Flysafair pilots threaten strike

CapeTalk’s John Maytham speaks with Guy Leitch, an aviation expert.

Listen below:

The trade union Solidarity, which represents two-thirds of Flysafair’s pilots, has rejected the company’s offer of a 5.7% wage increase for pilots.

Flysafair pilots are demanding a 10.5% increase for the 2025-2026 financial year, followed by a 4.5% increase for 2026-2027 and a 4% increase for 2027-2028.

Flysafair says it's proactively rearranging its flights from next Tuesday to prepare for a potential strike by the pilots.

Leitch anticipates that around 50% of the pilots will go on strike, which will have an enormous impact on Flysafair’s operations.

He adds that this tension has been brewing since the pandemic, when salaries were cut.

“The nature of low-cost carriers like Flysafair is that they try their hardest to keep all their costs down, and that means they pay pilots as little as possible... natural friction in the system.” 

- Guy Leitch, aviation expert

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Lietch believes this will not be a long strike as the pilots cannot afford to go without pay for too long.

However, he says Flysafair pilots are relatively well-paid, with captains earning over R2 million per year, but they could earn more elsewhere.

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