FlySafair scraps flights amid wage strike, says pilots earn up to R2.3m already
FlySafair confirmed that 8% of its flights on Monday had to be cancelled.
'These flights were assigned to pilots who had confirmed their availability to fly, but who late last night, reported that they would not fly. All other flights are operating as planned, and affected customers have been contacted directly using details provided at the time of booking,' the airline said in a statement.
More than 200 pilots at FlySafair are expected to go on strike this week, after trade union Solidarity announced that initial plans for a one-day strike had been changed to a two-week strike.
Safair's final multiyear wage agreement offer included a 5.7% salary increase and additional compensation adjustments.
However, this was overwhelmingly rejected by the union, which is advocating for industry-competitive salaries, including a 10.5% wage increase for 2025/26, followed by a consumer price index (CPI) plus 4.5% increase for 2026/27, and a CPI plus 4% increase for 2027/28. The union also said that pilots had become unhappy with a change in the roster system, which had impacted leave days for its members and was detrimental to their family lives.
On Monday, FlySafair said its pilots are among the 'best-compensated professionals in the country'.
'Our captains earn, between R1.8 and R2.3 million annually—placing them well within the top 1% of earners in South Africa. Many pilots earn more than members of FlySafair's executive committee. These salaries are regularly benchmarked against those at other local airlines and are higher than most.'
FlySafair captains spent an average of 63 hours last month in the cockpit flying passengers. The airline said that the regulatory cap on flight duty is 100 hours per month.
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