Persistent challenges with Air Traffic and Navigation Services’ (ATNS) payroll systems are allegedly compromising the morale and mental health of air traffic control personnel, threatening the quality of the essential service at South African airports.
An anonymous source from within ATNS told Travel News that ATNS employees have faced repeated salary shortfalls, overpayments, delays in overtime and allowance payments and limited access to payslips over the past year.
“Many employees all over the country have filed grievances because this is the third time this has happened over the past year; however, their complaints were swept under the rug,” stated the source.
Trade union Solidarity, on behalf of the disgruntled employees, first highlighted the issues with ATNS’s Oracle payroll system in mid-2024, and suggested that the company consider an alternative provider, Barend Smit, a Solidarity organiser for the aviation sector, told Travel News.
“This year the Oracle system crashed, leading to underpayments for many employees, with the issue still not fully resolved to date and allowances still not properly addressed. Solidarity was mandated by members to file a formal complaint on the matter. The company promised feedback, but nothing substantive has come from the matter,” he said.
ATNS confirmed to Travel News that the system encountered challenges this month, when it faced a “technical glitch that impacted the functionality of its payroll system.”
Solidarity intends to escalate the elements of non-compliance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act to the Department of Employment and Labour if ATNS does not address the issues.
Operational impact
According to the source at ATNS, employees continue to lose morale and grow more demotivated by the day. They claim that while employees are not officially striking, there have been increased requests for sick leave and many are working on a go-slow basis.
Smit explained that ATNS is classified as an essential service which means that strike action is prohibited. However, the union is challenging this designation in the Labour Court.
Brain drain
According to the source, the recent payroll challenges are only a small symptom of a much larger problem within the working environment and management, which has cost the company many of its best employees.
“The most experienced air traffic controllers have left ATNS and they are continuing to leave,” said the source adding that many had moved to the UAE and Australia.
According to the source, ATNS has attempted to rehire some of its former employees. The Department of Transport (DoT) has also initiated organisational changes following broader operational concerns last year, including staffing shortages, unreliable systems, and procedural backlogs, as reported by Travel News.
“The catalyst for DoT intervention was the matter of failed flight procedures in ATNS, leading to operational difficulties in the second half of 2024. However, the DoT seems to have taken notice of this issue and other matters, and has started taking action,” said Smit.
“There have been some changes in management, as well as investigations conducted into the conduct of certain individuals within the organisation. The company has taken a few measures, but we are yet to see if this will truly place ATNS on the right track again.”
