The South African Airways Pilot’s Association (SAAPA) has threatened to strike for the first time in the airline’s 80-year history, reports Fin24.
SAAPA says it will engage in lawful industrial action if operations at an executive level at the national carrier aren’t changed.
Results shared from an internal survey of its members found a majority in favour of a strike.
As part of its list of demands, the association is calling for the appointment of a skilled, permanent CEO, the appointment of an active or retired pilot to the airline's board, and a broad skills audit.
SAA has released a statement in which it acknowledges the comments made by the association and says that it is disappointed the issue has been placed in the public domain while it continues to engage with SAAPA.
In the statement, the airline says that:
- To address its challenges of revenue stimulation and network optimisation, an experienced executive with responsibility for this area has started this month.
- It has taken steps to bring in required capacity to strengthen management. A number of key appointments, including the chief commercial officer, the ceo of SAA Technical, the ceo of Mango, have been made, and more executive hires are in the pipeline.
- Management continues to engage with SAAPA, other unions and all employees in sharing progress being made and mechanisms being developed to address the many other challenges. It adds that inputs from all interested parties in the company are welcomed and given due consideration.
SAA says that it is the middle of the negotiation process and ‘would prefer to see that the process run its natural course before any statements are made by the parties’.
The airline says that it is in no one’s best interest to embark on industrial action and urges SAAPA to continue engaging with the company.
