South African Airways outlines revival plan after losses deepen

South African Airways mapped out its turnaround strategy to make the struggling airline more competitive and cost-efficient after reporting a hefty annual loss Thursday. SAA, which has not generated profit since 2011, is regularly cited by ratings agencies as a drain on the govt purse and survives on state guarantees totalling nearly ZAR20b (US$1.69b). The company’s results for the year to March 31, 2017 — which had been delayed after the company received a ZAR10b govt bailout last year — showed a deepening loss of ZAR5.6b, a more than threefold increase from the previous year’s ZAR1.5b loss. However, the National Treasury is hopeful that new executive leadership led by Vuyani Jarana, a former executive at telecoms company Vodacom, would return the airline to profitability. <br/>