LETTER: Keep SAA simple, minister
Pravin Gordhan should not burden himself trying to figure out how to float and run a new airline
Here is a suggestion for public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan regarding his SAA conundrum: in essence, keep it simple. Keep the long-term government-guaranteed debt in OldCo, as mooted. That is the core of the problem. But he should not burden himself trying to figure out how to float and run NewCo.
NewCo should just be given to a chosen operator, such as Ethiopian Airlines for an elegant “African” solution, or sold to the highest bidder. You may get R1. Then let them get on with it, unfettered by government restrictions. They will know much better than the government how to salvage something that will be sustainable once Covid recedes...
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