WHILE the April 1
deadline for the
renegotiation of
incentive agreements with
SAA looms, the travel trade
wait patiently to hear who
will be engaging with them
from the airline.
The high turnover rate of
senior SAA staff has left
the lines of communication
unclear; in particular the
suspension of Sylvain
Bosc and resignation
of Ray Nkwe, who were
key individuals on the
commercial side of the
airline’s operations.
“From a negotiating
perspective, it is still
unclear who we speak to,”
says Marco Cristofoli,
gm of Harvey World Travel
Southern Africa.
But agents say they aren’t
concerned as it’s “business
as usual” with SAA.
“When it comes to
the commercial side of
operations, every week
there is a new person
to speak to,” says Franz
von Wielligh, gm of Flight
Specials.
“eTravel’s stance is that
we’re not going to panic
– someone will contact
us,” agrees eTravel Group
founder and ceo, Garth
Wolff. “We’re confident that
SAA realises the importance
of the trade.”
“The fact that SAA hasn’t
sent out the incentive
agreements yet doesn’t
concern us as normally
these agreements are only
actually signed off in Q3,”
says Travelstart supply and
product manager, Candice
May. She says that, so far,
Travelstart has had very
clear communication from
SAA in terms of who the
agency should be speaking
to. “Changes at SAA have
had no impact on our day-today
operations.”
Club Travel has met with
its key account manager
at SAA , says md, Wally
Gaynor, and the group is
expecting its proposed
agreement in the next few
weeks.
SAA did not give TNW the
names of key individuals
who will be engaging with
the trade regarding incentive
negotiations, however SAA
spokesperson, Tlali Tlali,
said senior management at
SAA was “very functional”
and continued to manage
the business effectively.
“The entire sales team is
organised in such a way
that their main focus is
on the travel trade and,
as such, the lines of
communication are very
simple, straightforward
and easily accessible.
Through their assigned
channel managers and
their respective key account
managers, the travel trade
have direct access to the
key management team
at SAA who are always
available to them.”
