Poor service

South African Airways services has deteriorated to demean passengers on the high volume Johannesburg – Lagos direct route .

I am a dual citizen and I have resided in South Africa for over 30 years and I travel frequently on the direct SAA flight from Johannesburg to Lagos. Initially, with the 1st generation SAA(before it collapsed), we had 2 direct flights to Nigeria i.e Johannesburg to Lagos, Johannesburg to Abuja respectively. Following the SAA collapse due to mismanagement, there was no SAA airline services for over 2-3 years,

We travellers on this route were delighted when once again SAA flight operations resumed under new management and we were able to enjoy the efficiency as well superior service of SAA which gave SAA the leading airline brand in Africa for conservative years. Alas as with everything these days in South Africa, this service is now going to the dogs.

I flew a week ago on 15th November 2024 from Johannesburg to Lagos for a 40 year class set reunion and was totally disappointed with SAA. The 1st leg flight from Johannesburg to Lagos was fine, but the return flight from Lagos to Johannesburg on 22nd November 2024 was horrible. A direct flight which usually takes 5-6 hrs from Lagos to Johannesburg was changed to an indirect flight via Accra Ghana with a layover for new staff to come on board and relieve, and lasted over 1 hour on ground. This increased the duration of the journey to 8-9hrs on board.

Passenger inflight service enjoyed was also affected, the triple service during flight of 1. refreshment drinks 2. food 3. Tea and coffee was reduced to one service and offered on board at about 1.00am in the morning. Please tell me, who has dinner at 1.00am in the morning? SAA tries to confuse the situation by using the proverbial “Technical flight difficulty” but inquiry with the flight staff confirms this detour via Accra was deliberate as they no longer lay off SAA staff in Nigeria. I feel very bad and offended with this as Nigeria with its volume of passengers to SAA should be prioritised. How can you lay over your staff in an adjourning country which contributes little or nothing to your business?

Inconveniencing a country that gives you so much volume of passengers, that doesn’t make economic sense and makes one to realise why the 1st generation SAA collapsed in the 1st place. If we pay exorbitant fare for the monopoly of a direct flight by SAA, as travelling passengers we demand just that. We are not fools not to see this and be disgusted by the whatsapp questionnaire by SAA pre flight boarding which asked which route passengers would prefer as the answer did not matter.

If this airline collapses again, we will hold bad management of this glorious SAA accountable.

Thank you Dr ED Ekanem