FlySafair pilot strike forces cancellation of more flights

As the labour dispute bedeviling domestic airline FlySafair entered the second day, the carrier said it has implemented several measures to cushion travellers from the impact of the disruptions and flight cancellations.

On Monday, FlySafair cancelled about 26 flights which caused long queues and frustration among some customers.

For Tuesday, FlySafair has also announced the cancellation of two flights - FA327 and FA326 - due to the ongoing strike action.

"We've put measures in place to assist all customers affected. For full details, please visit http://flysafair.co.za/travel-updates. We sincerely apologise for the disruption and appreciate your understanding as we work to support all affected customers," the airline posted on social media platforms. 

On Monday, IOL spoke to Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer for FlySafair, at the OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, who said the interruption of flights is regrettable and had left some passengers stranded.

"What we are experiencing at the moment is that we have an industrial action on the part of our pilots, they have embarked on a stay-away strike which started today. They have deemed it to happen for two weeks," Gordon told IOL on Monday.

"Unfortunately, we had a number of commitments from a number of pilots to be able to cover our schedule today. Late last night, we received information from several of them, that they would be unable to fulfil their duties. As a result, we have had to cancel 26 of 174 flights today. So there has been cancellations which we apologise very deeply to our customers who have been stranded. Unfortunately, our hands are tied in this regard, because of the industrial action that is going on," he said.

On the other hand, Solidarity, the union representing the FlySafair pilots told IOL that operations have been impacted by the labour lockout initiated by the airline, which the union said had resulted in workers being blocked from working. 

“Technically, it was not our industrial action, but it was the company’s lockout. Be that as it may, what we have determined is that if our members are not there, there is definitely an operational impact on the company," Solidarity’s deputy general-secretary, Helgard Cronje, spoke to IOL at OR Tambo International Airport.

“Many flights were cancelled, many people were told to buy new tickets or to reschedule their flights. There is a definite operational impact if our members aren’t at work. Technically, as I have said, it wasn’t necessarily Solidarity’s industrial action, because the company locked us out. They are locking us out at this stage.”

Cronje said Solidarity gave FlySafair notice for a one-day strike, basically to get them back to the negotiation table.

“The CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) immediately contacted us, and we responded to the CCMA and said we are willing to speak and go back to the negotiation table,” he said.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

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