keep the deal alive, what is important here is that the main men at Airlink negociate their way out of this with SAA.
Paxing All Over The World
DJ, it almost sounds as if you are raising again the idea to merge SAX and Link? From an outsider's point of view, it makes enormous commercial sense.
I understand that the politics of this are one thing and the personalities of the owners (particularly of Link!) is another ...
I understand that the politics of this are one thing and the personalities of the owners (particularly of Link!) is another ...
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Paxboy, quite right! I think there would be huge benefits associated with such a devlopment- it would remove a lot of friction within the alliance thats for sure, Airlink and SAX have stepped on each others toes a few times- most recently with SAX going back onto the JNB MQP route. SAA cannot act as a moderator as its then accused of favoritism.
I really dont see this happening- you hit it on the head, why would certian individuals negociate themselves out of a job?? Perhaps their shareholders should take notice and move to protect their investment?
Now here is a question, if this merger were to occur which jet fleet would you keep- the CRJ's or the ERJ's? (perhaps utilizing the options Airlink has for the larger ERJ jets?) I have deliberatey left the turbo props out of the mix becuase both airlines aircraft are ideal for the routes they are used on and are thus worth keeping.
I really dont see this happening- you hit it on the head, why would certian individuals negociate themselves out of a job?? Perhaps their shareholders should take notice and move to protect their investment?
Now here is a question, if this merger were to occur which jet fleet would you keep- the CRJ's or the ERJ's? (perhaps utilizing the options Airlink has for the larger ERJ jets?) I have deliberatey left the turbo props out of the mix becuase both airlines aircraft are ideal for the routes they are used on and are thus worth keeping.
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There is no chance of a merger between SAX and Link unless Link buys SAX from Transnet. With R400 million in liabilities, why would anyone want to buy SAX?? Glad I'm not the one having to decide what to do with either airline!!
