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Anger fills the air as passengers stranded at OR Tambo [WATCH]
Many passengers claimed they would be taking action against the airline for missing their flights.
Passengers were left angry and frustrated at the cancellation of their flights at OR Tambo International Airport. Picture: Hein Kaiser
South African Airways (SAA) passengers were left stranded at OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng on Thursday after the South African Airways Pilots Association (Saapa) and National Transport Movement (NTM) went on strike.
The association initially demanded a 30% increase in pilot salaries but later reduced this to 15.7% plus benefits. The airline countered with an offer of 8.46%, backdated to April when negotiations started.
Holiday on hold, legal action to follow?
Holiday trips, including those to Mauritius, were on Thursday delayed indefinitely.
Anger and frustration filled the air, as many claimed they would be taking action against the airline for missing their flights.
ALSO READ: You may miss your flight: SAA pilot strike looms
Sacrifices made
Two kilometres down the road, dozens of pilots picketed outside Airways Park, as Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department watched on.
WATCH: The pilots’ protest
WATCH: SAA pilots protest over wages at Airways Park in Kempton Park, Gauteng. 📹: @heinkaiser pic.twitter.com/if2ajPUfnO
— The Citizen News (@TheCitizen_News) December 5, 2024
They accused the airline’s management of “not coming to the party” and said there had only been four days of negotiations in seven months.
“Management has not reached out today. They have had our demands on the table for a while and we hope there will be a speedy resolution,” Captain Sibusiso Nxumalo told The Citizen.
He said pilots had taken “enormous pay cuts” and lost many benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and later relaunch of the airline.
ALSO READ: ‘Show us financial statements’: Economists doubt SAA is ‘debt-free’
Nxumalo said the demands would go some way to restore the losses suffered.
They said they would continue to strike until their demands were met and were taken seriously.
The pilots said they understood the frustration of passengers but could not continue to work under their current conditions.
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