Restructured SAA will boost aviation sector and act as a vital lifeline
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We live in a world in which facts sometimes appear to no longer matter. Often fact, fiction or fallacy all seem to carry the same weight and meaning at the expense of the truth. In the case of SAA, we have seen exceptional levels of zeal from certain quarters of our society that seem intent on persecuting the airline and prosecuting those who are determined to ensure its restructuring and sustainability.
While I believe that freedom of expression is an important resource of our times and that it should be nurtured without marginalising and trivialising the facts, cobbling issues without a central theme has often created false impressions and misunderstandings about why the government is committed to the emergence of a competitive, commercially viable and sustainable national airline for SA.
The road travelled and the road ahead
The reasons the government wants SAA to succeed are simple. The aviation industry generates employment and economic activity across several areas, including supporting tourism, enabling international business and economic growth. Therefore the creation of an integrated air transport network with SAA as a player is key to the success of the SA economy.
So, let us let the facts about the road SAA has travelled and the road ahead do the talking. For many years SAA strategies — nine of them to be exact, including some mutations — touched on revenue stimulation and network optimisation, supply chain transformation, augmenting skills to ensure the effective execution of the approved strategy, the implementation of appropriate governance structures and processes, and securing liquidity and restructuring the airline’s balance sheet.
The truth is, great plans and strategies are meaningless without effective execution. Dynamic planning ensures that meaningful strategies are in place, but planning doesn’t occur every day. Focused and tactical execution does. So why were these strategies never fully implemented? The reality is that for more than 10 years SAA faced major challenges, both internally and externally, which were never adequately addressed. These affected its ability to operate profitably.
Internal challenges
Internal challenges included a lack of stability at board and executive level leadership. This led to skills erosion, leaving SAA vulnerable, especially in the commercial areas of the business. Key roles were filled by ill-intentioned, temporary or inappropriately skilled individuals, and this affected the speed and quality of decision-making.
The lack of stability undermined strategy execution and affected business results. For example, between 2013 and 2017 ...
While I believe that freedom of expression is an important resource of our times and that it should be nurtured without marginalising and trivialising the facts, cobbling issues without a central theme has often created false impressions and misunderstandings about why the government is committed to the emergence of a competitive, commercially viable and sustainable national airline for SA.
The road travelled and the road ahead
The reasons the government wants SAA to succeed are simple. The aviation industry generates employment and economic activity across several areas, including supporting tourism, enabling international business and economic growth. Therefore the creation of an integrated air transport network with SAA as a player is key to the success of the SA economy.
So, let us let the facts about the road SAA has travelled and the road ahead do the talking. For many years SAA strategies — nine of them to be exact, including some mutations — touched on revenue stimulation and network optimisation, supply chain transformation, augmenting skills to ensure the effective execution of the approved strategy, the implementation of appropriate governance structures and processes, and securing liquidity and restructuring the airline’s balance sheet.
The truth is, great plans and strategies are meaningless without effective execution. Dynamic planning ensures that meaningful strategies are in place, but planning doesn’t occur every day. Focused and tactical execution does. So why were these strategies never fully implemented? The reality is that for more than 10 years SAA faced major challenges, both internally and externally, which were never adequately addressed. These affected its ability to operate profitably.
Internal challenges
Internal challenges included a lack of stability at board and executive level leadership. This led to skills erosion, leaving SAA vulnerable, especially in the commercial areas of the business. Key roles were filled by ill-intentioned, temporary or inappropriately skilled individuals, and this affected the speed and quality of decision-making.
The lack of stability undermined strategy execution and affected business results. For example, between 2013 and 2017 ...
