Bryan Air

Qantas is cutting 850 jobs, with some of the work moving to Accenture's staff in India. Is the flight deck next?
The panel gets into the one-pilot debate, what a crew actually does when a bomb threat comes in, a close call leaving Los Angeles, Airbus's year-end delivery crunch and a court order against ACSA.
Bryan Roseveare with Ryan Parrock and Alan Macaulay.
IN THIS EPISODE
Qantas says it will cut 850 corporate jobs in Australia under a deal with Accenture, and the panel asks what AI means for pilots.
Hoax bomb threats disrupted dozens of flights across Europe. No explosives were found. We talk through what happens on the flight deck when a threat comes in.
An Air France A350 and an American Airlines A321 came close after leaving LAX. The FAA calls it an "unauthorized turn" and is investigating. Air France says its crew followed air traffic control's instructions immediately.
Airbus needs about 250 deliveries in November and December to reach its target for the year.
The High Court in Johannesburg has ordered ACSA, the government and the transport minister to buy out a small group of empowerment shareholders at a fair value.
Plus your comments on weather radar, and why fuel buys you time.
THE QUESTION
Have you ever been on a flight that diverted or turned back? Where were you going, and what did the crew tell you? Tell us in the comments.
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.
EPISODE NOTES
Every story, the facts behind it and every source, in one place.
→ https://bryanairpodcast.com/notes/296
SOURCES
Qantas: ABC News, 10 Nov 2026
→ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-10/850-jobs-to-go-from-qantas-as-airline-moves-roles-overseas/107368120
Qantas: Reuters via Investing.com, 10 Nov 2026
→ https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/australias-qantas-to-axe-850-jobs-in-offshoring-deal-with-accenture-5013870
Qantas: Aviation A2Z, 10 Nov 2026
→ https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2026/11/10/qantas-to-cut-850-jobs-as-accenture-moves-ops-to-india/
Qantas: ABC News politics blog, 11 Nov 2026 (minister's reaction)
→ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-11/federal-politics-live-blog-nov-11/107371364
Bomb hoaxes: Associated Press via OPB, 6 Nov 2026
→ https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/06/european-flights-targeted-by-a-week-of-hoaxes/
Bomb hoaxes: Al Jazeera, 6 Nov 2026
→ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/6/hoax-or-bomb-threats-what-we-know-about-flight-disruptions-across-europe
Bomb hoaxes: AeroTime, 5 Nov 2026
→ https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/bomb-threats-europe-flights-fighter-escorts-diversions
LAX: AeroTime, 8 Nov 2026
→ https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/air-france-a350-departure-deviation-brings-it-close-to-american-a321-at-lax
LAX: Aerospace Global News, 9 Nov 2026
→ https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/air-france-american-airlines-near-miss-lax/
LAX: KTLA via Yahoo News, 9 Nov 2026 (FAA and Air France statements)
→ https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/air-france-american-airlines-jets-222656767.html
LAX: CBS Los Angeles, 9 Nov 2026
→ https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/lax-near-mid-air-collision-air-france-american-airlines-november-2026/
Airbus: Aerospace Global News, 6 Nov 2026
→ https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/airbus-249-deliveries-two-months-2026-target/
Airbus: AeroTime, 6 Nov 2026
→ https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/airbus-aircraft-deliveries-orders-october-2026
Airbus: orders and deliveries
→ https://www.airbus.com/en/products-services/commercial-aircraft/orders-and-deliveries
ACSA: Moneyweb, Nov 2026
→ https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/government-ordered-to-buy-minority-empowerment-shareholders-acsa-shares/
ACSA: Supreme Court of Appeal judgment, 11 Apr 2022 (SAFLII)
→ https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2022/50.html
THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS
Ian Mark Gondwe, Gabedi Mosupukwa, Kelvin Charman, Craig Wood, Alan Macaulay, Catharine, ACE, Caroline Koll, Iain, Mike Mason, Jaco, Franziska, Dale Williams, Duncan Gillespie and Imre Kurucz. You keep this show in the air.
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Bryan Air
→ https://bryanairpodcast.com/
Support on Patreon
→ https://www.patreon.com/bryanair

More than six out of every ten seats on a domestic flight in South Africa belong to FlySafair. The Competition Tribunal has approved its sale to Harith, a deal Business Day puts at about R7 billion, and Harith already owns about 37% of Lanseria Airport. So the approval comes with conditions: Harith gets no say in Lanseria's pricing, slots or apron access, the airport and the airline may not share directors, Lanseria must serve other airlines on fair and equal terms, and nobody may be retrenched because of the merger for three years. CemAir argued at the August hearing that Harith's backers and the Public Investment Corporation are too closely linked. Harith says FlySafair keeps its management, its low-cost model and its customer offering, and expects to close before the end of the year.
Bryan Roseveare and Ryan Parrock are joined by Alan Macaulay, our long-time correspondent from Canada and now Geneva, who joins the show as a full crew member from this episode.
The story of the day: at least sixteen passenger flights across Europe were targeted by bomb threats in a single day. Fighter jets went up in France, Italy and Bulgaria. An Aer Lingus A320 from Dublin to Rome was escorted down to a French air base in Normandy. In every case reported so far, the searches found nothing. Alan talks through the one bomb threat he handled as captain in northern Canada, and what the four-hour disruption did to the rest of the day.
Your comments on last week's OR Tambo rant led us to the Border Management Authority, which runs the immigration desks and says it is operating at about a quarter of the staff it needs. Gauteng has lent it 80 crime prevention wardens to work as immigration officers. February's budget gave it R990 million to fill 738 posts. Meanwhile Airports Company South Africa posted a R1.2 billion profit and is spending R14.5 billion on OR Tambo over five years, starting with 90 toilets and then 780 more.
Then storm season. A hailstorm that arrived in fifteen minutes, why leaving the weather radar on auto tilt is a bad habit, and Alan unpacks what "certified for known icing" actually covers: aircraft certified before 2015 cannot tell you when you are in severe icing, and if you find yourself there you are in an emergency, not a stay-and-play situation.
Ryanair's half-year profit fell 15% to €2.15 billion. It carried 6% more passengers at 4% lower fares, and it is now looking at a fuel bill about €2 billion higher next year as its hedges run out. Emirates reported a 66% drop in half-year profit on the same day. And a European Cockpit Association survey of 7,200 pilots found more than three in four had experienced microsleeps while operating an aircraft in the past four weeks.
IN THIS EPISODE
The Tribunal approves Harith's takeover of FlySafair, and the conditions attached
Sixteen bomb threats across Europe in one day, and what a pilot actually does with one
Airlines asking for bomb threat and cockpit attack scenarios in training
OR Tambo passport queues: the Border Management Authority, the wardens, the money and the e-gates
Storm season, weather radar and icing certification explained
Jets versus turboprops in bad weather
Ryanair's profit drop and how airlines survive a fuel shock
Fatigue and falling asleep on the flight deck
Your comments: SAA's future, SAA's crew, and the crash axe
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.
SOURCES
Business Day, 29 October 2026: Harith's R7bn FlySafair deal cleared for final take-off
→ https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-10-29-hariths-r7bn-flysafair-deal-cleared-for-final-take-off/
Travel News, 29 October 2026: Tribunal approves FlySafair takeover
→ https://www.travelnews.co.za/article/tribunal-approves-flysafair-takeover
The Citizen, 18 August 2026: CemAir asks tribunal to prohibit Harith acquisition of Safair
→ https://citizen.co.za/business/cemair-asks-tribunal-to-prohibit-harith-acquisition-of-safair
AeroTime, 5 November 2026: Bomb threats hit 16 European flights, prompt fighter escorts
→ https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/bomb-threats-europe-flights-fighter-escorts-diversions
Sunday World, 5 October 2026: OR Tambo immigration headache, staff shortages lead to long queues
→ https://sundayworld.co.za/news/or-tambo-immigration-headache-staff-shortages-lead-to-long-queues/
Business Report, 25 February 2026: Budget 2026, Border Management Authority to get R990 million to fill 738 critical positions
→ https://businessreport.co.za/business/2026-02-25-budget-2026-border-management-authority-to-get-r990-million-to-fill-738-critical-positions/
BusinessTech, 6 February 2026: R14.5 billion expansion at South Africa's busiest international airport
→ https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/850085/r14-5-billion-expansion-at-south-africas-busiest-international-airport/
EWN, 9 September 2026: ACSA takes flight with bumper earnings as passenger numbers grow
→ https://www.ewn.co.za/acsa-takes-flight-with-bumper-earnings-as-passenger-numbers-grow/
Euronews, 2 November 2026: Ryanair eyes cost cuts as it faces a €2 billion rise in its fuel bill next year
→ https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/02/ryanair-eyes-cost-cuts-as-it-faces-a-2-billion-rise-in-its-fuel-bill-next-year
Emirates Group, 5 November 2026: Half-year results for 2026-27
→ https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-group-announces-half-year-profit-for-2026-27-despite-full-six-month-impact-of-regional-conflict-and-high-fuel-costs/
Flying Magazine, 29 October 2026: Survey, 3 in 4 European pilots report sleeping on duty
→ https://www.flyingmag.com/survey-3-in-4-european-pilots-sleeping-on-duty/
TimesLIVE, 5 November 2026: SAA seeks R23m from Kenya Airways in bitter airline revenue dispute
→ https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-11-05-saa-seeks-r23m-from-kenya-airways-in-bitter-airline-revenue-dispute/
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do.
Support on Patreon
→ https://www.patreon.com/bryanair
Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place.
Bryan Air
→ https://bryanairpodcast.com/
THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS
Thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years:
Dale Williams
Duncan Gillespie
Franziska
Jaco
Mike Mason
Iain Findlay
Caroline Koll
ACE
Catharine
Alan Macaulay
Craig Wood
Imre Kurucz
Kelvin Charman
Gabedi Mosupukwa
Ian Mark Gondwe

DESCRIPTION:
SAA has staggered its October salaries for the second month running, and The Citizen reports that Treasury has given the airline until February to find a buyer. Two former airline pilots who have both had the message that pay will be late ask the question out loud: should South Africa still own an airline?
Bryan Roseveare and Ryan Parrock are back together after a few weeks apart. In this one they cover the SAA pay crisis, the flydubai 1073 crew collecting their medals, the state of OR Tambo as a new chief executive arrives, and whether your child should become a pilot in South Africa right now.
The SAA story first. TimesLIVE reported an internal memo that staggers October pay by staff group, with executives paid last, and September was staggered too. Treasury's R1 billion guarantee is a promise to a lender, not cash paid to the airline, and The Citizen reports it comes with conditions: name the assets for sale within 90 days, deliver a plan with independent valuations by 3 December, report every quarter on which routes make money, and find a buyer by February. Bryan and Ryan ask who would take on SAA's debt in a market where FlySafair, Airlink, Lift and CemAir are growing, and what a late payday does to a crew who still have to go to work and fly you safely.
Then the flydubai 1073 crew, decorated in Dubai on Monday with the First Class Order of Zayed II for landing the aircraft after the 30 September cockpit incident. Nova News reports that one of the relief pilots who landed it in Tabuk is from Kimberley. Ryan and Bryan talk about what this does to simulator training, cockpit door rules, the crash axe, and the psychometric tests every pilot sits before a job.
OR Tambo gets a new chief executive on Sunday. ACSA made a R1.2 billion profit last year, and Bryan, just back from Europe, describes the immigration queue and the state of the terminal that greeted him. He felt ashamed, and he says so.
And the question parents ask Bryan more than any other: should my child become a pilot? Ryan's honest answer, the medical to do before you spend a cent on training, how long it took one young first officer to reach the airline, and the pilots who told Bryan they would not do it again.
IN THIS EPISODE
SAA staggers October salaries for a second month, and Parliament wants answers by Friday
What the R1 billion Treasury guarantee is, and the conditions The Citizen reports come with it
Who would buy SAA in a market where FlySafair, Airlink, Lift and CemAir are growing
Crew stress when the pay message lands, and why the industry is behind the SAA crews
The flydubai 1073 crew collect their medals, with a South African reportedly among them
Cockpit doors, crash axes and pilot psychometric testing after flydubai 1073
OR Tambo gets a new chief executive, and Bryan's own walk through international arrivals
Where ACSA's R1.2 billion profit went
Should your child become a pilot in South Africa right now
Do the aviation medical first, then choose your training
Paying back the training loan, and ten years from licence to airline
Lifestyle, burnout, luck and networking without LinkedIn
Sports banter, the Superbrew standings, and an AI agent that lives inside WhatsApp
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.
SOURCES
TimesLIVE, 22 October 2026: SAA salaries delayed again as cash flow crunch threatens national carrier
→ https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-10-22-saa-salaries-delayed-again-as-cash-flow-crunch-threatens-national-carrier/
Sunday Times, 24 October 2026: SAA's finances under fire as cash squeeze tightens
→ https://www.sundaytimes.timeslive.co.za/news/2026-10-24-saas-finances-under-fire-as-cash-squeeze-tightens/
The Citizen, 22 October 2026: SAA receives R1bn guarantee, further bailouts not ruled out
→ https://www.citizen.co.za/business/saa-receives-r1bn-guarantee-further-bailouts-not-ruled-out/
The Citizen, 29 October 2026: SAA given until February to find buyer
→ https://www.citizen.co.za/news/saa-given-until-february-to-find-buyer/
Gulf News, 27 October 2026: UAE President honours flydubai crew with First Class Order of Zayed II
→ https://gulfnews.com/uae/uae-president-awards-zayed-medal-to-flydubai-crew-for-bravery-1.500726129
Nova News, 28 October 2026: Northern Cape-born pilot among those receiving UAE medals (single source at time of writing)
→ https://novanews.co.za/watch-northern-cape-born-pilot-among-those-receiving-uae-medals-for-foiling-mid-air-terror-attack/
EWN, 9 September 2026: ACSA takes flight with bumper earnings as passenger numbers grow
→ https://www.ewn.co.za/acsa-takes-flight-with-bumper-earnings-as-passenger-numbers-grow/
Engineering News, 25 September 2026: ACSA asks former CFO Mthethwa to return and steer
→ https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/acsa-asks-former-cfo-mthethwa-to-return-and-steer-2026-09-25
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do.
Support on Patreon
→ https://www.patreon.com/bryanair
Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place.
Bryan Air
→ https://bryanairpodcast.com/
THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS
A warm welcome to our newest supporter, Ian Mark Gondwe.
And thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years:
Dale Williams
Duncan Gillespie
Franziska
Jaco
Mike Mason
Iain Findlay
Caroline Koll
ACE
Catharine
Alan Macaulay
Craig Wood
Imre Kurucz
Kelvin Charman
Gabedi Mosupukwa

South African Airways has told its staff that October salaries will be late for the second month in a row, Parliament wants an answer from the Transport Minister by Friday 30 October, and Treasury has disclosed a R1 billion guarantee for the airline's working capital. A normal business that runs short of cash tightens its belt. An airline that runs short of cash usually stops flying.
In this short solo episode I explain why that is. Almost everything an airline spends is paid before the passenger boards, to companies that do not extend credit for long: fuel suppliers, the airport company, air traffic control, aircraft lessors, maintenance providers, insurers and the simulator training every pilot must do on a fixed cycle. When word gets out that an airline is short of cash, those suppliers start asking for the money up front, so the airline needs more cash at exactly the moment it has less.
Then I go through the record. Skywise, Mango, Velvet Sky, 1time, Comair and Nationwide all stopped flying when the money ran out, and not one of them was grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority for being broke. It was the airport company, the fuel supplier or the airline's own board. That is what a working capital guarantee is for: it keeps an airline on the right side of the people it pays every day.
IN THIS EPISODE
Why this week matters if you hold an SAA ticket
October salaries staggered for a second month, and what SAA says about it
The R1 billion Treasury guarantee, and why a guarantee is not cash
What happens when suppliers start asking for payment up front
The crews waiting for the bank SMS
Why an airline cannot tighten its belt the way an ordinary business can
Fuel, airport fees, air traffic charges, leases, maintenance, insurance and training
Who actually grounded six South African airlines, and why it was never the regulator for being broke
Stress at home as a safety matter
FlySafair, Airlink, the Heathrow slot money and the missing annual report
Friday's deadline for the minister, and the SAA hearing after the 4 November election
A word to the SAA crews
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.
PILOT MENTAL HEALTH VIDEO
The video I mention on air → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siJbLyZXZlM
SOURCES
R1 billion guarantee confirmed by SAA (ch-aviation, 23 Oct 2026) → https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/173175-saa-confirms-605mn-state-guarantee-amid-fuel-pressures
EU Regulation 1008/2008 → https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32008R1008
Air Services Licensing Act 115 of 1990 → https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201503/act-115-1990.pdf
SAA salaries delayed again (TimesLIVE, 22 Oct 2026) → https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-10-22-saa-salaries-delayed-again-as-cash-flow-crunch-threatens-national-carrier/
SAA's finances under fire (Sunday Times, 25 Oct 2026) → https://sundaytimes.timeslive.co.za/news/2026-10-24-saas-finances-under-fire-as-cash-squeeze-tightens
Parliament summons SAA (Daily Maverick, 26 Oct 2026) → https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-26-parliament-summons-saa-demanding-answers-to-deepening-financial-turmoil-and-turbulent-governance/
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do.
Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair
Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place.
Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/
THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS
A warm welcome to our newest supporter, Gabedi Mosupukwa.
And thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years:
Dale Williams
Duncan Gillespie
Franziska
Jaco
Mike Mason
Iain Findlay
Caroline Koll
ACE
Catharine
Alan Macaulay
Craig Wood
Imre Kurucz
Kelvin Charman

DESCRIPTION:
Turbulence won't necessarily break the aircraft. It will hurt the people who aren't strapped in. The worst hit of my flying career came on a perfectly clear day on final approach into Johannesburg, with not a cloud in the sky, and it ended in a go-around.
This is the episode for anyone who is nervous about flying. I take you through what a Johannesburg summer thunderstorm looks like from the flight deck, what hail did to the nose of an aircraft I used to fly when it never even entered the storm, a flight where the weather radar showed nothing and a passenger died, and the one simple thing the investigators asked you, the passenger, to do about it.
Along the way: how pilots use the weather radar and the 20 mile rule to draw a line around a storm, why thermal turbulence over the Highveld is uncomfortable but not dangerous, why your Cape Town flight is late on a perfect day, what the final report on Singapore Airlines Flight 321 says about clear air turbulence and about the pilots, why some captains leave the seat belt sign on through smooth air and what that costs them, and how the wake from an A380 landing on the parallel runway reached across and hit a 50 seat regional jet on runway 03 Left.
IN THIS EPISODE:
The clear day hit: wake turbulence on final approach into O.R. Tambo and a go-around
Flying around Johannesburg summer storms: the weather radar, the 20 mile rule, TCAS and the aircraft ahead
Thermal turbulence, and what hail thrown out of the side of a storm did to the nose of an aircraft
What we train in the simulator: the decision to go around a storm, not the radar picture
Why your Cape Town flight is late on a perfect day, and the airline that still arrived on time 91 percent of the time in 2025
Clear air turbulence: Singapore Airlines Flight 321, the final report, and the one piece of advice for passengers
The seat belt sign: why it stays on, the cost of leaving it on too long, and the second pint
Table Mountain, mountain waves over George, wind shear, and how wake turbulence actually works
What you should do when the aircraft starts shaking
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
The Go-Around video
→ https://youtu.be/tHNSBARtGtY
SOURCES
Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (Singapore), final report on the Singapore Airlines Flight 321 turbulence event of 21 May 2024, published 19 May 2026
→ https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/287/7900f2d4-78dd-4325-adae-46c128857023/B773ER%20(9V-SWM)%20Turbulence%20event%20over%20Myanmar%2021%20May%202024.pdf
FAA Advisory Circular 00-24C, Thunderstorms
→ https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac%2000-24c.pdf
FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, Chapter 7 Section 4, Wake Turbulence
→ https://www.faa.gov/Air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap7_section_4.html
Gijben, South African Journal of Science (2012), lightning flash density over South Africa
→ https://scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0038-23532012000200013
Cirium 2025 On-Time Performance Review
→ https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/cirium-reveals-2025-top-on-time-airlines-and-airports-172676a
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do.
Support on Patreon
→ https://www.patreon.com/bryanair
Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place.
Bryan Air
→ https://bryanairpodcast.com/
THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS
Thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years:
Dale Williams
Duncan Gillespie
Franziska
Jaco
Mike Mason
Iain Findlay
Caroline Koll
ACE
Catharine
Alan Macaulay
Craig Wood
Imre Kurucz
Kelvin Charman