CEO LETTER
Elmar Conradie
If you’re reading this magazine, you’re most likely seated on one of our aircraft, either preparing for take-off or enjoying the view from about 35,000 feet above sea level. Please accept our thanks for choosing us for your journey, and I am confident that our teams are looking after you!
It’s February and we’re now well on our way into 2018. I know it’s a trite statement, but it continually astounds me how quickly time goes.T hree years and three months ago we started this airline with two Boeing 737-400 aircraft doing hops between Cape Town and Johannesburg. In what feels like the blink of an eye, we now present ourselves as we stand today: a 10-aircraft strong airline with more routes than any other low-cost carrier. We’ve taken home the best low-cost airline award from every ACSA airport we have operated to for two years running, and we’ve been declared the most on-time airline in the whole world.
Looking back to the start, I would never have guessed that the previous statement would be the reality that I would be describing in February 2018. If there’s one thing that my FlySafair experience to date has taught me, it’s that you can only do great work if you love what you do, but you can only love what you do if you do great work.
Many of the challenges and obstacles that we’ve had to face along the way have been tough to overcome, but our team’s passion has propelled us to excel. What’s so great about that is that the rewards of success then feed that passion – and so the cycle continues.
A mentor of mine once tried to ground me by explaining how fortunate people are who truly love even a small portion of their jobs, given that there are so many people who simply work to put food on the table. He was absolutely right about that, which is why it’s always been so important to us to recruit team members who feel the same way that we do about aviation.
My hope is that you’ve experienced some of the love that we have for what we do today, and I’d love to hear about your experiences and your ideas. I’m always so grateful when people take the time to drop us a note at feedback@flysafair.co.za. We regularly plumb this resource for guidance on where we can improve our service – in order to achieve success and to feed our passion!