South African Airways (SAA) Spokesperson Tlali Tlali says the unbundling of the state-owned airline is aimed at ensuring its financial sustainability.
SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana has announced that the airline will be split into three separate business units, responsible for domestic, regional, and international flight routes. This is the second unbundling of a state-owned enterprise in less than two weeks.
During his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the unbundling of Eskom.
Tladi says each unit will have independent management to ensure accountability.
“SAA will remain, as it will be one entity. But within the entity we will be three business units. The rationale behind this is to ensure that we enhance our efficiency. We bring more level of accountability as so far as group performance is concerned, as opposed to a situation where we take a blanket approach that we have recorded losses, where we were unable to identify where the losses come from and holding specific individuals accountable.”
SAA, which has not made a profile since 2011, was given a R5 billion bailout in 2018.
SAA like other state-owned entities has struggled to keep a positive balance sheet.
The state-owned airline will be broken into three businesses as part of its restructuring plan, mainly domestic, regional and international.
The details of how this will be done are yet to be announced.
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