How SAA clipped pilots’ wings

To many cash-strapped South Africans – at least those fortunate enough to have jobs – the refusal by the pilots of South African Airways (SAA) to accept an 8.5% pay rise offer from the company seems selfish.

After all, few people in employment this year got increases of even half that amount.

However, the reasons the pilots have decided to take strike action – and the background – are not quite so clear cut.

Many of the people currently in SAA’s cockpits had to take serious hits to their lifestyles in the wake of the Covid shutdown that pushed the airline into business rescue.

Many are still owed money by SAA, because it was only the banks who lent money to the airline who were classed as preferential creditors and got paid out in full what they were owed.

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Looked at that way, the offered 8.5% is not going to make up for the losses of the pilots and the thousands who suffered through the demise of the airline.

The reality is also that something has to be done to retain the skills and experience of the aviators… because many of them would be in demand by airlines around the world which are gearing up for expansion and facing a pilot shortage.

It’s also not a good thing to have a disgruntled person responsible for the lives of hundreds of people…

SAA is, however, hardly a paragon of virtue as a company, having failed repeatedly to submit its annual financial statements.

When it did so late last month, it crowed about its operational profit, not about the untold billions it had cost both employees and taxpayers over the years.

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Whatever happens with the pilots strike, South Africa, like the rest of the world, will soon find out that the days of cheap airfares are over.