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Addis Ababa – Ethiopian Airlines is willing to provide aircraft, pilots and maintenance services to the beleaguered rival SAA as part of a joint venture with the government.
Africa’s largest airline offers operational assistance, Ethiopia’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said in an interview in Addis Ababa. The airline is not interested in helping pay the debt or the cost of reducing the workforce, he said.
“We don’t want to deal with the legacy issues – debt, labor claims, etc., because that’s very difficult for us, not just in terms of financial outlay, but also in terms of managing the restructuring,” said the CEO. “We want to make it much easier for them to start the airline by providing aircraft, providing experience, pilots, technicians and leadership.”
Ethiopian could provide more modern Airbus SE 350 and Boeing 787s, it said, compared to SAA’s Airbus 340 jets.
The government needs R10.5 billion to resurrect the airline that has been under bankruptcy protection since December. The cash is needed in part for ticket refunds and severance packages for nearly 4,000 workers who agreed to leave as part of a rescue plan drawn up by administrators and backed by labor groups.
The public companies department has said it is analyzing various offers from private investors, but nothing concrete has materialized.
Tewolde called on African governments to be more aggressive in reopening borders after months of travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ethiopian flights are full on average 40%, the CEO said.
While Boeing plans to return its 737 Max model to the sky by the end of the year, Ethiopian is still in talks with the plane’s manufacturer about compensation for a deadly accident in March 2019 that led to the plane grounded around the world. It is not yet clear whether the airline will fly the model again, Tewolde said.
Bloomberg
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