Only 12% of flights affected by pilots’ strike: FlySafair

FILE | FlySafair Boeing 737-800 plane.

FlySafair says only 12% of their flights have been cancelled following the pilots’ stayaway strike.

The escalating standoff with Solidarity, which represents the pilots threatens to disrupt flights for up to two weeks, jeopardising passenger confidence and putting pressure on the airline’s management to return to the negotiating table.

FlySafair Chief Marketing Officer Kirby Gordon has rejected claims that 90% of their pilots are part of the protest.

Gordon says, “The vast majority of flights are still going to be operated on time as per schedule, but there are about 12% (affected). All details of these flights are available on the travel updates page on our website at flysafair.co.za.”

“Unfortunately, the Union has been misrepresenting the numbers, obviously to try and pursue a sensationalist view. So with solidarity reports that nine out of 10 pilots are striking, that’s actually inaccurate. The reality is that only 2/3 of the pilot base are actually represented by the unions.”

Meanwhile, Solidarity’s Deputy General Secretary Helgard Cronjé says the pilots have rejected the airline’s wage offer, sticking to their 10.5% wage increase demand..

“Throughout last week and over the weekend, they indicated that there will be minimal impact and then last night at about 10 o’clock, we saw on their website and on some of their social media platforms that they indicated that a lot of flights are being cancelled. I quickly counted more than 20 flights that are being cancelled. So I think it’s a very good indication that they aren’t able to sustain their flight schedule. And to me it seems as though they delayed it as late as possible to communicate that to the South African public.” – Reporting by Kholo Tefo.