Second-most hated person in South Africa’s airline industry

Former Comair and 1time chief executive Glenn Orsmond was dubbed the second-most hated person in South Africa’s airline industry.

This was because he forced pilots, who are a powerful group in the airline industry, to improve productivity during his time as Comair CEO.

Orsmond is a highly experienced airline executive who served as CFO and CEO at two JSE-listed airlines.

He is a chartered accountant who started his career as an audit manager at Price Waterhouse in Johannesburg in 1989.

He joined Sun Air in the early nineties, serving as financial director before jumping ship to Comair in 1995.

After leaving Comair, which operated Kulula and British Airways in South Africa, he founded 1time, a low-cost airline. He was its chief executive from the start.

The airline ultimately failed, and in 2019, Orsmond rejoined Comair as chief executive officer to help save the company.

In his new book, Crash and Burn, former Comair CEO Glenn Orsmond gave a brutally honest account of the airline’s dramatic collapse in 2022.

He ran the airline during its collapse and blamed the pandemic’s impact, grounding of aeroplanes, and poor management decisions for its downfall.

Competitors also tried to gut each other, there were battles between pilots and accountants, and warfare between shareholders and directors.

He said the company lost sight of the three fundamental core principles that made Comair successful.

• Always protect and build cash. It is not profits; it is cash.
• Always have lower costs than your competitors.
• Don’t take on excessive debt.

“When there are external shocks, the last man standing is always the one with cash,” Orsmond said.

Apart from losing sight of the principles that made Comair and Kulula successful, the company was also plagued by infighting.

Orsmond said that for any company to succeed, it needs board and shareholder unity and good working relationships between managers.

However, Comair did not enjoy board and shareholder unity, which was partly to blame for its downfall.

He explained that sound decisions are not always made. Instead, decisions are often driven by personalities.

The last nail in the coffin was the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s (SACAA’s) decision to ground Kulula.com planes in March 2022.

In June 2022, Comair announced that it could not continue operating and was beyond rescue.

It shocked South Africans who have become accustomed to Kulula.com being the low-cost airline of choice for local travel.

The second-most hated person in South Africa’s airline industry

In his battle to save Comair, Orsmond had to improve productivity and cut costs. This included increasing pilots’ performance.

He told Biznews that Comair pilots negotiated so effectively that their lifestyles often outweighed the company’s operational requirements.

“When I started my second stint at Comair, the pilots flew an average of 60 hours a month. Safair pilots were flying 85 hours per month,” he said.

Besides flying fewer hours than competing airlines’ pilots, Comair pilots earned between 30% and 40% more than those at Safair.

“This disparity affected productivity and service. We had to reduce headcount and increase productivity, which created significant resentment among the pilots,” he said.

“I’ve faced considerable criticism, especially on social media, and was even called the second-most hated person in aviation.”

He said the late Dudu Myeni, who destroyed South African Airways during her tenure as chairperson, was the most hated.

“I’ve taken a lot of criticism on social media, but it had to be done. You cannot afford to have your pilots’ productivity at half your competitor’s.”

He explained that pilots’ salaries comprise around 60% of an airline’s staff cost bill, and it had to be competitive.

Orsmond was also under fire from unions, including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), Solidarity, and the pilots’ union.

“The unions are all after the same thing – more pay, less work,” Orsmond said. “That is a fight you have to fight.”

He said it was not unique to him or Comair. “It is an age-old battle between management and pilots,” he said.

Curiously, when Comair failed, many of the pilots who fought against a salary freeze and flying more hours went to Safair.

At Safair, these pilots took a significant pay cut and flew the required 85 hours per month, which they fought against at Comair.

Orsmond said being dubbed the second-most hated person in South Africa’s airline industry does not trouble him.

“I truly believe it is not true. I really try to act ethically in what I have done throughout my career,” he said.