According to Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, the business rescuers appointed to the airline, only 1,000 of the airline’s employees will keep their jobs.
The company currently has just over 4,700 employees.
Of the R26.7 billion, R2.2 billion will be needed for packages to employees who will be laid off.
The bulk of the amount – R16.4 billion – is to pay off SAA’s debt.
Apart from the fact that the airline will have fewer workers, it will also fly fewer routes.
In South Africa, the plan is to fly only between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth. SAA will therefore no longer fly to East London as before. As for international routes, the Washington route via Accra, Ghana, remains unchanged. The airline will also fly directly to New York, Frankfurt, and London. SAA will fly to Perth, Australia, provided it has enough aircrafts available.
