| Breaking news: SAA cancels Friday, Saturday flights |
South African Airways (SAA) has cancelled nearly all domestic, regional and international flights scheduled for November 15th and 16th.
The cancellations follow an announcement by the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) that their members will embark on industrial action from Friday morning.
“Unless alternative arrangements are in place, customers are requested not to go to their departure airports during the disruption as SAA will be unable to provide any assistance. Information on the status of our flights will be regularly updated on our website,” said Tlali.
Only flights operated by South African Airways will be affected. All flights operated on partner airlines, including SA Express, Mango, SA Airlink and all codeshare partners, including flights operated by our Star Alliance partner airlines, will operate as normal.
Regional flights, which will operate on the morning of Friday, November 15, will return from Maputo (SA147), Lusaka (SA067), Harare (SA025), Windhoek (SA073), and Accra (SA210).
International flights, which will operate on the evening of Friday, November 15, will return from Frankfurt (SA261), New York (SA204), Munich (SA265), Hong Kong (SA287), Perth (SA281), and London (SA235).
The airline says that customers will be kept informed of all operational developments on a daily basis.
Tlali stated that, during the negotiations with the unions, SAA presented a revised offer for employees delivering a 5.9% increase subject to the availability of funds from lenders. Numsa and Sacca are demanding an 8% increase.
National Transport Movement (NTM) has not stated whether their members will embark on a strike or not.
