SAA, Delays and the case of the Broken Engine
The fact that I am still in SA means I get more access to mainstream news. I do not even have to rely on the company internet to get the news due to The Star and Business Day being available.
There was an interesting article on SAA passengers at JHB International that complained bitterly about a 12 hour delay on a flight to Washington. That perked me slightly as obviously the SAA flight to Washington goes via Accra.
A small amount of investigation led me to the reason for the 12 hour delay. They flight was delayed due to the fact they had to find a spare 747 engine, load it up on the flight departing JHB and drop it off in Accra due to the returning 747 having had a problem with an engine and not taking off.
Visions of the engineering facilities at Kotoko International flashed before my eyes and I hoped that a few of the seats on the JHB flight had some boffin engineers and techs on them.
Another horrible thought crossed my mind. What would 230 americans do for a day in Accra when the delay was not exactly a planned one. There are not too many decent hotels in Accra and I am sure one or two of the unlucky ones got to spend a night at the "wonderful" Regency!
Poor Buggers!
Another thing that has caught my eye - to do with SAA - is the cost of Tickets.
SAA advertise a flight to Washington on the same plane we fly to Accra at R5999.00. The cost of our ticket to Accra is R6300.00
Now in theory, it is cheaper to buy a ticket to Washington and get off in Accra. There is the issue that you would have to get a visa for the states to be allowed on the plane and your luggage would not stop off in Accra, but that shows the stupidity of the whole supply demand curve.
When you are the only direct flight from Accra to JHB, you can afford to charge the maximum the market can bear!
And there are times that your luggage does not make the stop in Accra and still finds it's way to Washington.
Manny was the victim of this a while back, and making sure you never get anything for free, it was apparent that in order to pay for the luggage to get back to Accra from Washington, they had to remove some stuff from the luggage and sell it.
I continually look at National Carriers with interest and pity their PR people for having to justify patent rip offs.
That said - I will be flying them on the 15th Feb which is my return date to Ghana.
In between now and then, I am spending a week in a lecture hall on the MDP program and a further week making sure we complete all our assignments.
In between I celebrate my Birthday!
Another year passes under the bridge of life - and I am still having fun!
You have fun 2 you hear!
There was an interesting article on SAA passengers at JHB International that complained bitterly about a 12 hour delay on a flight to Washington. That perked me slightly as obviously the SAA flight to Washington goes via Accra.
A small amount of investigation led me to the reason for the 12 hour delay. They flight was delayed due to the fact they had to find a spare 747 engine, load it up on the flight departing JHB and drop it off in Accra due to the returning 747 having had a problem with an engine and not taking off.
Visions of the engineering facilities at Kotoko International flashed before my eyes and I hoped that a few of the seats on the JHB flight had some boffin engineers and techs on them.
Another horrible thought crossed my mind. What would 230 americans do for a day in Accra when the delay was not exactly a planned one. There are not too many decent hotels in Accra and I am sure one or two of the unlucky ones got to spend a night at the "wonderful" Regency!
Poor Buggers!
Another thing that has caught my eye - to do with SAA - is the cost of Tickets.
SAA advertise a flight to Washington on the same plane we fly to Accra at R5999.00. The cost of our ticket to Accra is R6300.00
Now in theory, it is cheaper to buy a ticket to Washington and get off in Accra. There is the issue that you would have to get a visa for the states to be allowed on the plane and your luggage would not stop off in Accra, but that shows the stupidity of the whole supply demand curve.
When you are the only direct flight from Accra to JHB, you can afford to charge the maximum the market can bear!
And there are times that your luggage does not make the stop in Accra and still finds it's way to Washington.
Manny was the victim of this a while back, and making sure you never get anything for free, it was apparent that in order to pay for the luggage to get back to Accra from Washington, they had to remove some stuff from the luggage and sell it.
I continually look at National Carriers with interest and pity their PR people for having to justify patent rip offs.
That said - I will be flying them on the 15th Feb which is my return date to Ghana.
In between now and then, I am spending a week in a lecture hall on the MDP program and a further week making sure we complete all our assignments.
In between I celebrate my Birthday!
Another year passes under the bridge of life - and I am still having fun!
You have fun 2 you hear!
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