Anger over Comair grounding as thousands stranded

Airfares for local flights could increase in the wake of the grounding yesterday of all Comair (British Airways) and Kulula scheduled services yesterday by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa).

As angry Comair and Kulula passengers milled around at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, there was a surge in online traffic to competing airlines FlySafair, Lift and Airlink, according to netnographer Carmen Murray.

She said: “The manner in which the airline has managed the grounding has left passengers frustrated, with a reputation-breaking volume of negative comments trending across social channels.”

Murray added that the Comair brands’ websites measured a significant amount of traffic to its Contact Us pages, exceeding any other on-page activity whether for reservations or flight information, as measured using external tools.

Competing airlines are likely to profit from the Kulula and BA grounding.

However, comparing prices between Sunday morning and in the afternoon for flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town for tomorrow, price variations of only R200 against last recorded Kulula fares were visible with Flysafair priced at about R1 460.

However, with demand likely to surge as two carriers temporarily exit the market, lower fare classes may sell out faster resulting in higher fares anyway. Airlink’s fares on the same day were more than double that of FlySafair’s at R3 193 while the cheapest on the day was still R1 000 more expensive.

Lift’s lowest price was just over R1 600 and the priciest was R1 810.

Comair was grounded twice this weekend. The first time for 24 hours on Saturday pending compliance to safety findings by the Sacaa and for the second time yesterday for an indefinite period.

Comair and its Kulula.com and British Airways South African franchise brands became the third South African airline company since 2007 to be grounded due to safety concerns. The company has been in business rescue since May 2020.

The airline’s OR Tambo International Airport ticketing and check in desks were shut yesterday. Signage read: “All flights cancelled” followed by an e-mail address for refunds.

There were no staff present to assist stranded passengers when The Citizen visited the airport.

The brand damage done by two successive groundings across a single weekend was severe, added Murray.

“There has not been this many complaints about the BA South Africa brand since 2017.”

Nationwide airlines were grounded in 2007 after an engine fell off the wing during takeoff in Cape Town. Airline Comair was grounded for an extended period after concerns over maintenance.

Comair’s initial suspension was because of several incident-related occurrences in reasonably short succession to one another.

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Previously The Citizen reported on a staff survey conducted by trade union Solidarity in which employees indicated concern over safety. The early December report noted that 66% of staff felt their safety at work was compromised.

The CAA statement said: “The suspension follows the visit by Sacaa to the operator to investigate and determine the cause of a spate of occurrences affecting a concerning number of flights operated by Kulula.com and BA Comair.

“Sacaa sought to confirm Comair’s compliance with applicable civil aviation regulations. The inspection was also aimed at reviewing Comair’s quality control management system and safety management systems to establish compliance.

“This resulted in the regulator raising three level 1 findings, and one level 2 finding. A level 1 finding poses an immediate risk and it must be closed with immediate effect and a level 2 finding must be closed within seven days.”

Sacaa was still reviewing Comair’s response.

– news@citizne.co.za

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