Two-week strike at South Africa’s biggest airline starting next week

Trade union Solidarity has announced that it will extend the one-day pilot strike at FlySafair initially planned for Monday, 21 July, to 14 days.

The union said this is in response to FlySafair deciding to impose a seven-day consecutive lock-out of the pilots after it gave notice of the one-day strike. 

“This step indicates that the airline is deliberately opting for a prolonged and destabilising conflict,” Solidarity said in a media statement. 

The lockout could possibly be extended by another seven days should Solidarity and its members not comply with the management’s controversial demands. 

In its reaction to the company’s action, Solidarity decided to extend the one-day strike, initially planned for Monday 21 July, to 14 days. 

Unfortunately, this means passengers will be experiencing disruptions for the next two weeks, the trade union warned. 

It said that 88% of FlySafair’s pilots voted in favour of the strike, meaning that almost 9 out of 10 pilots are no longer prepared to continue to work under the current working conditions.

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has already approached the parties to facilitate mediation. Solidarity has agreed to the process, but allegedly, FlySafair has not responded.

Solidarity said that it regrets the inconvenience the strike may cause passengers but emphasises that this action does not stem from unreasonable demands.

Rather, the strike stems from months of frustration over a lack of fair treatment, insufficient and irregular rest periods, a healthy balance between work and family life and fair remuneration, it said. 

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that the majority of the 211 FlySafair pilots represented by Solidarity rejected the airline’s final offer of a 5.7% wage increase. 

Solidarity’s deputy general secretary, Helgard Cronjé, said the pilots feel exhausted, ignored and unappreciated.

He said there is a growing sense of neglect and burnout among members and a crumbling relationship between the crew and management. 

“Working conditions have deteriorated, with flight schedules leading to serious exhaustion for our members,” he said.

The union’s members are demanding 10.5% in the first year and inflation-linked increases in the subsequent two years.

FlySafair has been under intensifying scrutiny so far this year, with the National Consumer Commission flagging its practice of overbooking and overselling airline flight tickets. 

The airline’s shareholding structure has also been the subject of questions, with the International Air Services Council (IASC) ruling that FlySafair’s foreign ownership is in contravention of local laws and regulations. 

As it stands, an airline operating in South Africa’s domestic space must be “substantially owned” by South African citizens. 

ASL Aviation owns nearly 75% of FlySafair’s shares, directly and through subsidiaries, and has been deemed a foreign entity by the IASC as it is an Irish company.  

The inquiry into Flysafair’s shareholding structure began in October 2022 and includes formal complaints by Airlink and Global Aviation, which operates LIFT. 

The IASC has now ruled that FlySafair has contravened and/or failed to comply with provisions of the law in that the company structure comprises 49.86% shareholding by the Safair Investment Trust, which is eventually 100% owned by ASL.

This is in addition to the 25% shareholding that is directly owned by ASL. 

FlySafair filed an urgent application for an interdict on the ruling and has since clarified that it only affects its international services and has no impact on its domestic flights, which are governed by a different license.

“Since our most recent structural changes in 2019, FlySafair has fully co-operated with regulatory authorities to ensure that our shareholding and control mechanisms remain transparent,” it said at the time. 

“We have continued to serve South Africans proudly and have maintained control of our day-to-day operations locally. Our team remains firmly based in SA, and our primary focus is on delivering safe, reliable and affordable service to South African customers.”