Government approves SAA pilot lockout.
The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) endorsed the decision to lockout members of the SAA Pilots Association (Saapa) after prolonged consultations failed to reach an agreement.
In November last year, SAA launched an application at the Labour Court and High Court seeking to declare the Regulating Agreement (RA) unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid. The RA was signed in 1988 and SAA pilots, the highest-paid staff at the airline, want it to remain intact at the restructured airline.
SAA has among the highest cost base in terms of pilots’ salaries, meal allowances, leave and sick pay, and travel rebate benefits internationally.
SAA rescuers on 16 December issued Saapa with a 48-hour notice of a lockout, effective at noon today after negotiations reached a deadlock. The lockout means that 383 Saapa members would not be allowed entry to the airline’s premises or get paid their salaries until an agreement is reached.
The DPE said SAA needed to reduce the high-cost structure caused by onerous contracts and high salaries and perks implemented under the pilots’ RA.
It said that the agreement was a financial burden to SAA as its primary goal was to preserve undeserved privileges accrued through unjust laws.
“These privileges came with unaffordable benefits and a salary framework, which should be terminated,” the DPE said. “We agree with the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) and their insistence on addressing the RA, as it cannot become part of the new SAA. “The lockout strategy, undertaken by SAA, is commendable considering the negative impact the RA has had on the airline’s bottom line.”
According to SAA rescuers proposal, pilots’ salaries would be slashed 50 percent and the per diem allowances would be reduced from $155 (R2 274) a day, depending on the destination, to $70 a day regardless of destination.
“The new terms and conditions and salary scales are essential for the new competitive and successful SAA, which will initially require 88 pilots to become cost-effective and more productive,” SAA rescuers said.
“The new proposed terms … are aligned to the Civil Aviation Authority and will provide SAA a better chance at being a sustainable airline.”
Saapa was not immediately available for comment for its next course of action.
