South Africa’s Comair outlines turnaround plan

Comair (South Africa) (MN, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) does not anticipate resuming B737-8 operations as part of its restructuring plan, Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) Shaun Collyer and Richard Ferguson have said. Unveiling their plan for the privately-owned South African carrier which operates a British Airways franchise as well as the Kulula Air low-cost brand, the BRPs said they anticipate rationalising the current fleet to just thirteen B737-800s and three spare B737-400s. Prior to its COVID-19-induced grounding in March, Comair operated twenty-three B737-800s and five -400s. Its sole B737-8 has been parked since the global grounding of the type last year. “The business rescue practitioners have consulted extensively, both in South Africa and abroad, and it was considered that a downsized fleet would be more in keeping with what the Company could afford to operate and demand for air travel post the Covid-19 crisis,” they said. Prior to its entry into business rescue, Comair said it was in talks with Boeing (BOE, Chicago O’Hare) over the cancellation of an unspecified number of outstanding B737 MAX 8 orders. The firm has a further eight due for delivery of which one – ZS-ZCB (msn 60434) – was to have been handed over last year.