Nico Bezuidenhout returning to Mango?

[richard C]

You left SAA before the 738 arrived?
Did you retire then?
I suggest you do not go and visit your old maintenance facility , you will be extremely disappointed.

I left due to health issues. In what way will I be disappointed?

You are quite opinionated and forcible so for someone that left the industry 20 years ago.
I can’t be bothered.
Have a nice day

To be fair to Madmacs - he did apologize for his abruptness. This is an interetsing and informative thread, please keep the conversation going.

[Fransw]

Rubbish to all your comment above. I'm not sure where you fell out of but no matter the age of the aircraft they are as good as new when signed out as airworthy. Maybe you equate a ten year old aircraft to your ten year old clanky car. Also a new aircraft can suffer from teething problems and have more delays than an older aircraft. If you're a pilot, I suggest you visit your maintenance facility to see how aircraft are maintained.

So then i must be the unlucky one, remember its an opinion, an opinion and trend i experienced based on 10 000 hrs of airline flying , %99 of the maintenance delays i had was on the older part of the fleet.

You seem to be experienced in your field, can you remember which aircraft went AOG the most? Older or newer aircraft?

Just remember that there is a fixed schedule of maintenance that the aircraft go through and there is no difference between new or old aircraft, it all depends on hours flown.

I left SAA before the new 737's arrived and I can tell you that those old fluffy's went forever and were very reliable. You'd have to specify what type of maintenance delays you're experiencing and who is doing the maintenance before I can comment.

Take the B747's for instance, they gave us endless problems and in twenty years I rarely encountered a snag free logbook but we sweated blood to get them out on time. The A300's were a dream, they flew all day every day and never had any serious defects.

PS I also realize that i was a bit abrupt with my reply to you above, so I apologize.

Good post! Thanks Madman!

[Lazy duck]

Dispatch rate relies on a well oiled machine.
Maintenance issues do contribute.
A A320 utilization should be between 7-9 hours a day in Africa. Bums on seats 65% +. Dispatch rate 98% +
Then we're competing with BA and L H.
SAA did do it no reason why they shouldn't be doing it.
Maintenance is usually as good as the support it is given.

[MadMacs]

I left due to health issues. In what way will I be disappointed?

You are quite opinionated and forcible so for someone that left the industry 20 years ago.
I can’t be bothered.
Have a nice day

To be fair to Madmacs - he did apologize for his abruptness. This is an interetsing and informative thread, please keep the conversation going.

It is an interesting topic and is why I want to hear what problems 738 is experiencing when he says that 99% of the delays are maintenance related. Is SAAT overstretched in having to maintain too many aircraft ie looking after Kalula and Safair as well as their own aircraft, is it spares related or is it incompetence or heaven forbid, a race issue? For instance SAAT handles all the aircraft at George and sometimes Safair and Kalula land within minutes of each other, yet the aircraft depart timeously. Just about all of my mates at SAA have retired recently, so my sources have dried up and info is scarce.

[MadMacs]

Dispatch rate relies on a well oiled machine.
Maintenance issues do contribute.
A A320 utilization should be between 7-9 hours a day in Africa. Bums on seats 65% +. Dispatch rate 98% +
Then we're competing with BA and L H.
SAA did do it no reason why they shouldn't be doing it.
Maintenance is usually as good as the support it is given.

Interesting that you quote BA and LH, as they were some of the worst performing airlines with on time performance. I often wonder why despatch rates world wide have declined so badly, like you say we used to have an on time despatch rate of 98% +

A quick squizz on Google shows that of the US airlines, Delta is the best at 82% on time. Mango rates 19th in the worlds top 20 for 2019.

[Burner]

Dispatch rate relies on a well oiled machine.
Maintenance issues do contribute.
A A320 utilization should be between 7-9 hours a day in Africa. Bums on seats 65% +. Dispatch rate 98% +
Then we're competing with BA and L H.
SAA did do it no reason why they shouldn't be doing it.
Maintenance is usually as good as the support it is given.

Interesting that you quote BA and LH, as they were some of the worst performing airlines with on time performance. I often wonder why despatch rates world wide have declined so badly, like you say we used to have an on time despatch rate of 98% +

A quick squizz on Google shows that of the US airlines, Delta is the best at 82% on time. Mango rates 19th in the worlds top 20 for 2019.

I think dispatch rates are down purely because of the economics of the industry right now. Turn around times are hugely ambitious, and are down to an all time low. Airlines keeping costs down, can't afford to have the spare capacity (i.e. extra aircraft available to cover AOGs etc). Being able at the drop of a hat, provide another aircraft and potentially also crew, isn't cheap I guess.

I think airports are also a lot busier, with a lot more passengers being squeezed into each aircraft. Each passenger presents a potential delay, and potential knock on.

[MadMacs]

Going a bit off topic but here is how you win some or lose some

[Antman]

Is SAAT overstretched in having to maintain too many aircraft ie looking after Kalula and Safair as well as their own aircraft

SAAT do not have anything to do with any of Safair's 737's -400 & -800. All done in house by Safair.

[MadMacs]

Is SAAT overstretched in having to maintain too many aircraft ie looking after Kalula and Safair as well as their own aircraft

SAAT do not have anything to do with any of Safair's 737's -400 & -800. All done in house by Safair.

Thanks for the info. Who does their turnarounds at the line stations?

[Antman]

Is SAAT overstretched in having to maintain too many aircraft ie looking after Kalula and Safair as well as their own aircraft

SAAT do not have anything to do with any of Safair's 737's -400 & -800. All done in house by Safair.

Thanks for the info. Who does their turnarounds at the line stations?

In JNB, DUR, CPT & HLA, Safair engineers. In ELS, PLZ, GRJ Safair has approval for the captain to perform an LTX and sign it off.

[Lazy duck]

Hi MadMac
When quoting BA and LH on time departure % it was a/c specific. Not fleet . Cheers

[Gandolf]

Wow, I thought this post was about Nico's return to Mango

[Lazy duck]

Sorry bit of a drift. The thought is if Nico returns on time departure is a must. Maintenance and good aircraft go hand in hand. Global has supplied a good lease.

[BONNIE MAD]

Why would he return, when he was never good enough, in the eyes of the politicians, in the first place.Id show them the middle finger!