AA could affect crash stats - think-tank
Date: 22 April 2013
The international military think-tank website, Strategypage, believes the SA Air Force's (SAAF) affirmative action policy will result in nothing more than higher plane crash statistics, it was reported on Monday.
"Even with the current affirmative action policy, most black pilots would rather work in the commercial sector to earn higher wages," Strategypage was quoted as saying by Beeld newspaper.
Strategypage, which investigates and analyses military issues worldwide, reportedly said it probed the situation after the SAAF recently decided to put 12 of its 26 Gripen fighter planes into storage because of an inadequate defence budget and high operating costs.
According to Beeld, it found that a decade of corruption, shrinking budgets and political pressure to recruit more black flight and technical personnel were the main reasons the SAAF faced severe problems.
"Most experienced pilots - especially fighter pilots - have left the SAAF simply because they weren't flying enough," Strategypage reportedly said.
"Many of the pilots who have remained are there because they were given their wings under the affirmative action quota system."
Source: News24
