SAA announced last month that,
effective January 15, a number of
its Johannesburg-Cape Town and
Johannesburg-Durban flights would
be cut, while Mango added flights
on the same routes as part of SAA’s
turnaround plan.
As the announcement made on
December 14 advised that affected
tickets needed to be re-issued on or
before December 31, 2017, agents
were forced to work through the holiday
period and complained that SAA trade
support was near impossible to reach.
Rodger Foster, ceo and md of SA
Airlink, advised that the interline
agreement with Airlink and SAA would
not be affected by the change as Airlink
did not operate flights on either route.
“While fewer flights bearing the SAA
brand will reduce interline connectivity...
this will be ameliorated by codesharing
between SAA and Mango due to Mango
adding frequencies concomitantly with
SAA reducing frequencies. As long as
the SA code features on a Mango flight,
this flight inventory will be available for
interlining.“
SAA also confirmed that it would
discontinue the A340-600s on the
Johannesburg-Cape Town route while
the new Mango flights would be
operated by smaller Boeing 737-800s,
which reduces seat capacity
on the popular domestic
route.
Voyager frequent flyer
members will continue to earn
Miles on Mango-operated
flights if booked on the SAA
code and continue to enjoy
the SAA baggage allowance
and lounge access. Voyager
members can also spend
their Miles on Mango-operated
flights by utilising miles or a
combination of miles and a
range of payment options.
Festive scramble
Initially, agents were advised
that affected clients needed
to be rebooked on to another
SAA flight at no extra charge,
subject to availability of the
same booking class, and
clients were not offered
the option to book on the
newly added Mango flight
replacing the cancelled SAA
flight. The resulting shortage
in availability was not well
received by the trade who
struggled to accommodate
clients with the reduced
capacity, particularly
when international flight
connections were involved.
SAA did in some cases
accommodate clients booked
on cancelled SAA flights
on Mango flights, however
agents canvassed by TNW
complained that the process
to make these changes was
lengthy, exacerbated by an
inability to reach SAA.
A Durban-based ITC, who
wished to remain anonymous,
advised that the only available
SAA connections for her
affected clients required them
to transit in Johannesburg for
10 hours. She called trade
support and was advised
that rebooking on Mango
flights was allowed subject to
a written authorisation, but
the new Mango codeshares
were still not reflecting in
the GDS. When none of the
agent’s emails requesting the
authorisation was answered,
she attempted to contact
trade support on December
28, 29 and 30, waiting for
over an hour before being cut
off on some calls. Eventually
authorisation was given just
before the cut-off for reissue.
According to agents, the
SAA call centre advised that
the reissue deadline was
extended until January 15,
although no written
notification has been
sent out.
SAA had still not responded
to TNW on this point at time
of publication.
