Tension is mounting following Comair's flight suspension, with employees demanding an explanation for the crisis and accountability from top management. Comair workers are worried about the airline's silence on key issues, including their salaries and suspension period, and want the top leaders to be removed for failing to handle the situation appropriately.
Unhappy employees
With funds running dry, Comair suspended all flights a few days ago, and there are no updates on when, if at all, the carrier will get sufficient money to put its planes back in the air again. Over the entire month of June, the airline had 1,093 flights scheduled or around 205,905 seats on sale.
The decision to halt all flights took Comair's employees by surprise, who are now demanding an explanation about why it all happened and the way forward. But that's not all! Comair workers affiliated with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) are planning to picket outside the airline's offices in Kempton Park on Friday morning, according to a report by TimesLIVE.
The group blames CEO Glenn Orsmond and business rescue practitioner (BRP) Richard Ferguson for not handling the airline's affairs sensibly and is demanding their resignation. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said,
“But they are failing. Under their poor leadership the airline has had to deal with one crisis after another and their mismanagement has brought the airline to the point where its operations have been suspended — again.”
Unanswered questions
On Thursday, Numsa met with Comair's management team, including Orsmond, to discuss the current situation and the future of the airline. But it seems that the top bosses didn't have any concrete answers to the airline's ongoing problems. Hlubi-Majola stated,
“It is regrettable for us to report to our members that the meeting with the CEO left us with more questions than answers. Unfortunately, the meeting was very frustrating because the CEO was at times evasive or unwilling to respond directly to certain questions.”
The two key questions raised by the union were:
- For how long is the flight suspension expected to last?
- Will the employees be paid their salaries during the period of suspension?
To the first question, the management said that "it depends on whether the funding can be raised by the BRPs." To the second, they could not confirm a yes or a no.
Fallout
Comair was placed into a kind of bankruptcy protection, known as business rescue, during the COVID crisis in 2020. Richard Ferguson, the business rescue practitioner, was appointed in May 2020, and the business rescue plan was approved in October. But two years later, the airline is struggling to secure cash for operations.
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The suspension will reduce airline capacity in South Africa by around 40% and has left many customers stranded and upset.
Another threat for passengers could be other airlines raising prices due to reduced competition. However, the country's competition commission met with the leadership of other top carriers, such as Lyft, FlySafair, Airlink, and SAA, to discuss and prevent any sudden price hike following Comair's crisis.
For now, the fate of the airline and its employees hangs in the balance until there's more clarity on future funding.
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Source: TimesLIVE