Crash and Burn: A CEO’s crazy adventures in the SA airline industry

In the cut-throat world of low-cost airlines, competition is the name of the game. Not only up in the air but also on the ground.

 

Crash and Burn is an insider’s tale of the South African airline industry over the past thirty years and the dramatic collapse of Comair in 2022, as told by Glenn Orsmond, twice CEO of Comair and the founder CEO of 1time. Orsmond takes the reader on a wild ride through the ultra-competitive sector of low-cost airlines that boomed after South African Airways’ stranglehold on the skies was loosened in the 1990s. Comair – which operated both Kulula and British Airways – and 1time were at the forefront of this new wave of airlines that saw domestic flying and tourism take off.

 

But after some incredible highs and lows, Comair crashed under Orsmond’s watch despite the company’s 75-year unblemished profit history. The pandemic’s impact, the grounding of aeroplanes after a questionable regulator investigation and poor management decisions all contributed to its downfall.

 

Expect tales of industry legends and innovation, but also of competitors trying to gut each other, battles between pilots and accountants, unions and bosses at loggerheads, and warfare between shareholders and directors in boardrooms. You’ll never think of flying in South Africa in the same way again.