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READING THE opinions of aviation “experts” in South Africa about Skywise Airlines, I get the impression that they are unaware of the difficulties associated with start-up airlines in this country.
I can challenge them as an entrepreneur to start any aviation-related business in South Africa and give them two months to tell me what it is like - no matter what business plan or expertise or experience they have. Watching from the outside, it is a totally different ball game than when you are operating on the ground.
In a democracy, they are entitled to their opinions.Yet commonsense would require them to try and understand the causes of the turbulence at Skywise and go deeper into the reality in the domestic aviation industry.
The aviation experts point to Skywise airline’s alleged under-performances and poor management, while ignoring the amount of work that has been put into the business over the last four years.
Skywise's turbulence cannot be linked to poor management whatsoever, in our opinion. Our profit margins were affected by several things that are not linked to our own doing. We felt marginalised from the beginning.
If survival in domestic aviation is about expertise and experience, would South Africa have witnessed the demise of as many airlines as happened before us?
There must be more behind the fall of these airlines. Today, I salute the leadership of these failed airlines, as I can feel and imagine the pain they went through in starting and losing their investments.
Let me repeat: all the airlines’ misfortunes cannot be blamed on poor expertise and management experience, not even aircraft conditions. This can only be proven when the industry one day in the future gets to unite and unpack the past failures.
Some say the domestic aviation industry is like any other commercial business. I don’t agree. It is unbelievable that many aviation experts have failed to see how we have been unfairly treated. Surprisingly, they don’t share our view that the authorities refused to grant us a grace period to pay our debt.
This is unheard of in any business, especially considering that we had a R1.9m deposit and were to make good profits from an inventory of about 20 000 tickets for the December period. Which is the logical thing to do between letting us operate and pay back the money, or closing us down and losing the money or delaying the settling of the debt?
We had more than 200 employees who were very happy to be working for us. They were always eager to wake up every morning and dress with pride in the Skywise corporate wear to be the frontline of the company.
Our grounding also reminded us of the type of questions that were constantly posed by some people. They asked us if we were “brave enough” or “adequately equipped" - perhaps adequately equipped to withstand the man-made turbulence that awaited us.
We innocently replied that it’s all about entrepreneurship and how wrong were we to be. In my view, the few people who have been in control of the industry for a long time cannot accept the reality of new players. Indeed, new entries have a tough time to survive in the domestic aviation industry.
Many people may think that start-up airlines are difficult to set up and run. Everybody thinks it’s about having the latest aircraft, experience and expertise that will guarantee success.
The domestic airline industry is a difficult space where entrepreneurs like us can only learn while being in the game. A study of the failures of domestic airlines shows that a keenness to learn while receiving the necessary support from all stakeholders is vital.
Transparency by authorities much needed
Perhaps more important to the establishment and survival of start-ups like Skywise is the much-needed transparency by authorities. State institutions must ensure the rules of the aviation industry are applied to all, rather than being selective. There is also a greater need for an objective media space.
Due to Skywise Airlines currently not operating, travellers are being denied affordable airfares at a time when they need to be saving. During this festive season many consumers who were familiar with our flights have struggled to find affordable tickets or seats with other airlines on the same route. The majority were flying for the first time.
When I co-founded Skywise, I met one very powerful CEO in the domestic aviation industry who said to me: “Let’s work together and block other new entries.” I was shocked to hear that, as I thought the domestic airline industry needed to accommodate more players to grow.
Our entry into domestic aviation awakened many ordinary and seasoned aviation experts to the reality that previously disadvantaged people can also own an airline. I experienced a touching moment during the launch of Skywise, when a stranger approached me and asked to shake my hand as a co-founder of an airline. He said: “I want to know if you, as a black person, own this airline.” I replied: “Yes!” He said: “I am very proud to have met you and shaken your hand.”
While I was at OR Tambo International recently, a security guard and another person who is apparently employed by a domestic aviation regulator both confided in me that they were “praying for Skywise to make it in this difficult time”.
The two strangers also encouraged us “not to give up the battle”. It was very touching and humbling to hear these two individuals' support and see them talking the same language. Many others have sympathised with us and offered their full support.
After our grounding people were sympathetic with our situation, wishing us strength under the circumstances. It was heart-warming to see this kind of support and we acknowledged the gestures with humility and deep satisfaction.
After eight months of having started a great aviation idea, we were shocked that authorities could suspend us “in the best commercial interests” when as a debtor we were of the opinion that we could realise profits soon and pay most of our debt.
I don’t know which world they are living in, when they say they are doing things for reasons of “commercial interest”. Today we are out of business and fighting a legal battle with them.
It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about fighting for your rights. I promise we won’t give up.
* Javed Malik is the co-chair of Skywise. Opinions expressed are his own.
