SAA is now in the second year of its restructuring process and has committed to providing an enhanced and more efficient service, said ceo, Khaya Ngqula, at the announcement of the airline’s financial results for 2007/08.
Khaya said the initial focus of the strategy was to improve revenue and, with the 9% increase achieved (excluding a restructuring cost of R1,35bn) in the past financial year, he said the target had been achieved.
SAA, he said, has identified new initiatives for the 2008/09 financial year including establishing a customer service charter and achieve service excellence, improving operations, improving customer experience, improving on-time departures and upgrading the Voyager programme. “These are measures that will focus on the business, instead of the financial aspects.”
Khaya said SAA was on track to be profitable in 2008/09, but due to the unpredictable oil price, it would not achieve the original target of 7,5% profit.
Other plans for the next financial year include expanding its African route network, including increased frequencies to Angola to 14 a week and seven a week to Lagos. “We have cut the routes that were losing the airline money but are focusing on those that work for us,” said Khaya.
