South Africa makes last-ditch move to save state airline

South Africa’s government will cede control of the national airline to a restructuring specialist in a last-ditch attempt to save the cash-strapped business from collapse. As part of a rescue plan started on Thursday, the government will hand the running of SAA to business rescue practitioner Les Matuson to make the sort of painful cuts that would be difficult for politicians to push through. SAA has been granted a 4b rand ($272m) lifeline from the government and banks to launch the rescue plan, but that cash could only last for months, analysts say. The airline has been on the brink of collapse since a crippling strike last month left it without enough money to pay salaries on time. Then two major travel insurers stopped covering its tickets against the risk of the company becoming insolvent. SAA employs around 5,000 people, while the wider SAA Group, including maintenance and catering units, employs around 10,000. The airline said it would publish a new provisional flight schedule soon.<br/>