EMILE MYBURGH: SAA demoted to poky terminal in Brazil to benefit Latam

SAA’s flight from Johannesburg to São Paulo is a daytime flight, and one of the most beautiful around. After take-off the plane heads to Alexander Bay, flying next to the Orange River and over the beautiful and barren Richtersveld and Fish River Canyon. After about seven hours of flying over the ocean it reaches the shores of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, where on a beautiful day the sight of the city of Rio and the islands dotting the coast make for spectacular viewing.   

SAA has been flying to Brazil since the 1960s, and it was the first international destination SAA resumed after its business rescue. But recently the airline has had a run of bad luck in São Paulo. During December, I noticed the SAA flight suddenly started arriving and departing from the cramped and ancient terminal 2 at São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport (GRU), and no longer from terminal 3.

GRU is 20% owned by Airports Company SA, which helped build the modern and spacious terminal 3 from where SAA had operated since 2013. GRU was built at a time when aircraft and passenger numbers were smaller than today, which made terminal 3 a necessity. 

Intrigued by this demotion, I reached out to SAA staff members I know in Brazil, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity. Apparently, GRU decided SAA’s flights are delayed too often, and the airline no longer deserves a coveted spot at GRU’s terminal 3.

Unconvinced, I confirmed on flight tracking app Flightradar24 that SAA has suffered quite a few delays, but when I looked at other airlines operating at the same terminal — specifically South American carrier Latam — SAA’s delays didn’t seem out of the norm.

I then cross-checked the departures and arrivals on Brazil’s civil aviation authority’s website, which makes the information publicly available, and concluded that while no-one likes their flights to be delayed, SAA’s delays are by no measure excessive. Latam’s flights to Johannesburg are delayed just as often, and German carrier Lufthansa’s flights are often delayed to the next day. So why are they not penalised? 

The facts don’t justify SAA being singled out for its delays, unless GRU treats all airlines similarly (which it doesn’t). And while it certainly won’t do SAA any harm to jack up its performance, flight delays and unforeseen events are a sad reality of the industry. There is even insurance cover available to airlines for such events. 

This move to GRU’s terminal 2 obviously favours Latam. The airline has never liked sharing the Johannesburg route with SAA, and moving SAA to terminal 2 is undeniably beneficial to Latam.  SAA passengers must still check in at terminal 3, but then have to walk a very long way to get to terminal 2. One or two passengers invariably go missing in the process, delaying the flights even more. 

So, when faced with a choice between Latam and SAA for a flight to SA, anyone will be tempted to choose Latam merely for the convenience. I wrote to Latam, SAA and GRU asking them for comment — especially whether Latam, a major client of GRU, had squeezed GRU to move SAA. Latam and SAA didn’t reply, but GRU sent a generic response stating that arrival gates are assigned at random. It did not address any of the other queries I raised.

So, after 10 years of operating exclusively to terminal 3, SAA is now consistently sent to terminal 2. At random? I don’t buy that.

Latam is an aviation giant, and there is no way SAA in its current diminished and beleaguered state can stand up to it. Latam is acutely aware that SAA’s management is sidetracked by pointless and futile court battles with competitors, that it ill-treats its staff, pilots and crew, that it cancels supplier contracts with loyal suppliers in Brazil and is run by a presumably well-meaning board that is clearly out of its depth and incapable of managing a major airline in a dog-eat-dog international aviation environment.

SAA is Latam’s only competitor on the Brazil-SA route, whereas to Europe and North America Latam just has to put up with the plethora of other airlines offering competition, so its options are limited. SAA is clearly an easier target than, say, German giant Lufthansa. 

This is not the first time I have seen GRU doing something questionable that clearly favours Brazilian airlines or powerful local individuals at the cost of foreign operators. A few years back GRU in effect expropriated the Star Alliance lounge (of which SAA is a member), ostensibly because the airport wanted to manage the lounges itself. The lounge was promptly handed to the enormously wealthy and influential Brazilian banking family the Safras, which required all airlines to negotiate with them directly for access. 

SAA business-class passengers can still use that lounge, while eating mini hamburgers with the Safra logo cringeworthily burnished onto them. Since there is no Star Alliance member airline in Brazil, there are probably not many Star Alliance card holders there who would be too inconvenienced by any action GRU and its buddies take against Star Alliance member airlines (like SAA), but any such move gives Latam and its own partners an added benefit over their competitors. This clearly inconveniences Star Alliance Gold and business-class passengers using GRU, who would like to enjoy the benefits their status affords them elsewhere. 

Admittedly, SAA has had some bad luck over the holidays, including on Christmas eve when, due to some technical problem, the flight back to Johannesburg was delayed and the passengers left on the plane for six hours. They were not impressed. On January 16, I experienced all of this first hand when my own flight from São Paulo to Johannesburg was delayed by a day. 

However, SAA’s clearly exasperated ground crew arranged hotels and transport for everyone until well into the night. This is obviously not earning SAA any favours. But before anyone starts revelling in the airline’s misfortune, while waiting for the taxi to the hotel we shared a queue with equally angry Delta customers, whose flight to Atlanta had also been cancelled.

When we finally boarded the next day, SAA compensated as much as it could by giving us a 50% discount voucher to be used on our next flight. Clearly someone there still knows how to treat customers well in the face of adversity. Now just spread that message to SAA management, because Latam is running away with their lunch.

• Myburgh is an attorney practising in Johannesburg and São Paulo.