Lamola\u2019s resignation was confirmed on Friday by both the SAA board and Transport Minister Barbara Creecy. He is set to vacate office on April 30.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The cabin crew union says the timing of his departure is particularly troubling, as several labour issues remain unresolved, including the non\u2011renewal of contracts affecting dozens of cabin crew members. Association Spokesperson Christopher Shabangu said SAA management was expected to engage the union on urgent matters that now risk being delayed or left unresolved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt comes at the wrong time,\u201d Shabangu said. \u201cAs we speak, we have important issues we were hoping the CEO was going to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shabangu revealed that contracts for about 67 cabin crew members have been terminated, with 23 employees having already exited the airline before Lamola\u2019s resignation was announced. \u201cThat is a serious concern for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The association also raised broader concerns about stability within the airline\u2019s leadership and operations. Shabangu noted that a general manager left at the end of March and that contractual arrangements with Turkish Airlines have also been terminated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He said these developments suggest a wider freeze on operational decisions at the struggling national carrier. \u201cIt would seem there is some kind of moratorium on both employing people and acquiring aircraft,\u201d Shabangu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SAA has been attempting to rebuild its operations following years of financial distress and a prolonged business rescue process. Lamola, who led the airline during its recovery phase, oversaw a cautious return to domestic, regional and select international routes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, industry analysts have warned that leadership instability could slow the airline\u2019s turnaround and complicate already fragile labour relations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Association has called on the SAA board and the Department of Transport to urgently clarify the way forward, including how outstanding labour matters will be handled during the transition period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABC\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31526,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-31525","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The South African (SA) Cabin Crew Association has expressed deep concern over the sudden resignation of SA Airways (SAA) Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Professor John Lamola, saying his exit could not have come at a worse time for employees.","published_date":"","news_description":"The South African (SA) Cabin Crew Association has expressed deep concern over the sudden resignation of SA Airways (SAA) Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Professor John Lamola, saying his exit could not have come at a worse time for employees.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31527,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31525\/revisions\/31527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}