Johannesburg - South African Airways said that Nico Bezuidenhout, its acting chief executive officer, will stand down and return to the Mango low-cost arm.
Bezuidenhout, who has been running the unprofitable state-owned carrier since November following the suspension of Monwabisi Kalawe, will move back to Mango, which he previously ran, with immediate effect, spokesman Tlali Tlali said in a text message.
While Tlali didn’t give a reason for the transfer, an internal memo circulated within SAA and obtained by Bloomberg says it’s being implemented following the completion of a turnaround programme that Bezuidenhout had led.
The memo from Chairwoman Dudu Myeni says an update on filling the now vacant CEO position will be provided “in due course”.
SAA, which has been surviving on government-guaranteed loans, had been working to reduce costs and improve efficiencies under Bezuidenhout.
The company this year closed unprofitable routes to Beijing and Mumbai and has renegotiated airline leases and supply contracts.
Operating costs in April and May, the first two months of SAA’s financial year, declined 14 percent from a year earlier, Bezuidenhout said on June 30.
Bloomberg