South African Airways Cancels Some Flights as Pilots Go on Strike

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South African Airways 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, Buthelezi said. Some pilots were seen picketing outside the SAA office at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

SAA’s interim chief executive officer John Lamola said in a statement that not all SAA pilots were on strike.

“Despite some alterations and restrictions to the SAA schedule and services during this period, SAA remains operational,” Lamola 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.

Lamola, said in a separate 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.