Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Ten times too many


Full article in PDF format

The collapse of South Africa’s 1time Airline in November 2012 was first and foremost a tragedy for the 1,000 employees it left jobless, few of whom can expect to be reinstated permanently if newcomer FastJet completes its proposed takeover of the defunct carrier. In an emotive statement announcing the failure of the business rescue plan, chief executive Blacky Komani spoke of the “end of a dream and an era for all of us”.

But, looking beyond the human toll of the low-cost carrier’s (LCC) failure, the South African media has been quick to ask why 10 of the 11 independent airlines created since deregulation in1991 have collapsed...