A retired South African Airways (SAA) senior captain says he is alarmed by reports that the presidential jet needs to be replaced because it is unreliable. “It alarms me. You don’t get a dud aeroplane like a Friday car‚” captain Karl Jensen said on Tuesday.Speaking on Cape Talk radio‚ he said: “I think we should look elsewhere than just saying it is the aircraft that’s unreliable. What is causing it to be unreliable? Is it the maintenance or is it the way it is being operated?”Jensen flew Boeing 737 aircraft for seven years at SAA and said the presidential aircraft‚ a Boeing Business Jet‚ was a robust‚ luxury aircraft that should – if maintained and operated correctly – last up to 30 years.Inkwazi‚ which translates into Fish Eagle‚ was found to have leaking fuel pipes when it landed in Doha‚ Qatar‚ earlier this month. This followed another technical problem with the jet recently that left President Jacob Zuma unable to leave Burundi.“That aeroplane has done so little flying in 10 years. Some airlines use their aircraft up to 15 hours a day and that is day in‚ day out. This aeroplane‚ if it was used that amount‚ would probably last about 30 years. It just needs more maintenance.”“My personal view is that this is just an ego trip and it’s an ego trip that we can’t afford. That aeroplane needs to be maintained properly‚ be utilised properly and it will just go and go and go‚” he said.His comments follow a report published by Defence Web on Monday highlighting a lack of maintenance capabilities within the South African Air Force (SAAF) after support staff had been laid off. This had serious consequences for aircraft serviceability and safety - including that of the presidential jet.The Presidency issued a stinging statement on Sunday‚ lashing out at reports carried in the City Press and Rapport newspapers that said he had refused to fly on the aircraft – but acknowledged that Inkwazi had broken down “again”.“The Presidency requested that a reliable aircraft be made available on 23 May 2016 in order to avoid another inconvenience too soon after Qatar‚ where the presidential plane‚ Inkwazi broke down again‚ resulting in the need to source an alternative aircraft to enable the president to return to South Africa‚” said the Presidency.Defence Web said that a long-standing contract between the SAAF and Aero Manpower Group (AMG)‚ a Denel business unit‚ had provided specialist technical and support personnel who were responsible for the maintenance and airworthiness of a variety of SAAF aircraft‚ including those in the VIP squadron‚ at bases across the country.However‚ the last group of support personnel were laid off at the end of April this year. Amongst those lost to the SAAF were all seven AMG technicians who were licensed to work on the president’s plane.Defence Web said the SAAF had decided in 2011 to terminate the AMG contract because it had been declared irregular by the Auditor-General.Trade union Solidarity previously warned that at least 75% of the 523 Denel employees were in the scarce and critical skills band‚ “without which efficient functioning of the SAAF will not be possible”.However‚ the SAAF told Defence Web that the it had‚ in a timely fashion‚ identified the associated risks pertaining to the loss of the AMG/Denel personnel and had embarked on a skills transfer process. – TMG Digital..