SAA solvent & ready to fly in September, Parliament hears
South African Airways (SAA) has assured Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises that it will be up and running in September.
With employees reduced from over 4000 to 800 employees during the business rescue process, CEO Thomas Kgokolo said they are rebranding.
Kgokolo, his team, and the airline’s board briefed the committee on Wednesday.
The airline has paid back R4.1 billion of its debt and has R1.3 billion plus interested outstanding.
"The outcomes of this particular business rescue process have enabled us to restructure both the organisation and the balance sheet so that it can then be what we call a solvent balance sheet,” said Kgokolo.
“The headcount was reduced significantly, we have moved from over 4000 to just under 1000 employees to ensure we keep the cost base down and we are able to use the employees we have for the restart to take place.”
He said there were challenges with getting the remainder of the R10.5 billion bailout approved by the Treasury.
"The challenge we have to highlight is the funding and ensuring that it is received timeously from the fiscus. And I think we will engage more to ensure that all the funding for August 2022 and August 2023 are received on time to ensure we meet our obligations as per the business rescue plan," he added.
The airline will fly with a reduced number of flights and routes to accommodate its new operational plan and structure.
"The intention is to bring a refreshed and new SAA, but there are constraints and timelines we need to observe. For example, there are certain things we couldn't do in the short-term, but we are focused on customer excellence and some of the low hanging fruits within the brand space that we can then utilise to get back into the market, while in the background we are looking at the bigger redesign of SAA which will come later," said Kgololo
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