SAA set to proceed with layoffs as liquidation looms

Business Rescue Practitioners (BRP) Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana are set to proceed with plans to lay-off South African Airways' entire workforce following the government's announcement last week that it would no longer provide funding to the bankrupt carrier.

In their proposal to SAA's labour unions, the BRPs said that under the current circumstances, the airline is unlikely to now be rescued. As such, it will offer all 4,700 staff severance packages wherein employees will be given one week's pay for each year of service. However, the overall pay-out will depend on the successful disposal of assets such as real estate among others.
The Department of Public Enterprises, which is tasked with overseeing the carrier on behalf of the government, has since said in a statement that no agreements have been concluded and that talks between the BRPs and unions will continue on Monday, April 20.
Last week, Pravin Gordhan, who heads the DPE, told the BRPs that government would no longer underpin SAA's debts stating unequivocally that it would no longer support the following financing requirements:
an extension of the foreign currency borrowing limit to permit foreign financing of the business rescue plan;
a care and maintenance budget as proposed by the business rescue practitioners;
provide additional funding to sustain the business rescue process;
provide lending guarantees in respect of the business rescue process.It advised the BRPs to therefore "consider their options within their available resources".
SAA has been grounded since late March when the government declared a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Aside from the pandemic's impact, SAA has suffered from years of poor leadership, corruption, and rising domestic and international competition, all of which have contributed to its decline.
Fellow bankrupt state-owned enterprise South African Express (XZ, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) is itself teetering on the brink of liquidation after the government withheld ZAR200 million rand (USD12.77 million) worth of post-commencement funding (PCF) because its BRPs had failed to draw up an acceptable rescue plan.
With a hearing on the BRPs' application for liquidation now imminent, Fly Modern Ark (Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has tendered a bid for the carrier. According to The Sunday Times, the proposal totals ZAR400 million rand (USD21.35 million) of which ZAR300 million (USD16 million) would be used to restart the carrier. In contrast, the remainder would be used to pay off creditors. The start-up, which reportedly has the backing of unnamed local and overseas funders, would avail a fleet of "well-maintained aircraft" to fly SA Express's routes.
Both SAA's and SA Express's nearly decade-long history of losses have contributed to the current strain on the South African fiscus. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its report last week that in light of the current COVID-19 shutdown, South Africa's GDP is projected to contract 5.8% in 2020 from growth of 0.2% in 2019. Africa's most advanced economy, South Africa had already entered into recession in the final quarter of 2019 amid worsening power outages at state-owned power utility Eskom and demand for funding from struggling state-owned firms.

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SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS - A330-300 - F-WWCH

Alain Charpentier - TLS

South African Airways takes delivery of its first A330-300 aircraft

South African Airways (SAA), has taken delivery of its first of five new leased A330-300 widebody jetliners, becoming Airbus’s first Southern African operator of the aircraft type.

SAA’s A330-300 are configured in a comfortable two-class cabin layout with 46 seats in Business Class and 203 in Economy class seats. The aircraft will introduce new levels of onboard comfort, including connectivity for SAA’s passengers and enhanced operating efficiencies for the airline.

SAA has selected the latest 242-tonne Maximum Take-Off Weight variant of the A330-300, which incorporates a new aerodynamic packages enabling the aircraft to cover distances of up to 6,350 nautical miles (11,750km) in flights up to 15 hours in duration. This payload/range capability allows the aircraft to be deployed across SAA’s long-haul, intra-Africa and peak domestic routes.

The A330-300s share the same cockpit configuration, operating philosophy and procedures with SAA’s existing fleet of Airbus widebody jetliners. This high degree of commonality across the fleet is fundamental to achieving low operating, maintenance and training costs.



The A330 Family, which spans 250 to 300 seats, has attracted over 1,630 orders, with over 1,300 aircraft delivered to more than 100 operators worldwide, including SAA. The A330 is one of the world’s most efficient aircraft with best-in-class operating economics and average on-time dispatch reliability above 99 percent.

South African Airways increased its intercontinental offering with the addition of daily flights from its Johannesburg (JNB) base to Abu Dhabi (AUH) on 29 March, a route served by its 222-seat A330-200s

The 6,293-kilometre sector to the capital of the UAE is already flown by Etihad Airways with daily flights. Commenting on the route launch, Nico Bezuidenhout, acting CEO, SAA, said: “The addition of Abu Dhabi to our international route network delivers not only an important new destination for our customers, but also sees SAA increase its Asian network substantially. The codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways, as well as the twice-daily frequency on the route, should generate significant volume and positive returns for both South African and UAE business and tourism travel volumes, with onward network end points increasing greater reach.”

aenna

South African Airways re-negotiates leases on eight A340s

South African Airways (SAA) has renegotiated lease re-extensions on three Airbus A340s and is working on similar deals for another five, which are expected to cut R262 million ($22.5 million) in annual costs.
The deal on the first three aircraft is already delivering a positive impact of R112 million annually and the agreement on the other five is expected to yield additional savings in excess of R150 million later this year.

SAA is now 60 days in to its 90-Day Action Plan, which aims to deliver a R1.25 billion operating performanceimprovement for the financial year ending March 2016. “The strong implementation progress that is being made on the 90-Day Action Plan has seen tangible steps taken to fundamentally change SAA in financially quantifiable ways,” acting SAA CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said.

South African Airways has phased its only remaining of once six A340-200s, ZS-SLF (cn 6) and ferried it to Lourdes/Tarbes for storage on June 29 according to Skyliner Aviation.

SAA continue to operate 8 A340-300s and 9 A340-600s. At this point in time, only the following airlines still operate the smallest A340: Aerolineas Argentinas (2 aircraft), EgyptAir (2 of 3 active) and Royal Jordanian (3 of 4 active). Venezuelan national carrier Conviasa also has a single A340-200 that is still under maintenance or storage in Bordeaux.
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SAA’s Reveals Spectacular Design on “Olympics” Plane

Johannesburg. South African Airways (SAA) today revealed the fully branded aircraft that will fly Team South Africa and officials to the London 2012 Olympic Games on 19 July 2012. The spectacular design painted on the aircraft was created by Adri le Roux, a first year design student at Stellenbosch University.

The long haul Airbus A340-300 is set to cause a splash at international airports with its bold and colourful images of South African swimmers, runners, soccer players and other sports stars.

“As South Africa’s national airline, we are proud and happy to be able to support our athletes in this manner,” said SAA CEO Siza Mzimela “And just as our ground crews, pilots, and cabin staff are geared to give their very best to the Olympic participants and to all of our passengers at all times, we look forward to South Africa’s athletes achieving personal peak performances in London.”

SAA issued a public competition challenging South African youth of ages 13-21 to design an iconic visual which captures the spirit of South Africa. The judging criteria included creative flair and an eye for design. Furthermore, the simplicity and longevity of the design was considered, with the third and final criteria being how the design compliments SAA’s internationally recognised branding.

The design of the aircraft is colourful and vibrant and uses the colours of the South African flag to create brush strokes covering the plane. The sportsmen and women in the stroke illustrate the speed and excellence with which the SA Olympic team performs on the field.

“This design is vibrant and reflects the true spirit of South Africa. We believe that it echoes the passion, commitment and hard work that Team South Africa embraces when they are in the field”, says SAA CEO, Siza Mzimela.

As an official air transportation partner to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), SAA will fly athletes and officials to London for the Olympics, which takes place from 27 July 2012 to 12 August 2012. SAA will also fly athletes and participants to the Paralympics, scheduled for 29 August 2012 to 9 September 2012.

Adjudication of the competition to design the Olympic aircraft’s special livery was conducted by a panel of technical, arts, and design professionals. On the panel were South Africa’s National Herald Mr. Themba Mabaso, SAA Technical Senior Engineering Analyst: Mr. JJ Pretorius, Vega School of Arts lecturer Mr. Matthew Partridge, and Mr. Steve Knapp, Art Director at Brand Activation. The results were audited by Ernst and Young, SAA’s auditing firm.

SAA

South African Airways, novo operador do A330-200

AIRBUS