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This followed a decision made by SAA’s subsidiary to suspend maintenance services to four of its airline customers in September due to outstanding payments for services already provided.
JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways Technical (SAAT) said on Sunday that it had started to restore aircraft maintenance services to some of its airline customers after reaching an agreement with two of its customers.
This followed a decision made by SAA’s subsidiary to suspend maintenance services to four of its airline customers in September due to outstanding payments for services already provided.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with at least two of our clients and will continue to have discussions with two others as we seek resolution and agreement on these matters,” said Adam Voss, SAAT CEO.
The aircraft maintenance company said an agreement was reached among its customers, including national airline SAA, Mango Airlines, Air Chefs and SAA Cargo.
Low-cost airline Mango said this week that it reached an agreement with SAAT after the maintenance company suspended its services for non-payment.
Mango was forced to use a chartered plane to continue its operations in an attempt to avoid leaving customers stranded.
“Another client, Mango Airlines, has reached an agreement with SAAT that allows the suspension of Mango Airlines to be lifted to start working on its fleet as of Friday. The affected aircraft returned to service on Saturday, October 3 to transport passengers ”.
Voss said the decision to suspend services to his clients was not made lightly.
“We had to protect our business interests that extend to the well-being of our employees who were adversely affected by the cash flow challenges we experienced, resulting in the payment of 25% of their salaries for the month of September,” he said .
SAAT apologized to all of its employees for the inconvenience and said it was in talks with the unions to agree on the payment of the September salary balance.
“We all appreciate that the aviation landscape has changed dramatically due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak globally. We know that many of our clients were unable to trade and generate much needed income to pay for services rendered. As part of the recovery strategy and a way forward, we agreed with these clients that SAAT will receive an advance payment for the services that must be provided, ”said Voss.
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