SAA Pilot’s leader: Appoint experienced CEO and we’ll repeat ANZ’s turnaround

Captain Grant Back, experienced flyboy and chairman of the SAA Pilots' Association, is convinced the national airline can replicate the turnaround achieved by Air New Zealand, which was revived from dumpster into among the world's most successful. He believes the key lies in the appointment of an experienced and knowledgeable chief executive, and the sooner the better. Stressing the urgency, Back, whose organisation speaks for over 99% of SAA's 540 active pilots (only three are not members) shared his thoughts on this week's episode of Rational Radio. He maintains SAA's pilots are keen to be part of a successful solution for the airline – and is convinced there is one. – Alec Hogg.This interview is with Captain Grant Black, he is the chairman of the South African Airways Pilots' Association. Grant how many members are there?.___STEADY_PAYWALL___.We have about 620 pilots listed of which 540 are actively flying. We're very fortunate that we've got such a high membership rate at South African Airways Pilot Association or SAAPA as it is known. We currently have a membership rate of about 99 percent..How long does it take to get a license. How many years do you have to train?.One can obtain a CPL (Commercial Pilot's Licence) either privately or through the military. I first started training in the 80's through the UCT Flying Club. First getting a Private Pilot's Licence, then working my way up to CPL. It took me about 7 years. Those guys who took the military route typically were in the military for about 10 years and had to get their commercial pilot's license outside of the military and then join the airline..So it's a long road to become a SAA commercial pilot and 540 members must be shaking their heads at what's going on at the moment. I refer specifically to the mixed messages we are getting. We have the Business Rescue practitioners saying they want to close down routes. We have some politicians such as Gwede Mantashe and Tito Mboweni who want to close down the whole airline. Then we have the President who does not think it a good idea and finally the Minister of Tourism who needs the airline operating to bring in tourists. The public is confused, what do your members make of this?.That's a great question. Right now there is misinformation and a lot of agendas at play here. It's just simply not a case of Business Rescue stepping in and saving the airline. There are political agendas at play here and I think from one faction to the next, whether the airline stays around or it doesn't. It is affecting all our employees, ground staff, cabin crew and pilots alike. There is a lot of uncertainty of where we are going. Business Rescue looks at what is available at the moment. There is a finite amount of working capital that they can work with. Until they get a firm commitment from government, it's hard right now to determine what the new SAA is going to look like. There are two plans at the moment. There's the how-do-we-survive plan and then of course the medium to long term plan, which is waiting for the budget speech and how much money is going to be allocated by the government. It's encouraging to hear that the shareholder and the president is supporting SAA's survival. I believe that SAA is worth saving, with the right skills, and the shareholder and public support, SAA can turn around. I believe this will have a significant impact on confidence within the national and international markets, especially if one considers the comments that were said in Davos recently by Richard Quest..The problem is the public aren't going to fly if they are nervous that their tickets might at some point in time be worthless.The communications leave a bit to be desired..Alec 100%, I think the airline could do wonders for itself and for ticket sales if they were to come out and to reassure the public that tickets bought today would be honoured for a period of time or be reimbursed as there are certain protections built into it because of Business Rescue. We certainly need a good Public Relations campaign to manage this..Grant you've been watching the decline of the airline over many years. You have been outspoken as the chairman of SAAPA in fact I think you even threatened to go on strike a couple of times. Why did no one listen in your opinion?.I think it's the first time that a union was willing to go on strike for better management. Most times it's for terms of conditions or better salaries. We are incredibly frustrated because we can see the potential that SAA has. Currently there are too many people with different agendas who keep changing the direction of SAA, which of course is crippling any chance of a successful turnaround..We need to be given an opportunity get a CEO that has the skills and the authority to appoint people into the senior executive positions that have the necessary skills. Bear in mind airlines have roughly a 2 to 3% margin. It's a very specific business and we need the best skills to drive the right strategy to get the shareholder support that we need. As an example, Air New Zealand 15 years ago were in a similar situation as SAA finds itself in today. They are as geographically challenged as we are. They brought in the best that they could they could find and they've turned the airline around and now they're definitely operating within the top five airlines in the world. At the Star Alliance conferences, every time Air New Zealand gives a report-back, it's to declare their profits. With the right skills SAA could emulate what Air New Zealand has done..So the right skills. Who would you appoint as CEO, anyone in South Africa or elsewhere who would be able to do the Air New Zealand trick?.If we look at the aviation sector in South Africa compared to the rest of the world we have a very limited amount of airline professionals that we can choose from, not because we don't have the talent, but because a lot of talent within SAA has been sadly disempowered. Empowering those individuals will go a long way to bringing SAA from the brink, but at the moment we're probably going to have to look further afield to find the people with the necessary skills and understanding what is required in running an airline..What's the process then if the business rescue practitioners have their way and the airline is slimmed down to make it sustainable. Presumably there'd be a lot of pilots that have to try and find jobs somewhere else. What's the market like for them?.The industry in the East at the moment is seeing many people being laid off. Cathay Pacific has laid off 27,000 employees, and about 400 other pilots that are flying at other carriers have also been put on temporary unpaid leave and of course the Coronavirus is now seriously impacting aviation in China..The Middle East however has a huge demand for pilots. The South Africans that are there have set the bar pretty high when it comes to the level of their skills due to the terrific training in SAA. We will have to wait and see what the downsizing numbers and retrenchments figures look like. If the Business Rescue Practitioners present us with figures that makes sense, we as labour need to buy into the plan, but the plan or the data we have requested is not being shared, which could set the process for failure. If SAA pilots do need to leave, there is work for them, they are pretty much top of their game on the global scale but it does mean relocating for them, which not everyone wants to do, and nor is it in the interest of the country. If SAAPA is involved in the planning, we could assist in finding other ways to retain jobs..So these Business Rescue Practitioners, what's the process now? Do they put together a plan, do they appoint a CEO? You can't not have a CEO of a company?.That's something that we've been calling for. We had a vote of no confidence a couple of months ago in the current top six positions and it was one of the demands we were willing to take industrial action over. We had over 80% of the pilots who voted no confidence of those individuals. That was before Business Rescue was on board, so that's been put on the back burner. We have made it clear to current management and to the Department of Public Enterprises that we need a hands-on individual immediately, even if it's from within South Africa, to stabilise SAA, and it needs to be somebody who's got an understanding of running a company of that magnitude, and with due respect, we feel our current acting CEO is not the person that is required. It's not a personal thing against anybody it's just we need the best people right now. It's also going to be very difficult finding someone to come to SAA willingly and be part of a turnaround strategy. So we are kind of between a rock and a hard place. We're working with Alvarez who have been appointed by the lenders to come in and facilitate the turnaround. We think that we've got a lot of value within the pilot body and in the airline itself that cancertainly assist but we need proper leadership that has the experience and knowledge to get the buy-in and support from labour. They should be actively looking for someone who can bring those skills to the table. We don't have the time right now to appoint someone who doesn't understand the industry. They have to have at least 10 to 15 years' experience in the aviation sector.

SAA Pilot’s leader: Appoint experienced CEO and we’ll repeat ANZ’s turnaround

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