Page 7 - World Airnews Magazine December 2019 Edition
P. 7
FLAREPATH AIRCRAFT
NON STOP AFRICA - USA
WHAT A MESS SAA By Louis Vosloo
By Heidi Gibson
or the first time ever travellers from the
FUnited States can fl y direct non-stop
between New York and Cape Town and vice versa
t’s been a tough month for South Africa’s – and it is all thanks to United Airlines who has
Iaviati on industry and it does not look like promised the first flight will take touch down at
things are going to improve anytime soon. Cape Town International Airport on December 16.
Some sectors are now baying for blood, loudly The service will make use of the long range
calling for the national carrier SAA to be shut Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and - for the
down after it – again - failed to deliver its annu- moment - will be operated on a seasonal basis,
al report by the statutory September deadline. three times a week.
At the time of writing, the strike by SAA The aircraft will depart New York/Newark Liber-
staff members who are affiliated to Numsa ty International - one of New York’s three major
and SACAA (South African Cabin Crew As- airports, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays
sociation) was in full swing with passengers at 20h50 and arriving at Cape Town the following
inconvenienced, travel agents scrambling day at 0545 and then departing Cape Town on
around to find alternative flights and mud Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 20h30 arriv- From left: Tim Harris, Bob Schumacher, James Vos and David Maynier
flying between the two parties. ing back at Newark at 06h00 the following day.
It’s over wages, as usual. The unions have At Newark Liberty International Airport United Airlines is the into other African destinations are not planned at this stage.
demanded an 8% increase while airline service when the person who has signed it Voss was employed by PT Nusa Halmahera largest operator providing onward connections to some 80 desti- David Maynier, the Western Cape Minister for Finance and
management – of a technically insolvent off doesn’t know what he/she is doing? Minerals, a joint venture between Newcrest nati ons Economic Opportunities, said this would have a positive effect for
entity - have offered 5.9%. Management The issues within SAAT have already cost it Mining Limited and PT Aneka Tambang, as For the average 15 hour flight between the two centres, the the economy of the Western Cape that currently boasts the third
want to cut jobs and restructure to get the one of its clients. Comair has announced that a general manager responsible for aviation Dreamliner offers a three class layout – 48 business, 88 Economy largest number of foreign tourists after the United Kingdom and
place working but employees are not taking it is moving its servicing and repairs overseas, to manage the helicopters that transported Plus (with a 15 cm leg room increase) and 116 Economy seats. Germany.
this lying down. All of this, while you and saying it would be joining forces with Lufthan- miners to the Gosowong Mine on the Island At the centre of the planning stage for the joint venture between James Vos, Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Econom-
I, have in September forked out another sa Technik. It also initiated registration of an of Halmahera from 2005 until he resigned United Airlines and several government and other organisations ic Opportunities, emphasised that as a co-founder of the air con-
R5.5-billion for help the beleaguer airline. AMO (Approved Maintenance Organisation). after the crash on August 3, 2011. in the Western Cape is Bob Schumacher, one of United Airlines’ nectivity initiative, the city sees the benefit of the new air service
The whole situation lends itself to irony The strike this week will further complicate The report alleged, Voss had “cut cor- Managing Directors, sales. not only the time and money spent by visitors, but the creation of
when you think that that Public Enterprises matters as there will not be anyone to fix any ners” to save costs by changing the mining At the launch media briefing, Schumacher said initially around an estimated 900 new jobs and an estimated R421 million injection
Minister Pravin Gordhan has asked Parliament problems or conduct any weekly checks on company’s minimum aircrew experience 80% of the passenger traffic would be American tourists but would by 2021.
for an extension to finalise their financials and aircraft needing this. The longer the strike and training requirements despite repeated include the business sector should the service be expanded be- Tim Harris, CEO, Wesgro, the official tourism, trade and invest-
total estimates put the bailout bill since June continues the more this headache will turn warnings from supervisors that the com- yond the initial seasonal service. ment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape
2017 to date more than R15.7-billion. into a migraine beyond proportions. pany was now flouting aviation laws. The All of this, he said, would depend on the availability of aircraft predicted a positive future for the air service for the 200 000
Ho hum… It’s worth noting Comair is headed by victims included two South Africans. where two of the present 25 Boeing 787-9 aircraft in the United visitors from the United States visiting the Western Cape and the
Of deepening concern though, is the Glenn Orsmond, whose appointment Voss allegedly failed to disclose this when fleet would be committed to the Cape Town route. Another consid- 70 000 visitors from the Western Cape visiting the United States
unfolding crisis that is happening at South as Mango chief executive was rescind- he applied for the SAAT job in June this year. eration to expand would be economic, he said. Further expansion per annum .Q
African Airways Technical (SAAT) the ed allegedly at the instruction of Public But that is okay because SAA spokesperson
maintenance and service leg of the aviation Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who Tlali Tlali said Voss had been appointed
industry. What is really going in here? We preferred Nico Bezuidenhout who took up because of his “impeccable credentials.” MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
need some answers please. his post also in October and whose highest On August 3, 2011, the Bell 412 helicop-
In October the South African Civil Avia- qualification is a matric certificate. ter operated by Nyaman Air crashed near
tion Authority issued the aircraft operator But that is beside the point. Back to the dra- Manado, resulting in the death of 10 people,
with a prohibition order which stopped ma at SAAT, an investigation by a well known including two Australians and six Indone- X-wing and TIE fighter starships.
aircraft under its watch from operating Sunday newspaper revealed the SAAT head sians. The crash was blamed on bad weather The aircraft's tail is in coloured
pending the compliance with safety stan- honcho – recently appointed - Adam Voss was such as strong winds and heavy clouds.
dards. allegedly responsible for a helicopter crash According to sources, Voss left the compa- nited Airline custom- lightsaber – the weapon of the
Jedi – against a black backdrop
SAAT was accused of using ‘fake parts’ on that killed 10 people in Indonesia in 2011 after ny after the accident and joined Toll in Aus- Uers travelling within on each side, reflecting the two
planes after a Mango flight was forced to he ignored international aviation safety advice. tralia as their maintenance manager based North America will begin flying sides of the Force. United cabin
turn back on September 2 following tech- in Brisbane. He then went on to Fiji Airlines, the friendly galaxy onboard all- crew will greet customers with
nical problems. At the time, SAA blamed ending up in Jet Airways as vice-president, new Star Wars-themed Boeing classic Star Wars-themed music
component failure for the problem and engineering. The airline subsequently shut 737-800 aircraft with a re-de- and distribute commemorative
then dismissed the claims as false. down and Voss made his way to SAA. signed onboard experience that pins throughout December in
A CAA inspection led to five findings All of this begs the question where does celebrates the movie. celebration of the movie's pre-
of non-compliance as it turned out SAAT the buck stop and with whom? Isn’t it The new paint design cap- miere. Customers will be able
employed unqualified personnel – who about time that government stepped up tures the exotic atmosphere of to track the Star Wars flights
did not meet the standards - to sign off on to its responsibilities and sorted out the the Star Wars galaxy and fea- online from anywhere around
maintenance work. This led to the ground- whole mess? If they don’t do what they are tures imagery of famous Star the world using the FlightAware
ing of 44 Comair, Mango and SAA planes. supposed to do it seems the whole sector Wars spacecraft, including the online platform.
After all how can you put an aircraft into will soon be in complete melt down. Q
World Airnews | December 2019 World Airnews | December 2019
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