No longer the big cheese of the sky. Kulula may vanish forever. Picture Supplied.
Kulula.com customers can get a refund from their cancelled flights following the suspension of Comair PTY ltd.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has grounded Comair indefinitely on the 13 March 2022.
The suspension of their Air Operation Certificate (AOC) was a result of a number of incident-related occurrences.
Comair operates the budget airline Kulula.com and the local British Airways franchise.
The airline was initially suspended for 24 hours on 12 March 2022 until SACAA said that it was suspending it indefinitely.
This means that thousands of passengers will be left stranded until a decision is made by the SACAA.
“The inspection was also aimed at reviewing Comair’s quality control management system (QC) and safety management systems (SMS) to establish compliance related to reporting, analysis and follow-up on occurrences, and corrective action plans to prevent recurrence.” the SACAA statement read
Those who had booked flights with Kulula.com can rebook with no change penalties, subject to availability of the same fare class.
Customers who wish to rebook should email MNContactCentre@comair.co.za.
On their website, customers can allocate their unused tickets to a travelbank account.
This means you can keep the unused ticket value to pay for any future trip of your choice.
You can even purchase a ticket for someone else.
Here is how to access Travelbank account:
2. Email bank@kukula.com with the below information to facilitate the travelbank credit process.
Customers need to note that the facilitating process of Travelbank can take up to eight weeks to reflect due to system constraints.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has called for heads to roll at the airline.
The union wants Glenn Orsmond, CEO of Comair, to resign.
They are accusing Orsmond of failing to be accountable for this ‘absolute failure’ of the airline.
“The drastic cost cutting measures that Comair embarked on, had a negative impact on the airline to the extent where they are compromising safety, said the Spokesperson of Numsa Phakamile Hlubi Majola.
She said that it is clear the strategies implemented by Orsmond are a failure in his leadership.
“Orsmond must resign because clearly his plan is not working, this airline need to get someone who has a clear strategy on ensuring that the airline safety is restored for the sake of the workers and the public.”
Additional reporting by Hein Kaiser.
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