Malcolm Gladwell’s now famous 10 000 hour rule, from his 2008 book, Outliers, posits that 10 000 hours of practice is the key component to becoming a world-class expert in a particular skill.
Gladwell used Microsoft founder Bill Gates as an example. Gates, who dropped out of college to found the tech giant, was not simply a drop out, he had amassed over 10 000 hours of coding practice. It is no surprise then, that SAA pilots, on average, have more than 10 000 hours in the air and in excess of 15 years flying experience.
When a pilot joins SAA, they do so at the bottom of the seniority ranking. Most new pilots will start as in-flight relief first officers on the long range aircraft for about two years. At this level, they will only occupy a pilot seat above 20 000ft, when one of the two pilots is resting and they will not do any take offs or landings.
From in-flight relief first officers, pilots will, vacancies permitting, move through various rankings in SAA. At each promotion step, they must undergo a conversion in the simulator.
It takes about 17 years of service to become a short-range captain at SAA but it is expected to move toward 22 years service due to the shrinking nature of the airline. By the time a pilot becomes a long-range captain, performing international trips for SAA, they will have 22 years of experience with the airline
I joined SAA in 1977 and operated as an in-flight relief pilot for about four years. I became a captain after 17 years of service. I am currently a senior check captain on the A340/A330 and I have accumulated more than 21 000 hours of flight time. I will retire in 10 months after 39 years service.
Unusual
What makes the pilot’s job unusual is the requirement to undertake competency tests at regular intervals in order to maintain a licence to fly – and hence to do the job for which they have trained.
Maintenance of technical knowledge is not an optional extra, but it is a fundamental pre-requisite of the pilot’s job.
There are not many other professions that require that the incumbent is regularly recertified as fit to practice their profession. In addition, a pilot must pass strict regular medical examinations in order to retain their license.
There is absolutely no reason why the same high standards, experience requirements and demanding skills required to fly an SAA aircraft should not be applied to those who steer SAA at a board level.
In fact, if we cast our eye over some of today’s most successful carriers, both private and state owned, you will see one common theme, a thoroughly experienced and skilled board leadership.
American Airlines was the most profitable airline in 2014, with $2.9 billion (R40bn) profit. Their chief executive and chairman, Douglas Parker, has a masters in business administration.University qualifications aside, Parker was a financial analyst at American Airlines from 1986 to 1991.
In 1995, he became chief financial officer of America West Airlines, where he worked between finance, sales and operations. Ten days before the 9/11 attacks in the US, Parker was named chief executive. Under his leadership, America West was the first of many airlines to attain post-9/11 federal loan guarantees, in turn saving the airline from bankruptcy.
Another example is Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, the chief executive and chairman of Emirates Airline. He began his career in the aviation industry in 1985 as the president of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation. Later that year, following its launch, he was appointed the chairman of Emirates. The carrier has grown from being a regional airline with two leased aircrafts to a fleet of more than 150 aircraft flying across six continents.
An African, state-owned airline that we can learn from is Ethiopian Airlines. Tweolde Gebre Mariam has been chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines since January 2011. His career at the company began in 1985 as a transportation agent. He became chief operating officer in 2006.
Even more staggering is how Ethiopian Airlines is outperforming everyone else on the continent. Their profit for the 2014/15 financial year of $175 million is greater than the collective profit of Africa’s airline industry. As it continues to expand routes, Ethiopian has become the most networked carrier in Africa.
All of the above carriers and their successes have one thing in common, they have excellent board leadership from chief executives and chairman, whom, like the pilots that work for them, have completed the requisite 10 000 hours.
Experience
These chief executives all have masters level business degrees and more than 20 years experience in the aviation business. Some have spent many years in the same organisation, often in a number of different departments, gaining incomparable insight into the company and the industry.
This is the standard of excellence that SAA must meet in order to survive. It is up to the airline’s shareholder – our government – to ensure that.
All airlines have on thing in common: they compete in a globalised economy, which rewards the excellent and metes out losses to the mediocre. SAA has the potential for so much more – it is time that it is properly recapitalised and given competent, experienced leadership.
* Captain John Harty is the chairman of SAA Pilots Association.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
BUSINESS REPORT