Siza Mzimela Biography
Siza Mzimela whose full name is Sizakele Petunia Mzimela is a South African businesswoman who made history by becoming the first Black woman to own an airline. She is the founder and CEO of Fly Blue Crane.
She has served as the first female member of the board of governors of the International Air Transport Association, based in Miami, Florida, USA. In 2011 she was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful women.
Siza Mzimela Education Background
Student at the University of Pretoria, GIBS Business School at Transnet Executive Women’s Programme. Student at the University of Swaziland where she studied Bachelor of Arts (BA), Economics and Statistics.
Siza Mzimela Profile
Siza began her career in small business and retail division of Standard Bank in 1991. In 1994 she joined Total SA as a Corporate Planning Analyst responsible for managing capital projects.
In 1996 she joined SA Airways as a research analyst. In 2001 she was appointed as the Executive Vice President of global passenger services, later taking on responsibility for global sales and the airline’s Voyager program.
Siza Mzimela Job History
- January 2015- Present: Chief Executive Officer at Fly Blue Crane.
- January 2012 – Present: Executive chairperson of Blue Crane Aviation.
- January 2010- January 2012: Chief Executive Officer of South African Express Airways.
- January 2003 – January 2010: Chief Executive Officer at South African Express Airways.
- January 2002- January 2003: Executive vice president, Global Sales and Voyager at South African Airways.
- January 2001- January 2002: Executive Vice President, Global Passenger Services at South African Airways.
Siza Mzimela Fly Blue Crane
Mzimela together with two of her colleagues from SAA founded the FLy Blue Crane. It was launched on 1st September 2015 by Mzimela, Jerome Simelane, and Theunis Potgieter. She was interested in opening up routes throughout South Africa instead of just the continent like other airlines. Mzimela said at the launch of Fly Blue Crane that she hopes to expand the airline to include routes to Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Siza Mzimela Membership
- Board member of SA Tourism
- Member of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.
Siza Mzimela Photo
Siza Mzimela Interview
Siza Mzimela News
State Capture
June 2019.
Former SAA CEO Siza Mzimela is expected to testify on Wednesday morning at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
During her tenure, SAA dropped the profitable SA to Mumbai route to allow India Jet airways entry. She is expected to shed more light on how SAA lost the route to the Guptas.
On Tuesday, the commission heard evidence from Head of Fuel management at SAA, Mark Vaughan.
Vaughn explained how a strong push for transformation by the SAA Board to involve smaller players in the jet fuel procurement space, was a bad idea. He explained how buying fuel from the smaller players costs more for SAA rather than procuring 100% directly from oil major producing companies with refineries like BP, SHELL, and Total.
The Board set aside 15% jet fuel procurement from emerging businesses. The decision allowed oil major companies to give SAA 85% of Jet fuel and 15% was reserved for smaller companies.
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