State-owned South African Airways said on Friday it had recovery plans in place that entailed partnering with other airlines to support passengers affected by the grounding of SA Express planes.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday suspended SA Express's operations, citing non-compliance of airline maintenance organization which it said posed a serious safety risk.
On Friday, SAA, which has struggled with cash constraints in recent years, said it had collaborated with Mango Airlines and SA Airlink to service passengers of the grounded carrier.
“Our priority remains customer assistance in the best way possible in order to minimize the inconvenience caused by the suspension of SA Express services,” spokesperson Tlali Tlali said.
SAA said it would rebook, reroute or refund passengers whose travel plans had changed due to the suspension of SA Express flights. It would compensate all passengers where applicable.
Trade union Solidarity said the debacle showed the state could not be trusted with the management of any airline, slamming a suggestion by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan that SAA should merge with Mango and SA Express.
"It would be akin to throwing a cement life jacket to a drowning person," Solidary said, arguing for business rescue for the troubled airline.
"A business practitioner responsible for turning SAA around should be appointed by the court. The government as a shareholder should no longer be in control of any airlines," it added.
The union said it would file a court application for business rescue "within the near future".
- African News Agency (ANA)
