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Still no word on whether Comair will resume flights

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Comair has yet to announce whether it will resume operations of its Kulula-dot-com and British Airways flights, which were canceled on Tuesday.

The airlines grounded flights this week due to financial constraints and liquidity challenges.

Hundreds of commuters were left stranded.

The airline has also allegedly failed to refund customers their monies.

Comair staff members associated with the National Union of Metal Workers picketed outside Comair offices this morning demanding that the board remove the airline’s CEO Glenn Orsmond.

NUMSA spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola explains, “Our members are very frustrated about the fact that the airline has suspended all its operations because it does not have money and run out of money. We believe that we are here because of the poor leadership of the Business rescue Practitioners Richard Ferguson, working together with the CEO Glenn Orsmond. This is not the first time the airline has been suspended. Its operations were suspended also in March because of the fact that they were not adhering to safety standards and eh civil aviation authority suspended their certificate.”

Price gouging

The Competition Commission has sought to prevent any possible price gouging emanating from the supply shock from other airlines after Comair suspended flights this week.

The commission says it noted the announcement made by Comair on Tuesday night to suspend all British Airways and kulula.com flights.

This week, the commission met separately with the leaders of major airlines, including Lyft, FlySafair, Airlink, and South African Airways.

The commission says it is encouraged by all of the airlines’ positive responses, as they acknowledged the need for more capacity in the market and committed not to change their pricing methodologies to take advantage of the situation.

The commission’s spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga says, “Concerned about the impact of Comair’s decision on air ticket prices and in order to understand how capacity could be brought to the market to mitigate the impact of the decision, the Commission on Wednesday 1 June 2022 met separately with the leadership of major airlines, Lyft, FlySafair, Airlink and the South African Airways (SAA).

“The Commission was encouraged by the positive response of all the airlines in this respect as they acknowledged the need to bring in more capacity in the market and committed not to change their pricing methodologies to exploit the situation,” Makunga adds.

Reaction to suspension of Comair flights: Desmond Latham

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