South African Airways hiring / expanding this year?
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Where they send me
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Deskjockey, what's up at SAA? Heard the cafetaria and coffee shop at HQ have closed, managers have had their cellphones taken away, all hiring is on hold, Chicago route has been canned, Cargo has a senior executive suspended and there are 30 odd foreign consultants on their way to SAA to help the CEO figure out how badly he and his executive team have screwed up the airline?
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"30 odd foreign consultants on their way to SAA to help the CEO figure out how badly he and his executive team have screwed up the airline?"
If that is true its a disgrace. Consultants are idiots you pay to give you bad advice you couldn't have thought of your self.
Wasn't there a CEO in the late 80's with the surname Moolman, apparently we was awesome the best SAA have had, so I have heard from some staff.
Their CEO needs to go, SAA don't seem to have a cash flow problem they have a management problem. Their ballooning lease agreements kill them, their appointment of people with no airline experience, it all comes to a pretty drastic bottle neck of failures that will for the next few years continue to plague the airline as agreements are signed now will have to be re-drawn if SAA ever finds decent management.
SAA needs to drive costs down and things like no petrol cards, unless everybody had one is a waste of time, there must be more pressing issues like lease agreements, rotation.
DeskJockey and by the way some of SA's most lean and profitable companies give coffee with plastic spoons, serve Ricoffy, it isn't unheard of but after seeing Khaya's lavish lifestyle for so many years I doubt he is truly curtailing his expenses but rather not getting caught.
If that is true its a disgrace. Consultants are idiots you pay to give you bad advice you couldn't have thought of your self.
Wasn't there a CEO in the late 80's with the surname Moolman, apparently we was awesome the best SAA have had, so I have heard from some staff.
Their CEO needs to go, SAA don't seem to have a cash flow problem they have a management problem. Their ballooning lease agreements kill them, their appointment of people with no airline experience, it all comes to a pretty drastic bottle neck of failures that will for the next few years continue to plague the airline as agreements are signed now will have to be re-drawn if SAA ever finds decent management.
SAA needs to drive costs down and things like no petrol cards, unless everybody had one is a waste of time, there must be more pressing issues like lease agreements, rotation.
DeskJockey and by the way some of SA's most lean and profitable companies give coffee with plastic spoons, serve Ricoffy, it isn't unheard of but after seeing Khaya's lavish lifestyle for so many years I doubt he is truly curtailing his expenses but rather not getting caught.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
DJ I see your point, I just hope we dont miss the boat, our competition are taking more and more market share, and I dont think its because of clever marketing on there side I think its because there is a gap and an increasing market that SAA are failing to fill, take the cargo section for example, just count the cargo aircraft lines up on Delta ramp, they all seem to be making a killing but SAA cant seem to, the more ground we loose the harder it is going to be to get it back.
For the record I dont see why everyone is so hard on Khaya, he is dealing with policies and decisions all made before his time, he is not making these descisions alone he has some highly qualified people giving good advice, for years everyone has said the company has far too many staff and too little revenue, he seems to be the only one trying to fix this, the company has made a loss way before Khaya came along, it seems the poor guy cant win, some complaining there is no airline experience in management, others complaining about consultants (who presumably do have experience), maybe we should give the guy a chance.
For the record I dont see why everyone is so hard on Khaya, he is dealing with policies and decisions all made before his time, he is not making these descisions alone he has some highly qualified people giving good advice, for years everyone has said the company has far too many staff and too little revenue, he seems to be the only one trying to fix this, the company has made a loss way before Khaya came along, it seems the poor guy cant win, some complaining there is no airline experience in management, others complaining about consultants (who presumably do have experience), maybe we should give the guy a chance.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: RH Down Wind
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From the peanut gallery......
Very few state funded companies have cash flow problems. SAA has the best chance of survival if they would start hiring managers who had the slightest management ability. I don't believe a turn around is imminent until you see a few fat cats roll, hopefully soon, but Africa's history of holding on to unproductive power seeking heads does not bode well for the company!
Very few state funded companies have cash flow problems. SAA has the best chance of survival if they would start hiring managers who had the slightest management ability. I don't believe a turn around is imminent until you see a few fat cats roll, hopefully soon, but Africa's history of holding on to unproductive power seeking heads does not bode well for the company!
Join Date: May 2005
Location: South Africa
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fluffyfan, as the old saying goes, a fish rots from the head down, and if you think there's time to give Khaya a chance then you have missed all the indicators telling you what the state of your employer is. Why do you think SAA has just asked the government for a R4 billion recap? Because they are running out of money!! The latest rumour doing the rounds at SAA is that it is only the 2010 World Cup that is stopping governement shutting down SAA.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
jbayfan, what indications are you talking about? SAA has been bailed out by the government since it started decades ago (one of the oldest airlines), SAA has always been running out of money, Why? because its always been a political tool, in the old days SAA used to fly with 10 people on board a Classic to Israel round the bulge, what has Khaya done that has everyone calling for his head, it will take time to fix the Chaos, admittedly he does not help his reputation by taking helicopters to work, but lets look at what he has done so far, started Mango, which is giving the LCC a headache, and now he is trying to fix the structure, I reserve comment till I see the results, the last two bosses were horrific, Colman sold all the assets did some fancy footwork and left with half the farm, the last clown bet the rest of the farm on the Rand/Dollar exchange rate.
You may be right about 2010 but I sincerely doubt it, Air Zimbabwe continues to operate to this day with nothing? Why? because its a political tool. Do you ever think the Government will give up SAA? I don’t. I think privatisation is the way to go eventually aka British Airways but at this point who wants to buy and airline that is incapable of making a profit. I doubt the Government will ever bin SAA, firstly it will kill the economy, thousands of PD people will loose there jobs, 200 odd PD pilots as well as 600 whiteys will have no job (just the pilots alone in terms of tax using the average salary of a pilot who has been at SAA 10 years thats approx 320 million in lost revenue for sars), they will promptly leave for greener pastures with a huge pilot shortage in the rest of the world they will have no problem finding new jobs, and this while the goverment it seriously worried about a skills shortage, in the mean time rich white owned airlines will slowly fill the gap with old equipment and prosper, how on earth do you expect the parliamentarians and ANC top dogs to travel with no State Airline? Kulula? I don’t think so, you need to witness Zuma taking a trip to Durban, its an eye opener.
You may be right about 2010 but I sincerely doubt it, Air Zimbabwe continues to operate to this day with nothing? Why? because its a political tool. Do you ever think the Government will give up SAA? I don’t. I think privatisation is the way to go eventually aka British Airways but at this point who wants to buy and airline that is incapable of making a profit. I doubt the Government will ever bin SAA, firstly it will kill the economy, thousands of PD people will loose there jobs, 200 odd PD pilots as well as 600 whiteys will have no job (just the pilots alone in terms of tax using the average salary of a pilot who has been at SAA 10 years thats approx 320 million in lost revenue for sars), they will promptly leave for greener pastures with a huge pilot shortage in the rest of the world they will have no problem finding new jobs, and this while the goverment it seriously worried about a skills shortage, in the mean time rich white owned airlines will slowly fill the gap with old equipment and prosper, how on earth do you expect the parliamentarians and ANC top dogs to travel with no State Airline? Kulula? I don’t think so, you need to witness Zuma taking a trip to Durban, its an eye opener.
Last edited by fluffyfan; 23rd Feb 2007 at 06:51.
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: South Africa
Posts: 510
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I dont see why everyone is so hard on Khaya, he is dealing with policies and decisions all made before his time,
he is not making these descisions alone he has some highly qualified people giving good advice
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 417
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fluffy is right, there is a massive legacy to deal with here in terms of the last 3 CEO's. But hard times he took the job so now its his baby. It was actually the first joker who cleared out all the competent management- when the American got there he filled the gaps with Bain guys- then he left and the next chap was forced to use the window dressers. So what has Khaya got left- most of the window dressers have been shown their limitations and have been forced to move on, for the last year or so most of the promotions have been given to people who are functionally competent in their job- the very top jobs will always be political appointees but that’s life in the parastatal environment……then again they also seem to be able to arrange some fairly big cheques from Trevor so they have their uses!
The cost cutting drive (on the BIG issues) is in full swing and is yielding positive results- that will save the company money on a day to day basis going forward- the cell phone thing is just scratching the surface and is a bit of a sideshow from the core stuff. Right now there are several project teams working on the implementation of our new strategy- these teams are made up of full time managers as well as consultants in specialist areas where a lack of competency has been defined. These consultants have been chosen for their implementation track record with some very big carriers globally who have been in a similar position to us.
On Chicago, United are trying to bully us into a corner with their other ally in STAR, the meeting on the code share discussions have been less than cordial and we have called their bluff-if we don’t get what we believe is fair we walk away, which ,given the arrogance shown by them to date, is exactly what we will do. Fortunately we have a few other options as this situation has been brewing for the last few months and discussions have been held with 2 other carriers in the region. The net effect of this would be to push or opening of the 3rd US gateway back by 3 months- obviously this would not be Chicago
The cost cutting drive (on the BIG issues) is in full swing and is yielding positive results- that will save the company money on a day to day basis going forward- the cell phone thing is just scratching the surface and is a bit of a sideshow from the core stuff. Right now there are several project teams working on the implementation of our new strategy- these teams are made up of full time managers as well as consultants in specialist areas where a lack of competency has been defined. These consultants have been chosen for their implementation track record with some very big carriers globally who have been in a similar position to us.
On Chicago, United are trying to bully us into a corner with their other ally in STAR, the meeting on the code share discussions have been less than cordial and we have called their bluff-if we don’t get what we believe is fair we walk away, which ,given the arrogance shown by them to date, is exactly what we will do. Fortunately we have a few other options as this situation has been brewing for the last few months and discussions have been held with 2 other carriers in the region. The net effect of this would be to push or opening of the 3rd US gateway back by 3 months- obviously this would not be Chicago
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Holding somewhere.....
Posts: 376
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
[QUOTNo more recruitment till further notice...message from HR and it applies across the board.E][/QUOTE]
Strange to hear after hearing that a colleague of mine received a call from SAA with a starting date within the last 24hrs.......!!!!
Ummmmmmmmmmm!
Strange to hear after hearing that a colleague of mine received a call from SAA with a starting date within the last 24hrs.......!!!!
Ummmmmmmmmmm!
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"Right now there are several project teams working on the implementation of our new strategy-" What happened to the old one?
DeskJockey again you know sweet diddly squat, you said the memo was circulated when? Yet this guy didn't have a firm offer till they called him within the last 24hours to say he has the job.
So you say no more hiring then suddendly woops a guy gets offered a job?
I smell BS.
DeskJockey again you know sweet diddly squat, you said the memo was circulated when? Yet this guy didn't have a firm offer till they called him within the last 24hours to say he has the job.
So you say no more hiring then suddendly woops a guy gets offered a job?
I smell BS.
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: #37 for Start
Posts: 460
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In some corridors it was whispered that if the call comes this month, it will be On or Before 6th March 2007
But there seems to be "permanent" uncertainty wrt what the Boss Man's next move will be...
But there seems to be "permanent" uncertainty wrt what the Boss Man's next move will be...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: NorthWest of JSV of course!
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So does anyone have any concrete info, as to: how many received a call, did ANYONE actually get a call, where are they from, and how many are cadets? 
Only concrete info I have is that on the 340 fleet, LOTS more people required, ... and soon!
Only concrete info I have is that on the 340 fleet, LOTS more people required, ... and soon!
Join Date: May 2005
Location: South Africa
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sir OFTR, you are right about SAA wanting to place pilots on contract, but not because they don't need them. In fact, SAA is desperately short of pilots and over the December holiday period SAA could not crew over 200 flights that would have been in the system. Hence destinations like George were not serviced by SAA.
The true story, and not rumour, is that SAA signed an agreement to increase the retirement age for pilots at SAA to 63 as of September 2005. Part of this agreement included a provision that for the first 3 years, pilots over 60 could either fly as narrow-body Captains or as wide-body FO's. In addition, the agreement stipulated that contracts and 'part-time work for part-time pay' would be introduced to absorb the impact of keeping pilots over 60. This provision was mainly for the protection of FO and junior Captain advancement. If these provisions did not absorb the impact of the over 60 pilots, then they would be carried surplus to requirement.
Being as incompetent as SAA management is, they did not implement any contracts or part-time work and, because most of the over 60 pilots opted to move to the right seat on the wide-body fleets, they started to use these pilots and most senior FO's as both P2 and P3 pilots. By doing this, they did not hold up many commands but they did start to absorb the cost of the over 60 pilots by using them as an alternative to new-hire pilots i.e. P3 flying. SAAPA, the SAA pilot's union, filed a dispute with SAA over their non-compliance with the retirement age agreement and SAA then sat down to work out what the surplus to requirement clause amounted to and landed up being short of around 82 pilots, specifically new-hire pilots. Part of the dispute filed by SAAPA includes enforcing the contracts and part-time work provision and hence SAA's desire to find contracts for its more senior pilots. In addition, by being forced to carry all of the over 60 pilots surplus, and at the rate pilots at SAA are going over 60, SAA will be lumbered with a surplus salary bill of well over R50 million per year. However, for every pilot that SAA places on contract or for every two on part-time work, SAA can then reduce their surplus to requirement pilot total by that number of pilots. It is therefore very much in SAA's interest to place as many pilots on contract or part-time work as possible.
The true story, and not rumour, is that SAA signed an agreement to increase the retirement age for pilots at SAA to 63 as of September 2005. Part of this agreement included a provision that for the first 3 years, pilots over 60 could either fly as narrow-body Captains or as wide-body FO's. In addition, the agreement stipulated that contracts and 'part-time work for part-time pay' would be introduced to absorb the impact of keeping pilots over 60. This provision was mainly for the protection of FO and junior Captain advancement. If these provisions did not absorb the impact of the over 60 pilots, then they would be carried surplus to requirement.
Being as incompetent as SAA management is, they did not implement any contracts or part-time work and, because most of the over 60 pilots opted to move to the right seat on the wide-body fleets, they started to use these pilots and most senior FO's as both P2 and P3 pilots. By doing this, they did not hold up many commands but they did start to absorb the cost of the over 60 pilots by using them as an alternative to new-hire pilots i.e. P3 flying. SAAPA, the SAA pilot's union, filed a dispute with SAA over their non-compliance with the retirement age agreement and SAA then sat down to work out what the surplus to requirement clause amounted to and landed up being short of around 82 pilots, specifically new-hire pilots. Part of the dispute filed by SAAPA includes enforcing the contracts and part-time work provision and hence SAA's desire to find contracts for its more senior pilots. In addition, by being forced to carry all of the over 60 pilots surplus, and at the rate pilots at SAA are going over 60, SAA will be lumbered with a surplus salary bill of well over R50 million per year. However, for every pilot that SAA places on contract or for every two on part-time work, SAA can then reduce their surplus to requirement pilot total by that number of pilots. It is therefore very much in SAA's interest to place as many pilots on contract or part-time work as possible.
Are the rest retiring?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cape town south africa
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Is it saa
Hi i know this not ther perfect place to ask this question!Dont want to create a topic for my question would be stupid.I heard that there is a airline looking for cabin crew its a sa based airline.They looking for crew to do long haul flights.The add was in the star i did not see the add.Maybe some one saw it an know bit more?Is it saa?
