In light of the growing controversy surrounding FlySafair's flight overbooking practices, CemAir has taken a strong stand, distancing itself from the industry norm of overselling seats.
The airline, which operates as South Africa's second-largest carrier, confirmed its commitment to ethical booking policies and transparency in a recent statement.
It announced on Wednesday that the airline does not engage in the practice of overbooking.
The company said flights are sold only to the seating capacity of the aircraft, and it is the company’s view that overselling flights amounts to unethical business practice.
This comes after popular low-cost airline, FlySafair found itself in hot water recently, for overbooking flights.
The issue came to light after an unsatisfied customer shared his unpleasant experience with FlySafair’s practice of overbooking flights.
Other customers also took to social media, complaining that they were informed by FlySafair at airports that there were no available seats on the plane, despite the customers having bought tickets in advance.
Last week, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) said it gave FlySafair a period of 14 days to explain its controversial conduct of overbooking and overselling tickets.
FlySafair responded by admitting that they overbook flights. They specified that this practice helps keep ticket prices affordable for their passengers.
While acknowledging the inconvenience this may cause, the airline claimed to offer compensation to affected passengers.
“We do overbook flights to ensure we keep our tickets as affordable as possible for our passengers. We do see how inconvenient this can be and therefore offer compensation for passengers who were not able to take the flight they booked,” said the airline.
CemAir said it noted the recent confirmation by competitor airline FlySafair that passenger overbooking is part of its standard business model as well as their assertion that it is a “globally-accepted” practice.
“FlySafair’s contention that “all local airlines indulge in this practice” is a baseless fabrication. Furthermore, the justification from FlySafair that “overbooking assists in mitigating the financial impact of no-show passengers“, can only hold true if the airline refunds the no-show ticket fare thereby suffering the loss of revenue on that seat with zero resale opportunity. It is our understanding that FlySafair does not offer refunds in such circumstances. These contentions will no doubt be tested in the National Consumer Commission inquiry, the initiation of which has reflected poorly on the industry,” Cemair said in a statement.
“We value the confidence our passengers place in us every time they choose to fly with CemAir,” Shaniel Singh, the Chief Commercial Officer said.
“To uphold this trust, our booking policies are straightforward and aligned with our commitment to providing hassle-free travel. We will cooperate fully with any investigation by the NCC.”
CemAir is South Africa’s second largest airline by number of flights, operating with bases in Johannesburg and Cape Town and flying to 16 destinations in South Africa and the region.
The airline is an IATA member and holds interline and code share agreements with 10 carriers.
Private airline, Airlink, also took to social media to inform customers that they do not partake in the overbooking system.
In a statement on social media, Airlink said, “Airlink would like to inform all its customers, and future travellers, that we do not overbook our flights. Contrary to what has been said publicly by FlySafair, not all South African airlines partake in this practice.”
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