Chief Airline Operations Officer at South African Airways (SAA)

Job Purpose    

• The Chief Airline Operations Officer is responsible for managing and coordinating execution of daily airline operations with direct oversight of Global Operations Control Centre; Flight Operations; In Flight Services; Flight Technical & Maintenance Standards; Crew Planning, Scheduling and Movement; Health and Safety; Aviation Security; Medical; Quality Assurance and the Airline Training Organisation.
• The individual assures airline network reliability, on-time performance, completion factor and safe, compliant and reliable operations while producing maximum customer satisfaction and maintaining low costs.  The primary deliverable for this role is the annual renewal of the Airline Operating Licence.

Principal Accountabilities    

• Establish and promote a culture of safety throughout the organisation; enforce adherence to all legal guidelines and Group policies to promote an ethical operation and commitment to passenger safety
• Oversee the coordination of flight standards, labour scheduling and maintenance to ensure consistent and efficient operating procedures
• Provide strong leadership over monitoring, anticipating, managing and minimising the impact of irregular operations on performance, service and cost
• Ensure the GOCC is coordinating with all other necessary departments, stations, ATNS facilities and airport authorities to solve flight movement issues, including improvement of network flows, reduction of ATNS imposed delays, mitigation of delays and effective use of all recovery tools
• Oversee the long-term and short-term allocation of resources, enabling the airline to meet quality standards of services and safety while maximising utilisation
• Initiate corrections and communicate clarifications to ensure that all Flight Operations policies, procedures and manuals are in compliance with manufacturer’s guidance and appropriate SACAA directives to provide the highest level of safety
• Develop continuous improvement strategies to optimise labour costs and productivity; promote and pursue automation and standardisation of manual processes
• Interface with industry, governmental and regulatory agencies; ensure adherence to applicable policies, procedures and labour contracts
• Delegate, coach, develop and manage a diverse and geographically dispersed team
• Collaborate with Commercial and Customer Experience Operations to enable safe, efficient operations, while promoting a quality customer experience with optimal P&L impact
• Ensure the integration and successful embedment of the culture themes into the current initiatives that will drive the culture evolution

Qualifications & Experience    

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management or related field at NQF Level 7 and/ or 15 years’ experience in an Airline Operations related role within the Aviation industry environment, of which 10 years is at a senior/ executive management level
• Extensive experience with an international commercial airline, with in-depth knowledge of P&L accountability, operations, commercial, and customer experience is an advantage
• An advantage would be if the individual currently holds or has held a pilot or cabin crew licence previously.
• Prior management experience of large teams across diverse business functions

Knowledge and Skills    

• Industry knowledge
• Knowledge of applicable policies and regulations
• Global acumen
• Challenges status quo
• Excellent performance track record
• Safety mindset
• Expert knowledge of analytical data sources and operations systems
• Vendor management

Attributes    

• Assertive/ decisive
• Calm demeanour
• Problem solver
• People Management
• Leadership
• Influencing skills
• Service orientated (internal and external)
• Customer centric
• Communication skills (written and verbal in English)
• Transparent

Deadline:19th December,2025