A year later, LIFT is reaping the rewards

It’s been a challenging two years for global aviation.

Several airlines didn’t make it while the majority have seen revenues decimated and recovery curves slower than expected.

Anyone even contemplating starting a new carrier in such an unprecedented decline must have needed their heads read. But South African airline LIFT did it and a year later the company is still there to tell the tale.

On top of it, chief executive Jonathan Ayache is talking expansion. Ayache said that part of the airline’s success is the fact that from the start, the intent was not to behave like a normal airline. A seat is a seat and according to him, this was the departure point for the team that assembled the business in record time.

It included cofounder Gidon Novick whose leadership at Comair saw budget airline Kulula dominate the lowcost market for several years.

Ayache said: “Customer experience across all our touchpoints was the most important and founding principle of LIFT.” He describes the airline as a hybrid between low-cost and full service.

“We are not a budget airline,” Ayache said. “LIFT has a premium class and we serve on-board refreshments, but our cost base is the lowest in the industry.”

Presently, LIFT operates between Johannesburg and Cape Town and the company plans to expand its network as the market recovers. Ayache says that the industry is operating at around 60% of its 2019 levels now.

“We have made some mistakes,” he admitted, “when we launched with Johannesburg/George as our second route. But, last year’s second Covid wave killed off the route within a few days as infection levels in the Eastern Cape rose to uncomfortable levels.”

Since culling George, LIFT has focused on its Johannesburg/Cape Town route and is reaping the rewards of great success.

“While yields are not where they should be, across the industry, our load factors have been very strong and we have a large complement of return customers.”

Lift is very un-airline like, influenced by Ayache’s experience at online taxi hailing service Uber. There is no call centre. Instead, passengers have full autonomy to manage their travel online.

“It has worked very well for us and our customers,” he said, “and when there is a problem that cannot be mended online, customers pop a mail and we ring them within 30 minutes of the query.”

Credits and refunds are stored in an e-wallet where passengers can receive funds or spend them.

“There are no change fees at all when someone’s travel plans change. Instead, passengers are either credited or pay in the difference between fare levels when they choose alternative flights.”

– news@citizen.co.za