FlySafair implements 'reduced schedule', causing disruption and price hikes

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.

Listen below:

Last week, some FlySafair pilots announced they are embarking on a strike, disrupting travel across South Africa.

Trade union Solidarity is calling for a 10.5% salary increase for pilots while the airline offers 5.7%.

Better working conditions and hours for employees are also in discussion.

About 200 of Flysafair's 300 pilots have joined in on the strike action.

Some pilots have returned to work, including non-unionised pilot force members. "As it stands, the majority of pilots are actively flying out passengers," says Gordon. 

The airline has proactively implemented a reduced schedule to minimise disruptions and keep passengers moving.

However, the strike means fewer seats and staff members are available at the airline, increasing flight tickets to 'more than it should be' during this season, he says.

"We've had to right-size our schedule... reduced effectively the number of flights by taking further out flights and combining them. For example, you would have had two departures within the space of an hour from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and what we've done is combine those flights when they were still half full into one..."

- Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer - FlySafair

"The actual number of seats we've had in the market is down about 30%... driving up the prices in the short run... It's more expensive now to fly in this period than it would've otherwise been."

- Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer - FlySafair

"There's nothing but damage across the board... there's a loss of revenue for the company, there's a degree of reputational damage, there's pilots at home without salary, there's even damage for the reputation of Solidarity, which is largely failing pilots they represent... and there's damage for the South African public."

- Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer - FlySafair

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.