SAA makes surprise profit
Sep 13, 2017, 8:34 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
SAA makes surprise profit
Against a projected loss in the 2nd quarter SAA made a surprise profit:
http://www.fin24.com/Economy/live-ca...chair-20170913
SAA makes profit in July, set to cut flights by 23%
SAA made a surprise profit in July of R19m when it was budgeted to make a R207m loss. This after it posted a R1.354bn loss in the first three months of 2017. The loss had now declined to R1.335bn.
SAA - in a presentation to be presented to the standing committee of finance on Wednesday - revealed that it will cut flights by 23% by December 2017.
By cutting five aircraft from its fleet by December, the airline hopes to save costs to turn the embattled airline around. It has already removed one aircraft from it routes.
This will see a 37% reduction in domestic flights, an 11% reduction in regional flights and a 4% reduction in international flights.
SAA also revealed that OR Tambo saw an 18% decline in traffic as more passengers flew directly to Cape Town and Durban.
SAA made a surprise profit in July of R19m when it was budgeted to make a R207m loss. This after it posted a R1.354bn loss in the first three months of 2017. The loss had now declined to R1.335bn.
SAA - in a presentation to be presented to the standing committee of finance on Wednesday - revealed that it will cut flights by 23% by December 2017.
By cutting five aircraft from its fleet by December, the airline hopes to save costs to turn the embattled airline around. It has already removed one aircraft from it routes.
This will see a 37% reduction in domestic flights, an 11% reduction in regional flights and a 4% reduction in international flights.
SAA also revealed that OR Tambo saw an 18% decline in traffic as more passengers flew directly to Cape Town and Durban.
Sep 13, 2017, 9:54 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: CPT
Programs: BA BD SA
Posts: 4,467
Thanks for posting about that, skywardhunter. Lots of interesting stuff in that article. Cutting domestic flights by more than 1/3! Wow!!
One of the things I am concerned about was this:
The Miami office is always helpful and eager to answer queries of people who post here. It may be the only responsive customer service team left in SAA - the ZA operations are dreadful.
One of the things I am concerned about was this:
Another issue was SAA’s countless offices around the world that don’t seem to serve a purpose. One in Miami is used as a call centre. “People are moving out of America for call centres, he said. “Why are we exporting out jobs to Miami?”
Sep 13, 2017, 10:47 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Thanks for posting about that, skywardhunter. Lots of interesting stuff in that article. Cutting domestic flights by more than 1/3! Wow!!
One of the things I am concerned about was this:
The Miami office is always helpful and eager to answer queries of people who post here. It may be the only responsive customer service team left in SAA - the ZA operations are dreadful.
One of the things I am concerned about was this:
The Miami office is always helpful and eager to answer queries of people who post here. It may be the only responsive customer service team left in SAA - the ZA operations are dreadful.
Sep 13, 2017, 12:09 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,077
Couldn't disagree more, for the reasons Cheetah_SA stated. Plus, the US based reps are EXPERTS (in my opinion) with handling the multiple carriers feeding into SA US-to-SA based routes, FF redemptions, etc. They have never let me down and, as Cheetah_SA alludes to, do far better that SA based reps.
Sep 13, 2017, 3:56 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Couldn't disagree more, for the reasons Cheetah_SA stated. Plus, the US based reps are EXPERTS (in my opinion) with handling the multiple carriers feeding into SA US-to-SA based routes, FF redemptions, etc. They have never let me down and, as Cheetah_SA alludes to, do far better that SA based reps.
Sep 14, 2017, 12:19 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,410
Sep 14, 2017, 1:25 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: CPT
Programs: BA BD SA
Posts: 4,467
Expect labour troubles ahead.
*And of course the easiest way to skim off bribes and other fraudulent payments is when procuring multi-billion rand items. Much harder to do when you are divesting. (Although that statement about selling obsolete stock for a tenth of its value does have a certain smell to it...)
Sep 19, 2017, 4:41 pm
#8
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Boston
Programs: US Airways Dividend Miles, American Gold AAdvantage
Posts: 145
I don't disagree, I don't really have any experience. But financially it makes sense, as well as obviously investing in training SA call centre agents. SAA's revenue and network are heavily Southern Africa based, with a fraction originating in North America, perhaps less than 10%, so an entire call centre there seems like overkill.