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South African Airways (SAA) has significantly recovered its flight schedule after the industrial action by its cabin crew members ended yesterday.

SAA successfully applied on Wednesday (26 April 2017) for a court interdict at the Labour Court which declared the industrial action bySouth African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and its members an unprotected strike action. The court ordered that the strike action should end immediately. Since the court order was granted, SAA has seen a significant increase in several cabin crew members reporting for duty and this has enabled the airline to operate all its scheduled flights for today.

“Our planned flight schedules have resumed and whilst operations are geared to full service recovery, we remain exposed to minimal operational delays,” says Tlali Tlali, SAA spokesperson.

The airline’s recovery plans are being implemented to assist all passengers with their travel across the entire route network. Ticketed passengers whose flights were cancelled yesterday will be supported to travel today.

A total of 50 flights were cancelled for the entire day on Wednesday. The biggest impact was on the domestic segment of the route network and SAA cancelled only one outbound international flight.

The Board of Directors is committed to further engaging with SACCA through a facilitated dispute resolution process over the next two months. We are hoping that we will be able to come to an amicable agreement with the union that accommodates Cabin Crew concerns while protecting the financial sustainability of the airline, even before the court date in June.

The sustainability of the airline remains of paramount importance to the Board and Executive of SAA. The company has initiated a programme to ensure that the airline’s financial situation is turned around, and that SAA returns to profitability once again.

“We apologise for any inconvenience to our customers as a result of the service disruptions, and we are assisting all passengers who could not travel due to the strike action to ensure they reach their intended destination as soon as possible,” concludes Tlali.

Customers are encouraged to visit our website www.flysaa.com for all flight updates and or flight cancellations.
Assistance will be provided to all ticketed passengers holding South African Airway’s Ticket (only) via any SAA Call Centre, City Travel Office or dedicated Travel Agent with the following conditions.

Rebooking Conditions applicable

• Rebook onto another South African Airways flight for a later date at no extra charge and subject to availability of the same booking class
• Change of cabin will not be permitted
• This policy is applicable to South African Airways flights only, issued on SA (083) ticket stock and not on separate tickets of other airlines
• Tickets must be re-issued on or before 02 May 2017

Contact details
South African Airways Call Centre and City Office Contact details
South Africa |  Johannesburg Call Centre | 27 (0) 11 978 1111 or 0861 606 606
Or https://www.flysaa.com/help/customer-support/contact-us

Issued by SAA