Budget airline Skyline responded to its grounding today by writing an open letter to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa asking him to intervene to prevent its closure.
Skywise passengers were left stranded in the morning after its flights were grounded indefinitely by the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa)‚ a day after it was set to double its “fleet of one Boeing”.
Some took to social media to say they could get no information from the airline about the status of their flights.
Attempts to get hold of the airline for official comment early on Wednesday proved fruitless‚ although an unnamed official in the Cape Town sales office told Tiso Black Star Group Digital that “all flights are cancelled until further notice”.
When asked why‚ the official said it was “due to a payment dispute with Acsa”‚ and referred further queries to its Johannesburg corporate office. Calls to this number went unanswered.
Three different telesales staffers told Tiso Black Star Group Digital that stranded customers were being advised to “apply for refunds and book flights at later dates”.
A statement later on Wednesday said that Skywise was R4-million in arrears with Acsa and another R4-million with the Air Traffic Navigation Service (ATNS).
“The airline is already on Fly as You Pay and duly paying its daily commitments to pay in advance‚” the statement claimed.
“There was an agreement reached to pay the arrears in instalments and two instalments were duly paid. The third instalment was due to be paid on December 1‚ for which an extension of 48 hours was requested and rejected.”
The airline added that “got a notice at 5pm dated December 2 to be shut down with immediate effect”.
Skywise appealed to Ramaphosa “to intervene in this matter urgently and give us a chance to serve the people of South Africa and create more jobs and expertise in this industry”.
It also asked Ramaphosa to consider the “200 employees who will be jobless not only in the month of Christmas but God knows until when in a country with choking unemployment levels at above 20%”.
“Surely‚ this is not what we expect from the Government authorities‚” said Skywise. When Government is spending about R1 billion a day in infrastructure development it is logical that they protect businesses that will complement such efforts and speed up economic growth.”
Asca could also not be reached for comment.
The budget airline has been beset by problems‚ and fears about it future emerged last month after another flight was cancelled.
Skywise co-chair Tabassum Qadir at the time moved quickly to dispel this: “Nothing has changed‚ we are operating the same flight schedule as updated on October 20.”
On that date‚ the airline reduced the number of its daily flights flights from eight to six when its flights where grounded over a payment dispute with the Airports Company South Africa and Air Traffic and Navigation Systems.
The November cancellation stemmed from a “technical issue with an aircraft that led to a dispute with one of our lessors”‚ Qadir said at the time.
But‚ Skywise said it was set to double its “fleet of one Boeing 737” and this will be introduced on December 1.
“Our sales are positive. We are running a successful promotion which is having a positive impact on our load factors‚” Qadir said.
“Skywise is here for the long haul‚ and we’re confident that it can be achieved if we get the get the continued support and your faith in the airline and that you continue to work with us to make Skywise a stronger healthier airline that is able to weather any storm that may arise in the decades to come.”
Skywise appeal to Cyril: Save us‚ or accommodate our passengers on SAA
Skywise passengers were left stranded in the morning after its flights were grounded indefinitely by the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa)‚ a day after it was set to double its “fleet of one Boeing”.
Some took to social media to say they could get no information from the airline about the status of their flights.
Attempts to get hold of the airline for official comment early on Wednesday proved fruitless‚ although an unnamed official in the Cape Town sales office told Tiso Black Star Group Digital that “all flights are cancelled until further notice”.
When asked why‚ the official said it was “due to a payment dispute with Acsa”‚ and referred further queries to its Johannesburg corporate office. Calls to this number went unanswered.
Three different telesales staffers told Tiso Black Star Group Digital that stranded customers were being advised to “apply for refunds and book flights at later dates”.
A statement later on Wednesday said that Skywise was R4-million in arrears with Acsa and another R4-million with the Air Traffic Navigation Service (ATNS).
“The airline is already on Fly as You Pay and duly paying its daily commitments to pay in advance‚” the statement claimed.
“There was an agreement reached to pay the arrears in instalments and two instalments were duly paid. The third instalment was due to be paid on December 1‚ for which an extension of 48 hours was requested and rejected.”
The airline added that “got a notice at 5pm dated December 2 to be shut down with immediate effect”.
Skywise appealed to Ramaphosa “to intervene in this matter urgently and give us a chance to serve the people of South Africa and create more jobs and expertise in this industry”.
It also asked Ramaphosa to consider the “200 employees who will be jobless not only in the month of Christmas but God knows until when in a country with choking unemployment levels at above 20%”.
“Surely‚ this is not what we expect from the Government authorities‚” said Skywise. When Government is spending about R1 billion a day in infrastructure development it is logical that they protect businesses that will complement such efforts and speed up economic growth.”
Asca could also not be reached for comment.
The budget airline has been beset by problems‚ and fears about it future emerged last month after another flight was cancelled.
Skywise co-chair Tabassum Qadir at the time moved quickly to dispel this: “Nothing has changed‚ we are operating the same flight schedule as updated on October 20.”
On that date‚ the airline reduced the number of its daily flights flights from eight to six when its flights where grounded over a payment dispute with the Airports Company South Africa and Air Traffic and Navigation Systems.
The November cancellation stemmed from a “technical issue with an aircraft that led to a dispute with one of our lessors”‚ Qadir said at the time.
But‚ Skywise said it was set to double its “fleet of one Boeing 737” and this will be introduced on December 1.
“Our sales are positive. We are running a successful promotion which is having a positive impact on our load factors‚” Qadir said.
“Skywise is here for the long haul‚ and we’re confident that it can be achieved if we get the get the continued support and your faith in the airline and that you continue to work with us to make Skywise a stronger healthier airline that is able to weather any storm that may arise in the decades to come.”
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