South African Airways said it remains hopeful that the South African Airways Pilots Association will call off its strike that is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Pilots are planning to ground flights, due to an ongoing wage dispute with the airline. Negotiations commenced in May, when the staffers called for a 30% increase. This later changed to 15.7%, but SAA has only offered 8.46%, backdated to 1 April 2024.
SAA’s Vimla Maistry has told Smile FM that they are still actively busy with negotiations to prevent the looming strike from happening. The strike could have dire consequences, not only for tourists who are planning to travel this festive season, but also for the economy at large.
“Following extended wage negotiations, South African Airways has received notification from the SAA Pilots Association of a potential strike action. The SAA management team is committed to reaching a fair resolution and are implementing contingency measures to ensure that any disruption to our operations would be as minimal as possible for our valued customers, especially during the busy December season,” said Maistry.
The country is already preparing for an influx of visitors this summer.
“Ironically, the pilots have chosen to go on strike exactly on the fifth anniversary of the day SAA was placed in Business Rescue in 2019. SAA cannot return to the lucrative benefits that SAA pilots have historically enjoyed. Acceding to SAAPA current demand for a 15.7% wage increase will trigger SAA’s decline into bankruptcy”, said Interim Chief Executive Officer Professor John Lamola.
