Trimmer SAA team will raise cargo focus

SOUTH AFRICAN Airways has decided to trim its executive team from 13 vice-presidents to six. Cargo services will in future fall under the commercial vice-president. In addition to its previous 13 vice-presidents, there were seven senior managers. All 20 previously reported directly to the airline’s chief executive, Andre Viljoen. “There will now only be six on the team, all reporting directly to the CEO,” SAA spokesman Rich Mkhondo told FTW. “All aspects relating to the freight division, which forms South African Cargo, will fall under the commercial banner.” The five other divisions will be customer services, human resources, subsidiaries, chief financial officer and technical. The names of the unit heads will be announced in the near future according to Mkhondo. Selection of the new leadership team followed a meticulous screening process, he says. This included a five-hour written examination of skills, which was beyond the capability of some of the candidates. Cargo will now clearly play a major role in SAA’s operations following the introduction of the first of the series of Airbus long-haul aircraft into its schedules. These have afforded it far greater cargo carrying capacity in bellyloads, with Far East services benefiting particularly. The airline is still to decide on the appointment of a deputy chief executive. Speculation in airline circles is rife that this will be the new role of former lawyer Oyama Mabandla. He previously headed SAA’s legal department and is currently head of strategy and planning and vice-president of the marketing and communications division.