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The public companies department appears to have been captured by the International Air Transport Association.
(Iata) in what appears to be a blatant lie about how much SAA pilots have been earning.
In a statement yesterday, Iata distanced himself from “the false claim in a press release from South Africa’s public companies department today that it had compared the remuneration of SAA pilots with that of other airlines.”
“As an industry body, Iata represents, leads and serves the industry in matters of common interest, but cannot be involved in the commercial or labor matters of individual airlines,” the organization stated.
“For this reason, Iata is not aware of such details and has not made a comparison of the remuneration of SAA pilots nor has it provided such information to the public companies department.”
The organization represents some 290 airlines.
The offending quote reads: “SAA pilots, who according to the International Air Transport Association are the second highest paid pilots in the world, are not the only pilots to undergo pay cuts as the rest of the global industry has experienced a reduction in wages and benefits ”, according to SAnews.gov.za.
It was further proof that the department was sucking the numbers, said Captain Grant Back of the South African Airways Pilots Association, adding that the association was disappointed with “inaccurate statements” issued by the department and practitioners of the business rescue. (BRP) with respect to the impasse between
the pilots and SAA on the pending lockdown.
The department did not respond to requests for comment.
The BRPs issued a 48-hour lockdown notice that will go into effect at noon today and will affect the association’s 338 pilot members. Members will not be entitled to be paid, accrued or receive any compensation or benefits for the duration of the lockout until the pilots have agreed to various conditions, including a new pay scale.
“The new terms and conditions and pay scales are essential for the new competitive and successful SAA, which will initially require 88 pilots, to be profitable,” noted BRPs Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana.
“The new proposed terms include hours of work and rest aligned with the Civil Aviation Authority and will give SAA a better opportunity to be a sustainable airline.”
Back said the association had been actively engaged with the BRPs and the department since the business rescue began more than a year ago.
“We have done it in good faith offering extensive knowledge and concessions.
“The agreements of the SAA Pilots Association are not the reason why SAA has failed in the financial sphere and in the transformation of the pilot body; that responsibility rests with the shareholder and the management.
“In fact, in recent months, the association has accepted most of the demands of the company.
“We have agreed to cancel the Regulatory Agreement and replace it with a new collective agreement valid for three years.”
Back said they also agreed to cut wages by up to 50%. He added that the association did not agree with the illegal proposal on the reduction of pilots by race.
“The latest actions taken by the company, the BRPs and backed by the shareholder to starve not only the pilots but all the employees in order to force them to sign extremely unfavorable and damaging conditions, are extremely unfair.”
He said they would not be intimidated into submitting and that they were receiving legal advice.
Gideon Joubert, a former Mango airline pilot, said he hung up his wings in April after the airline refused to pay wages.
“The work environment was so toxic and after the pay cuts I decided to stay out,” Joubert said.
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