After protracted wage negotiations, SAA has received a notification from the SAA Pilots Association (SAAPA) expressing intent to go on strike tomorrow, December 5.
SAA said in a press release that its management was doing everything possible to avoid a strike by its pilots or any disruptions to operations, especially during the December peak season.
SAAPA’s initial demand (tabled in May) was for a 30% increase in pilot salaries, subsequently reduced to 15,7% (plus associated benefits). SAA has offered salary increases of 8,46% (backdated to April 1).
SAA’s final wage offer, made to SAAPA on September 24, is significantly higher than the general salary increases in South Africa in 2024. It was benchmarked against international pilot salary adjustments and was in line with what was granted to the rest of SAA staff members in June, said the airline in a statement.
Interim CEO, Professor John Lamola, says while SAA recently reported a modest profit, the airline cannot claim to be in a financially robust position.
Moreover, he adds, SAA can no longer expect shareholder contributions or recapitalisation from the fiscus.
“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”, he says.
“SAA has only recently regained its operational viability after emerging from business rescue in 2021. In order not to disrupt this momentum, we are committed to ongoing negotiations with SAAPA and to do everything possible to reach a fair settlement that is mutually beneficial to both the pilots and the company.”
Lamola adds that the SAA team will ensure that customers, the global travel trade and all stakeholders are kept fully informed of developments and that the airline is implementing contingency measures to ensure that disruption to its services will be as minimal as possible.