4 years ago the airline you see out the window was not even a major player and the three main airlines that once dominated the local market have vanished.
Over the last 4 years the local air travel in South Africa has changed as the 3 main airlines being Mango, Kulula and South African Airways (SAA) disappearing. Ok SAA is still around but you cannot count them really as their entire fleet is only 8 planes with 3 being cargo and two planes I know of are doing an international route. 3 planes for local service is not a service and expect them to completely vanish within the next 12 months.
You would have to be a brave person to fly SAA these day and I would rather walk or not travel than climb on one of their planes. A company that has been in business rescue for many years would have been cutting corners and their fleet is serviced outside of South Africa. They have maintenance hangars, but the service is outsourced in another country.
I flew SAF Air today down to Durban mainly because the roads have deteriorated that much I would feel safer flying than diving. This is not about the expense anymore as safety is far more important. Saying that if only South Africa Airways was flying I would rather drive.**
The one airline operating in South Africa now is a company called SAF Air which is 40% owned and operated by Ryan Air. Ryan Air as most of you will know is the low cost Irish airline that actually turns a decent profit unlike most airlines always begging for handouts from their governments. There was an enquiry recently why an Irish company was allowed to invest in a major SA company. The easy answer was Ryan Air has been funding SAF Air to the tune of $10 million weekly and no other local company could afford to do that with the extra rates as they are.
I have always said this is a great business and if you had the funds would be an easy turn around. How SAA went bust or into business recue is crazy considering the Cape Town-Johannesburg route is considered the second most profitable route in the world.
The problem with SAA is the idiots put in place to run the national carrier were government stooges with incompetence, corruption and from listening to these people speak also a lack of education. I recall some figures that I have never forgotten and it is to do with a gold standard rating where an airline would have 1 staff member for every 120 passengers in the air at any ne time. South Africa was so poorly run and over staffed it was more like 20 to 30 staff members per 120 passengers. It is no wonder no profits could be made with that type of salary bill hanging over their heads each month.