Publications
Partners
IT'S yesterday’s news that the North Gauteng High Court has interdicted FlySafair from starting operations, pending its review of the Air Service Licensing Council’s decision to grant Safair Operations a scheduled services licence.
The decision indicates that there’s a good chance the final ruling will also be against FlySafair.
The public is desperate for cheaper airfares and on social media a lot of blame seems to be thrown the way of Comair/Skywise, which asked the court for a ruling on the matter; thoughts like “scared of competition” are being bandied about.
Now, it might not often get said in the public arena (and I’m sure some will disagree), but the truth is that the raison d'être for most companies’ existence is to generate profits for their shareholders.
Companies hate competition, as its hurts their ability to generate profits, and are forever looking for ways to get ahead of their rivals. Those who don’t find a competitive edge go bankrupt.
A company operates within the framework of a country’s legal system, and the responsibility for our laws rests with parliament.
Ultimately, the law which requires a domestic scheduled airline to have 75% of its voting rights held by South Africans is one that our political parties (and by extension those who vote them into place) are responsible for.
If we the people don’t like the end result of a company enforcing our laws, should we be blaming the company, or should we be lobbying for political parties to change the law?
- Fin24
* Rob Baker is co-owner of South Africa Travel Online. Follow him on twitter on @southafricaTO.
The decision indicates that there’s a good chance the final ruling will also be against FlySafair.
The public is desperate for cheaper airfares and on social media a lot of blame seems to be thrown the way of Comair/Skywise, which asked the court for a ruling on the matter; thoughts like “scared of competition” are being bandied about.
Now, it might not often get said in the public arena (and I’m sure some will disagree), but the truth is that the raison d'être for most companies’ existence is to generate profits for their shareholders.
Companies hate competition, as its hurts their ability to generate profits, and are forever looking for ways to get ahead of their rivals. Those who don’t find a competitive edge go bankrupt.
A company operates within the framework of a country’s legal system, and the responsibility for our laws rests with parliament.
Ultimately, the law which requires a domestic scheduled airline to have 75% of its voting rights held by South Africans is one that our political parties (and by extension those who vote them into place) are responsible for.
If we the people don’t like the end result of a company enforcing our laws, should we be blaming the company, or should we be lobbying for political parties to change the law?
- Fin24
* Rob Baker is co-owner of South Africa Travel Online. Follow him on twitter on @southafricaTO.
