South African Airways cancels some flights as pilots go on strike
South African Airways (SAA) said it had cancelled flights to Perth and Sao Paulo on Thursday after receiving confirmation from the SAA Pilots Association that they planned to strike following a deadlock in pay talks.
The company decided on Wednesday night to cancel the Perth and Sao Paulo routes after being told the strike planned for Thursday would go ahead, Khaya Buthelezi, the airline's senior manager of corporate relations, told Reuters.
"That's the decision we took last night since we could not find partner airlines that we can transfer our customers to, it became clear that those two routes must be cancelled," he said.
Early on Thursday, there were no disruptions to domestic flights or routes across Africa as the airline had made contingency plans, he said.
Some pilots were seen picketing outside the SAA office at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, Buthelezi said.
SAA pilot Sibusiso Nxumalo, representing the SAA Pilots Association (SAAPA) and the National Transport Movement Pilots Forum, told public news broadcaster SABC that beyond monetary value, their demands centred around better working conditions and conditions of employment.
"The company has made a profit in the past couple of months. It's not like we want a piece of that pie, we just want to have better working conditions," Nxumalo said.
SAAPA's initial demand in May was for a 30% increase in pilot salaries, which was subsequently reduced to 15.7%, including associated benefits, SAA said in a statement this week.
SAA's interim chief executive officer, John Lamola, said in the statement that the demand for a 15.7% pay rise would trigger the company's decline into bankruptcy.
The airline has offered an 8.46% pay increase backdated to April.
The national carrier was on the verge of being liquidated before it entered a form of bankruptcy protection in 2019.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Multotec, recognised industry leaders in metallurgy and process engineering help mining houses across the world process minerals more efficiently,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
We supply customers with practical affordable solutions for their testing needs. Our products include benchtop, portable, in-line process control...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
