Lift SAA off taxpayers’ shoulders

SINCE it was privatised in 1993, Qantas Airlines has been one of the most successful airlines in the world.

Joao Sousa (“Qantas airline plan a winner”, June 8) explains that the Australian airline has been achieving record profits after a drastic turnaround strategy.

The fundamental reason that those in charge of the airline were able to assess its problems and implement an effective turnaround was because it is private.

Without government incompetence, Qantas has become a symbol of pride for the Australian people. If only our government would do the same with SAA.

Sousa says privatisation is not the answer to cure what ails SAA, but it is exactly what the airline needs. Once privatised, it will have no option but to improve, otherwise it will fold.

The last time SAA made a profit was 2012; government support for SAA totals R46 billion, and there have been eight chief executives and at least nine turnaround plans.

Whichever turnaround plan chief executive Vuyani Jarana promises, SAA will be ineffective as no government run entity can contend with market forces and market demands.

While SAA could in theory be privatised, it may be time to close it down. SAA employees can be paid out or up-skilled, and assets can be sold.

It is high time the financial burden of SAA be lifted from the shoulders of the taxpayer. Chris Hattingh Free Market Foundation