SAA rescuers request time to consult on government proposals

South African Airways’ rescue practitioners are seeking an extension to the deadline for publishing a business plan for the troubled flag-carrier. Under South African legislation a business plan is normally required within 25 days of a company entering business rescue, but extensions can be granted if necessary. SAA, however, has spent nearly six months in the rescue process, after the rescuers sought three separate extensions – of 70 days, 32 days and 70 days – with the intention of publishing the plan on 29 May. But practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana state that South Africa has been in a state of lockdown since 26 March, before which the rescuers were in the “advance stages” of drawing up a draft plan to restructure SAA. “Unfortunately, the draft plan for a restructured airline, which was near complete, could not be finalised,” they say, owing to the impact of the coronavirus crisis which “nullified all the assumptions” on income projection. <br/>