Competing airlines are likely to profit from the Kulula and BA grounding.
Airfares for local flights could increase in the wake of the grounding yesterday of all Comair and Kulula scheduled services yesterday by the South African Civil Aviation Authority . As angry Comair and Kulula passengers milled around at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, there was a surge in online traffic to competing airlines FlySafair, Lift and Airlink, according to netnographer Carmen Murray.
She said: “The manner in which the airline has managed the grounding has left passengers frustrated, with a reputation-breaking volume of negative comments trending across social channels.” However, with demand likely to surge as two carriers temporarily exit the market, lower fare classes may sell out faster resulting in higher fares anyway. Airlink’s fares on the same day were more than double that of FlySafair’s at R3 193 while the cheapest on the day was still R1 000 more expensive.Comair was grounded twice this weekend. The first time for 24 hours on Saturday pending compliance to safety findings by the Sacaa and for the second time yesterday for an indefinite period.
Comair’s initial suspension was because of several incident-related occurrences in reasonably short succession to one another.reported on a staff survey conducted by trade union Solidarity in which employees indicated concern over safety. The early December report noted that 66% of staff felt their safety at work was compromised.
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