Airline mess not good for flyers

Airlink CEO Roger Foster wasn’t mincing his words when he said some companies in the SA aviation sector are going to crash and burn, because of the traumatic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.

And he wasn’t specifically referring to South African Airways, which is already in dire straits with its business rescue practitioners pleading for more government money to bail it out.

Foster was referring also to the other airlines currently trying to service an air transport market which has all but collapsed. Airlines like Comair – which operates British Airways services on local routes, and kulula – is planning to get back into operation in a big way and put many flights and seats on the market.

This is either a positive vote in the near future or a foolhardy gamble. So many seats are available that most airlines are operating at a loss. And that is simply not sustainable.

There might be an argument that the consumer will be the winner in a ultra-competitive situation like this. But that is illusory because if companies push themselves into failure, there will be less, and not more, competition.

And eventually, South Africans, who want to travel by air, could be exploited.

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