Cape Town - MPs have commended the South African Airways (SAA) for its impressive performance during the 2010/11 financial year.
The state-owned enterprise received an unqualified report from the Auditor-General.
Despite worldwide economic challenges, the airline made R782 million in profits and contributed R11.7 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as tourists flocked into the country.
In the same period, it also created 58 000 South African jobs and trained 2 243 employees of the SAA Group among several other up-skilling initiatives.
The company has also announced that soon it would launch its own pilot training academy.
It also said that a joint forum comprising other stakeholders, such as police, the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and law enforcement agencies, had been formed to deal decisively with the growing problem of baggage theft mainly at the OR Tambo International Airport.
SAA chairperson Cheryl Carolus and chief executive Siza Mzimela, along with other officials, briefed Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises on Tuesday.
The delegates indicated to the committee that a number of steps had been taken in order to improve governance issues across the SAA Group, including the introduction of a manual system for detecting and reporting irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Mzimela said they had re-constituted the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) and also trained employees on compliance with the Consumer Protection Act.
She was confident SAA was positioned for growth in the future as it would continue to launch new passenger and cargo routes.
"SAA is committed to delivering its strategic objectives for the State, including facilitating trade and economic development in an environmentally and socially responsible manner," said Mzimela.
However, she told the committee they were operating under difficult global economic conditions.
The demand for passenger and cargo services was following economic cycles such as GDP growth as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank forecasting "a low growth cycle".
SAA faced tough competition from Middle Eastern airlines for its targeted African market, said Mzimela. She explained that these airlines ignored global economic trends and "negotiate a high number of traffic rights with African states".
She also expressed concern about the oil price, which hovered above US $100 per barrel, citing that fuel made up about a third of their costs.
MPs said that they were pleased with the organization's performance.
However, they also encouraged them to correct those areas of concern highlighted by the AG, such as internal controls on performance and financial matters.
