{"id":832188,"date":"2025-07-21T08:44:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T06:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=832188"},"modified":"2025-07-21T08:44:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T06:44:44","slug":"flights-cancelled-as-flysafair-pilot-strike-turns-ugly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/832188\/flights-cancelled-as-flysafair-pilot-strike-turns-ugly\/","title":{"rendered":"Flights cancelled as FlySafair pilot strike turns ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The FlySafair pilot strike is getting increasingly acrimonious, as the group was forced to cancel 8% of its flights due to late notice from pilots who are demanding increases to their R2 million pay packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade union Solidarity announced last week that its members would launch strike action this week after it rejected a 5.7% increase in salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solidarity demanded a 10.5% increase on base salaries and additional flight pay and bonuses. 90% of pilots voted in favour of the strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Solidarity gave FlySafair notice of a one-day strike, the airline hit back with a notice that it would lock out the pilots for seven days, which could extend to another seven days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Solidarity extended its strike notice to 14 days as well. The CCMA has offered to mediate the matter again, but Solidarity has accused FlySafair of refusing to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Solidarity\u2019s one-day notice was aimed at forcing the company back to the negotiating table, but FlySafair has now escalated the dispute, which could last for weeks,” the union said.
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“If 90% of a company\u2019s key personnel want to strike, something is seriously wrong. Solidarity is calling on FlySafair to return to the negotiating table.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that its pilots are asking for their salaries to be rectified after cuts during Covid, and for employment conditions to be changed to allow for rest and family time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FlySafair said its operations will continue largely as scheduled from Mondau, 21 July, but warned that 8% of flights have been cancelled.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These flights were assigned to pilots who had confirmed their availability to fly, but who late last night reported that they would not fly,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All other flights are operating as planned, and affected customers have been contacted directly using details provided at the time of booking.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Should there be further disruptions, customers will be notified promptly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R1.8 million to R2.3 million pay packages<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Despite not sharing full details of the offers out of discretion for its pilots, the company has clarified its position and the business realities it faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FlySafair said captains earn between R1.8 million and R2.3 million annually, placing them well within the top 1% of earners in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some pilots earn more than members of FlySafair’s Executive Committee. The salaries are benchmarked against other local airlines and are higher than most, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company noted that its captains spent an average of 63 hours last month in the cockpit flying passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is within the regulatory limits set by the Civil Aviation Authority, IATA, and ICAO, which cap flight duty at 100 hours per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional responsibilities, including training, office time and standby time\u2014where pilots must be ready to fly at short notice\u2014are already factored in and are served at home under minimal restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It noted that the 10.5% increase in base salaries, as well as additional flight pay and bonuses, amounts to an overall 20% increase in the cost to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FlySafair said that this is an unsustainable escalation for any company. It noted that its current offer of a 5.7% increase is 1.5 percentage points above inflation, and already includes other benefits and a bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that the offer was made in good faith and to balance fair employee compensation with the airline\u2019s financial sustainability and customer affordability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another area of contention is the pilot roster system implemented by FlySafair at the start of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airline said that the system aligns with global industry standards and is in force by every other airline in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It allows pilots to receive their full monthly rosters by the 20th of the preceding month. It includes a preferential leave bidding process and a structured marketplace to facilitate duty swaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The system was designed to improve operational efficiency and provide pilots with maximum flexibility,” said FlySafair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Attempts by Solidarity to alter or limit this system would strip away its key benefits, undermining FlySafair\u2019s ability to compete with other airlines and maintain cost-effective operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilots have said that the rostering system is inflexible and disruptive. However, this is a separate matter, which Solidarity warned could trigger separate strike action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FlySafair said consultations have been held regarding the rostering system since March 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it said that the demands made are economically unfeasible and would erode its competitive advantage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FlySafair says 8% of its flights had to be cancelled this week as pilots demand 10% increases to their R2 million salaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":683679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10020,1632],"class_list":["post-832188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-flysafair","tag-solidarity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832188"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":832216,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832188\/revisions\/832216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}