Skywise suspension lifted – for now

THE suspension of Skywise flights
by Airports Company South
Africa has been temporarily
lifted. Several flights were grounded
last week as a result of a delay in
payments to suppliers Acsa and
ATNS.
Skywise stakeholders told the
press at a hastily convened media
briefing on October 13 that Acsa
and ATNS had given Skywise
“unreasonable” payment deadlines.
The airline argued that payment was
not possible at such short notice.
Stakeholders added that they were
in negotiations with Acsa and ATNS
so that “hopefully this would not
happen again”.
Acsa has responded, saying
the decision to suspend Skywise
Airlines from landing or departing
from Acsa’s airports was taken after
numerous efforts were made to
recover outstanding debt from the
airline dating back to August.
“Various engagements were held
between Acsa and Skywise, with
both parties signing an agreement
on September 16 on payment terms.
Further attempts were made by
Acsa to get Skywise to settle
the debt since the signing of the
agreement, with correspondence
demanding final payment sent on
October 9. Despite these attempts,
Skywise failed to meet its obligations
as agreed to by the two parties.
This left Acsa with no option but
to suspend the airline,” said a
spokesperson for Acsa.
Acsa confirmed that the
suspension of the airline had been
temporarily lifted.
Meanwhile, Skywise revealed at
the press briefing that financial
administration was the crux of the
situation. “We had some financial
miscommunications internally,
which are all being resolved,” said
Skywise president, Tabassum Qadir.
“We are seeking to employ a
full-time financial manager to
replace the person who is currently
only contracting financial services
to Skywise,” added co-ceo,
Irfan Pardesi.
J.Malik, co-chairperson of Skywise,
complained that the airline industry
was in a “political war”. He said
Skywise did not have adequate
counter space at the airports
and that there were many other
challenges in daily operations.
Tabassum added: “I recently
approached a gentleman at Acsa
inquiring about lounge access for our
passengers and he sarcastically said
that we had only been around for
eight months.
“This is a very negative market,”
she said, adding that the airline
had been fighting to gain the trust
of the consumer over the past
eight months but that the
grounding of flights had significantly
damaged this.
Irfan added that the media had a
big part to play in this “negativity”.
“We have had many customers
calling and asking for refunds
because of the way the media is
reporting on this incident.”