SAA Strike: Early Weekend Flights Cancelled

South African Airways (SAA) has cancelled all domestic and international flights scheduled for Friday, 15 November, and Saturday, 16 November, in anticipation of an upcoming strike by local unions.

According to reports, the SA Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (NUMSA) said they would embark on industrial action against the state-owned airline.

Members will be protesting against SAA’s newly-announced restructuring plan, in which the cash-strapped airline intends to retrench 944 employees in order to save up to R700 million.

In response to the strike action, says spokesperson Tlali Tlali, domestic and international flights on the two appointed days have been cancelled – this will result in the estimated loss of R52 million a day.

Tlali said: “The strike will have a serious impact financially and operationally on us … under the circumstances, the best thing to do was to cancel flights and to give our customers minimum reasonable notice in order for them to explore alternative travel arrangements.”

Affected passengers will either be refunded, accommodated on other airlines, or have their flights rescheduled.

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